Dolly's Dollars: The Ghosts of the South Coast Part VI

Dolly's Dollars

Around 148 years ago, in the seaside town of Robe, a little lady named Mary Ann Bryan, came to live.

No-one was sure if she was married or single, as no-one asked and she never introduced herself as such, only as “Dolly”, and that is the only name she became known by.

Dolly ran the local school, near what is now the Robe Hotel, and also a small shop from the same building which was a haberdashery, offering linen, clothing and other materials and also eventually included dressmaking as one of her items of sale, which in turn brought in a tidy profit.

Her school was the third school to be located in the town after the previous school mistresses passed their licences in upon getting married.

Dolly soon attracted the female squatters and settlers of the area and made a great deal of profit from them from her dress sales, but in the late 1860's she fell deathly ill, and called her maidservant, who took care of a lot of her business, to her bedside, telling her to give her desk to Mrs Peter Roberts.

Dolly soon succumbed to her illness and passed away, the local papers ran notifications looking for next of kin, but no-one came forward. Mrs Roberts, concluding that the desk being given to her gave her some right to Dolly's estate made a claim for Dolly's wealth and belongings. She was awarded a grand sum of £700 (pounds), the family up and left Robe and were never seen again.

This left about £12,000 (pounds) in the Estate curators hands, unclaimed. The money sat untouched for several years.

Eventually someone did come forward to claim the money, a young man and woman, and it was paid unto them, only for the Auditor General to discover that the young man was an officer within his own branch who took the money and with his lady friend absconded to Mexico along with three months of “Leave of Absences” pay.

Church of England Dolly's Ghost was seen within

England had no treaty of extradition with Mexico at the time so the young man was untouchable, this didn’t stop the law at the time trying to coax him out on “fishing trips” to the three-mile open waters, where he could be arrested.

The young man was far too clever for the police and stayed well away from their nets, living like a king in Mexico on Dolly's hard earned money.

Meanwhile back in Robe, Dolly's body lay in the local cemetery, with no family visiting, she was a forgotten soul in the lonely cemetery until one day, whilst folk were cleaning the Robe Church of England, Dolly was seen praying inside the Church.

She stood, walked to the cleaning lady and said: “I will come again”...

Dolly's grave can be found in Robe Cemetery, it is surrounded with a large, hand-hammered, iron railing...

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

All content on “Eidolon Paranormal & The Haunts of Adelaide” site, blog and corresponding media pages (eg Facebook, twitter etc) is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any means or process without the written permission of the author. © 2012, 2013

All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.

Somphotos's used here on this site are sourced from The State Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.

The Legend of Ben Bounty: Ghosts of the South Coast part V

Ghosts of the South Coast: Part V
The Legend of Ben Bounty

Tantanoola, a little town not too far away from Mount Gambier was the host to a cave ghost in 1890. The Ghost was spotted by travellers on a few occasions and reported to local police, who in their duties never came across the restless spirit.
The ghost was seen in the same vicinity on the Mount Gambier to Millicent road on several occasions by different travelling parties.
It never once hurt anybody or tried to communicate, but it did scare several young men who were riding their horses between the towns and spotted it in the moonlight, staring at them, from the entrance of the cave.

Tantanoola Caves

Not far away on the outskirts of Tantanoola comes the story of our next local ghost.
During the 1870s, a local man, known as Ben Bounty was prospecting, trying to make his fortune, looking for the legendary “gold reef” that was supposed to lay in the caves and cliffs and surrounding hills.


He visited the local quarry one day and noticed a Chinese man a sailor, who had obviously, by his dress and demeanour, been smuggled ashore near Cape Banks.
It was well known that Chinese nationals were flocking to Australia for the gold rush in Victoria, but the Vics had put a toll on the Chinese coming into their State from the sea, the easiest way around was to come into Port MacDonnell or Robes ports and then walk across the border, hence avoiding the toll. Obviously, some of the shady characters couldn't risk the customs houses and would be smuggled ashore and hidden away until they could join a travelling party and blend in.

