A Haunting at the Gawler Railway Station

 Is the Gawler Railway Station haunted?  Recently, I have had reports of a spectre haunting the Gawler Railway Station. The first railway station was built here in 1857. The first train arrived on 5 October 1857 and was described in the Register as a ‘train of 13 first and second class carriages, plus three to four open carriages carrying approximately 900 passengers. The carriages were profusely decorated with flags and banners, and the engine was garlanded with flowers'.
  The train departed at 9:15 am, accompanied by the strains of the National Anthem, and reached Salisbury by 10:00 am, arriving at Gawler at 10:50 am.

  The 1857-built railway station was demolished, and a new one was built in 1879. The new station featured a booking office, waiting, refreshments, ladies' rooms, and station master and luggage departments.

The following is a historical sample of some of the deaths that have occurred at the historic railway station.

  In 1875, Station Porter Charles Woods died at the station after suffering a fit and falling from a train carriage onto the rails and stones below.[1]   In 1896, Porter, Donald McAuley tried to jump from the platform onto a moving engine – something he had successfully performed many times before. This time, McAuley slipped and went under the train. His right leg was instantly amputated by a train wheel, while his left leg was shattered at the ankle. Despite medical treatment, McAuley died just a few days later.[2]
 In 1893, the Broken Hill express was leaving Gawler, with Guard Peter Power standing on the footboard of the breakvan. As the train left the platform, Power was struck by a water column, causing him to lose balance and fall under the last wheels of the carriage. His legs were almost severed at the ankles. Power was taken to the Adelaide Hospital by train, but expired the following day.[3]  In 1911, George White, an engine driver, died suddenly at the Gawler Station. White was sitting on a seat talking to a fellow employee when he suddenly leaned back and died.[4]

  The reported ghost is often seen sitting on the benches of the station. From the description given, it appears to be male and dressed in an older style suit. The entire apparition is grey in colour and stares south, as if waiting for the train to arrive. It is now known who the apparition was in life.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller ©2026

---

[1] 'ACCIDENTAL DEATH AT GAWLER.', The Express and Telegraph, (15 December 1875), p. 2.

[2] 'Accident at the Railway Station.', Bunyip, (30 October 1896), p. 3.

[3] 'Fatal Accident at the Gawler Railway Station.', Bunyip, (4 August 1893), p. 2.

[4] 'SUDDEN DEATH.', The Register, (18 January 1911), p. 5. 

 Pelberre Railway Station

 

  Pelberre Station was a stop on the railway line between Gawler and Angaston. Pelberre is believed to be the Kaurna word for fruit. The station was situated near Bella Street, Gawler East, one stop from what is now Gawler Central (formerly Gawler North Railway Station).
Other stops that existed between Gawler and Lyndoch included Kalbeeba Station, Kalperri Station, Sandy Creek, Warpoo and Wilamba.[1]

 In 1947, Nancy Haese (24), her mother Amy Haese and Robert Lee (38) were travelling in their car when they were hit by a train at Jolly’s crossing. The mother and daughter were in the front seat, and Lee was in the back of the 1927 open touring car.
 According to the News,

The railcar struck the motor car alongside the steering wheel. The car was then crushed against the cattle pit guard rails, and carried 40 yards before it was hurled down a 15-ft. embankment. The 60-1b rails forming the cattle pit guard were bent and broken.
 With the exception of the engine and bonnet, the car was a twisted mass of steel and wood after the accident.
 The rear axle was ripped, out and carried along by. the railcar's cowcatcher, until it slid down the embankment when the railcar stopped 125 yards past the point of collision.[2]

  Nancy Haese was driving the car back to the family property. Lee was an employee; the three had been picking grapes on the Adelaide Road side of the railway line at Warpoo. The gate to the Haese property was just 20 feet from the crossing where the car was struck.
 Nancy was killed instantly. Mrs Haeses and Lee both suffered fractured skulls and died later in the Hutchinson Hospital, Gawler.
 In an article in The Register Newspaper, it states that the original stop at Warpoo was known as Haese’s, and was little more than a flattened piece of ground where the train stopped to pick up and drop off passengers.[3]