Tantanoola Hotel

The Chinese man looked at Ben Bounty and pulled from his belt a large knife, he balanced it for only a second, then threw it at the prospector.
Bounty was never seen alive again.
A while later, the story got around about the old prospector and the Chinaman, from the very mouth of the murderer, who seemed quite pleased with what he had done.
One evening, a few young men, who had heard the rumour of Bounty's death, went to the quarry to investigate for themselves, at exactly 8 o'clock in the evening, they witnessed a white-clothed figure leaning against the wall inside the quarry. They stood and watched, one boy got brave and went a little closer to investigate.
When he was just a few yards from the man in white, the man moved just a little, and in the moonlight, the young lad could see the knife in his chest, reflecting the moon!
The boys ran from the quarry terrified, and from there, the legend of Ben Bounty's ghost grew into a local ghost story told around campfires to scare young children...

© 2013 Allen Tiller

The Grinning Ghost of Mount Gambier: Ghosts of the South Coast Part IV

Ghosts of the South Coast

Part IV

The Grinning Ghost of Mount Gambier

  In 1937 Mount Gambier was a bustling town, Adelaide's second biggest city, a tourist hotspot, and plagued by a ghost!

Chronicle Thursday 24 June 1937, page 46

  Endless reports over a few weeks were being filed with the local police of a ghost running amok on Mount Gambier's streets. Women were fainting at the sight of it, men were running away scared and the Police had very little to go on. The ghost seemed to magically disappear in the presence of the police.

Descriptions of the ghost claim that it was totally white from head to toe, with glowing yellow eyes and a large grin.

 A rumour also sprung up around the town at one point that the ghost had been captured and hidden away in the local Police cells. the police, who had yet to witness the ghost, denied these claims and stated they did not have the facilities to keep a ghost.

Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW  1888 - 1954)
 Thursday 24 June 1937, page 5

  Two men had an interesting encounter with the Mount Gambier ghost. When walking past the local primary school at 2am one morning, one of the men felt someone tap him on the shoulder. When he turned to see who had tapped him, he saw the grinning ghost staring back at him.

  He and his friend panicked and bolted down the road as fast as they could. They soon gained their wits and courage and returned to the primary school to investigate, where they saw the ghost, who also saw them. The ghost leapt over a fence and ran away from the men!

Town Hall - photo by Allen Tiller

  The men, thinking of outsmarting the ghost, ran around the outside of the school to the front gates, where it seemed their ghostly attacker would be heading. They were in luck!
 As the ghost turned the corner to exit the school, one of the men made to grab him, the ghost startled, turned and ran back the way he had come!

The two men ran to the local police station and awoke the constable there to tell him of the ghostly sighting, but it was now too late to capture him as he had fled the scene....or simply vanished...

  The two men got a very good description of the ghost, which they said looked like a man wearing a woman’s dress over his head, tied off around his waist.

Another person, this time a woman, was found unconscious in Grey-Street later that week. When awoken and questioned she said the ghost had surprised her when it touched her on the shoulder, she had fainted and didn't know anymore.

Another police search ensued, but again, the ghost had vanished.

Things got a little more dangerous when a local minister reported that he had been awoken during the night in his house when the ghost had been watching him through his window. He silently pulled out his gun, and shot towards the ghost, wounding it!

After this final encounter with a religious man, the ghost fled into the night, and never returned again!

© 2013 Allen Tiller

The Death of Captain Broadfoot: Ghosts of the South Coast Part 3

Ghosts of the South Coast

Part III
The Death of Captain Broadfoot

Port MacDonnell is located 450km southeast of Adelaide and is the southernmost town in South Australia. The first European to sight the area is thought to have been Lieutenant James Grant whilst sailing the ship, The Lady Nelson (now part of the Mount Gambier Tourism Centre), and later the port was named after Governor Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell.
The town officially became a port on the 4th of April 1860.

Coastline view from old Port MacDonell Light-house

 It is a beautiful place to visit, with an amazing scenic coastline, and one of the longest jetties' in South Australia and was second only to Port Adelaide in terms of business, shipping wool and grains around Australia and the world.

In 1853 murder came to Port MacDonnell when Captain Broadfoot, Captain of the ship “Jane Lovett” (which was wrecked) was murdered by two men working locally as shepherds at Leak's Station.

South Australian Register,
 Friday 11 November 1853.