  The Angaston line from Gawler opened in 1911. Regular passenger services ceased in December 1968. In November 1996, Transadelaide introduced Sunday services to Nuriootpa, and in 1998, Bluebird Rail Operations ran the Barossa Wine train on the line, which ceased in 2003.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller (c) 2025

S.A.R. 1938 train timetable courtesy of Martin Walker.

---

[1] Manning G.H., A Compendium of the Place Names of South Australia, State Library of South Australia, p. 669.

[2] 'Three Killed in S.A. Crossing Smash', News, (30 April 1947), p. 1.

[3] 'Country News.', The Register, (7 May 1925), p. 13. 

McDonald, J., & Johnson, B., ‘Barossa Valley Lines to Truro, Penrice Quarry, and Angaston.‘ Lost in South OZ, (2024), https://lostinsouthoz.jarmlibrary.me/.

Grisly Gawler - Part III - Death in Custody

Grisly Gawler - Part III: Death in Custody

Life was hard in the late 1800s, and criminals were justly dealt with. Standards were a lot different from what we are used to today with many police station being stone buildings with harsh conditions.

In Gawler, if arrested, you would visit the police cells on Cowan Street. In its day, long before the modern Police Station, we see now, there stood a stone building ( as shown in photos below) which had very simple, and cold stone cells.

Much like now, back in the day there were rules and regulations Police had to follow whilst they had prisoners in custody. Those rules and regulations didn’t take in to account the human factor. If someone really wants something bad enough, they will find a way to do it, and with that, there were quite a few deaths in custody in the Gawler Police station in the late 1800s.

I am going to touch on one briefly in this article.

In 1872, a man by the surname Docherty had been arrested in front of his own home for suspicion of stealing a horse saddle three months earlier. The arrest was made by Sergeant Woodcock at 5am on the 16^th of October 1872.
  The sergeant took the defendant back to the Gawler Police station on Cowan Street and placed him in the cells.

Precautions were taken to make sure the prisoner had no weapons upon his body and he was left alone in the cells, checked upon on a regular basis by the station officers, as was customary.

 Docherty was last seen alive at 9pm Saturday night when his dinner was brought to him by Constable Farrell.

Docherty had been totally sober and of no nuisance to the Police officers, not complaining about his situation nor offering any objection to his treatment.

He was found hanging from his belt the following morning by constable Farrell, who called on Sergeant Woodcock to come and assist in cutting down the man.

  Docherty had climbed up on his night bucket, and slipped his belt loop through the top rails above the doorway, then fastened the belt. He then made a makeshift noose and hung himself.

  Due to the extreme summer heat at the time, it was decided to make an inquest into Docherty's death that same day. His friends and wife were called to the courthouse to offer witness statements as to the mental condition of the man.
  His wife told officers as of late, her husband, who was usually a quiet man who took no alcohol, had become much keen to drink and was often out drinking and doing things in the scrub, but she was not aware of what, as he did not say.

The Police made a report that Mr Docherty's suicide was: 'The deceased, being of weak intellect, committed suicide in a fit of temporary insanity”!

There were many more reported suicides and attempted suicides in the Gawler Police Station, as well as many other police stations around Australia. In the era, for most people, being arrested was a much more serious thing than it is now. People liked to keep good reputations intact, and being arrested, or worse, gaoled, was the kind of thing that could cost not only livelihoods but also social status and Church Status in serious jeopardy. 
Often people once released would move on to new areas to try and wash those old stains from their past.

The link below shows statistics for deaths in custody across Australia in the last few years: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/mr/1-20/20/08_prison.html

The following link shows statistics for crimes over various decades.

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4524A092E30E4486CA2569DE00256331