The men would do his chores, shave him, the menial household stuff the Old Captain could no longer do for himself, but would also go and plunder the old Captain's wrecked ship.

One day Broadfoot saw the two men, pillaging the cargo from his ship and went to confront them, he wasn’t seen again until much later, when a man named Ferguson and a local Aboriginal found the Captain, with his throat cut, and the cut-throat razor in his left hand, the paralysed hand.

Instantly an alarm was raised in the town, the local constable who knew Captain Broadfoot very well, knew he could not grasp a bottle, let alone a cut-throat razor in his left hand, and deduced that suicide was out of the question, He also knew Crawford and Stevens aided the old man regularly.

The two men, Crawford and Stevens were Van-Demonians ( A term used to describe people from the then-named “Van Diemans Land”, now known as Tasmania) who were very well known in the local area.

Customs House - Port MacDonell

The Two men used to visit Captain Broadfoot, who was a very old drunk with a paralysed hand and couldn't do much for himself anymore.

The constable went to Crawford's meagre hut to question him and quickly decided to handcuff the alleged murderer. Whilst there Crawford asked the Constable to get him a drink before he took him back to the station, of which the humble officer did, only to turn around to face Crawford again with the drink and find Crawford holding a gun.

Crawford then uncuffed himself, stole a horse and rode off to Mount Gambier to make his escape, local gossip at the time reports that he went straight to bar that had two officers in it and ordered a drink but made a clean getaway.

Stevens, on the other hand, was arrested at Mount Schanck, past Mount Gambier, where he confessed (conveniently) that he had seen Crawford slit the throat of the Old Captain, he was duly sent to trial.
Steven's trial was to be held in Adelaide, and upon getting near to the city, he escaped, ran to a butcher's shop where meat was being cut for trade, and asked to have his chains cut off. The Butcher refused and a scuffle broke out, the Police were soon upon the scene, and Stevens (also spelt Stephens in some news reports) was rearrested and duly taken to the police courts.

Soon it was discovered that Crawford and Stevens were both ex-convicts and known for their criminal activity, which didn't fair well for Stephens who was duly sentenced and did time in Adelaide Gaol.
Crawford, on the other hand, had long escaped into the bush, but word got back to the police that he was telling everyone, that “I won't be going down without there being bloodshed” - but he was never heard from in South Australia again. It is assumed that he changed his appearance and name and returned at some point later to recover the stolen money and valuables he had hidden somewhere near Mount Gambier.

© 2013 Allen Tiller

Ghosts of the South Coast: Mount Gambier Gaol Part 2

Ghost of the South Coast

Old Mount Gambier Gaol

Part 2

Last week we looked into a little of the history of the gaol and ended our blog with some brief insight to the crimes of two of the men executed there, this week we look into the last execution at the Old Mount Gambier Gaol, that of William Nugent a.k.a. Robert Johnson, a man who killed a State Trooper, and paid with his own life.

The last man to be executed in Mount Gambier Gaol happened on the 18^th of November 1881. William Nugent a.k.a. Robert Johnson had been apprehended for supplying liquor to the Aboriginals at Wellington.

Trooper Pearce had stopped Nugent and insisted he follows him back to Kingston, of which Nugent agreed and began to follow with his three horses in tow.

Nugent knew he was in trouble, the three horses were stolen! He asked the trooper if he could stop for a while, and they did so, but the trooper insisted he remount his horse and get on with the journey, Nugent agreed, as the Trooper began to remount his horse he turned his back on Nugent.

Nugent didn’t hesitate, pulled a knife from his boot and stabbed Trooper Pearce, severely wounding the officer. Nugent fled with his three horses, with the notion of crossing the border into Victoria.

Trooper Pearce, a 24-year-old young man, who had only two years earlier applied to become a Minister of the Wesleyan Church. Pearce was found on the side of the road by passers-by, of which one road into Kingston to find the Sergeant.

The Sergeant sent the injured Trooper back into town by horse and cart, and then, with two other Troopers set off to find Nugent, which they did very easily as Nugent was slowed down by his three horses in tow.

Nugent was arrested and sent to Mount Gambier Gaol.

Trooper Pearce had identified Nugent as his attacker, three days later, whilst sitting in his bed, with his Mother and Father sitting next to him, the 24-year-old died of his wounds.

It was said by Nugent that whilst in his cell, he suddenly felt as though someone was next to him. He distinctly heard the voice of Trooper Pearce say “ I came to tell you I hold no grudge against you Will Nugent, no doubt others will, but I do not”.

Like all three men Executed, William Nugent was buried within the Gaols walls, as the law stated during that time, although it is not known exactly where the men are buried no, it is though one may be behind cell 21, where Karen and I stayed, and the other two may be in, or nearer the courtyard where they were hung.

During our time inside the Gaol, the lovely concierge told us a few spooky ghost tales, of noises in the gaol and unusual happenings, it would seem cell four in the men's section, and the condemned mans cells seem to be most active with strange goings on, but also, a lady in white has been seen walking through the courtyard between the dining room and cells, no-one is sure who she is, but she could be one of the women who was imprisoned with her children in tow, as was normal at the time, or she could be a woman who gave birth inside the gaol, as records indicate did happen!  

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Ghosts of the South Coast: Mount Gambier Gaol - Part 1

Ghosts of the South Coast

Old Mount Gambier Gaol

Part 1

In 2013, as part of our Honeymoon, my wife and I had the privilege of spending two nights in the Old Mount Gambier Gaol; and although nothing paranormal happened whilst we were present, there have been plenty of reported accounts of paranormal goings-on in the building in the recent past.

Border Watch,
 Tuesday 4 June 1946, page 14

What you are about to read below is taken from previous writings from my now-defunct Eidolon Paranormal website. The following is a brief account of the history and ghost stories. As I gather more information about the activities going on in the Gaol complex, I will post a more definitive review on the paranormal relationship of ghosts and guests, until then, enjoy this brief write-up.

History

The Old Mount Gambier Gaol was completed in 1866 after a need for a gaol in the southern regions of South Australia became an issue. 

The Gaol in Robe was insufficient and poorly built (only being open for ten years), and the Government at the time saw Mount Gambier as the next best location, and a more central place to build a gaol that would alleviate the issue of travel to Adelaide for inmates and Police officers.

The Gaol's first Keeper was George Tims.

A list of Keepers of Mount Gambier Gaol includes:

G.Tims – 1866

B. Young – 1884

D. Plunkett – 1888

S. Criddle – 1896.

R. McDonald – 1911

R. Lowe – 1917

E. Conole – 1920

H.E. Langlois – 1935

T. Lashbrook – 1960

A. Binnie – 1962

J Moody – 1963

G. Bullock – 1974

R.J Stratman – 1979 – until the Gaols closure in 1995

The Gaol has a long history of corporal punishment and hard labour, even unto children who were arrested and sentenced. One child, John MacMasters, a 13-year-old boy, was sentenced to Gaol for 18 months for forgery, where he would be inside with adult men, but to add more pain to his infliction, the judge also sentenced the boy to be flogged with 20 lashes in the last week of his stay at the gaol.

However, mercy was on the boy's side when the women of the local town heard of his plight and petitioned the Governor, who then spared the boy the flogging.

Where the ghost of a lady in
white is seen

Mary Turley was not so lucky, she was caught stealing and was on remand. Close to being imprisoned, her only saving grace, was her Father, who offered to give her a “severe whipping” for her crime. The judge allowed the Father's punishment and released the girl into his custody.

The Gaol saw death greet some of its prisoners. Suicide is the main account of death, usually by hanging. The first death by suicide was of an Aboriginal girl named Eliza Walton, on the 19^th of January 1867.

Two executed men are thought
to be buried here

In the life span of the gaol operating years, from 1866 to 1995, twelve people lost their lives inside the walls of Old Mount Gambier Gaol, 2 men were hung for their crimes, 5 people committed suicide by hanging, and 4 people lost their lives through natural causes.

The first execution in Mount Gambier Gaol happened on November 10^th, 1871. Carl Jung, a shoemaker and wine seller of German origin had gone into debt because of poor sales. In June that year, bailiff, Thomas Garroway was sent to seize the goods and effects of Jung.

The two men came to an agreement, and Jung was to follow the bailiff into Mount Gambier the following day. 

When morning broke and Jung joined Galloway to leave, the bailiff seized Jung's horse and cart, and some farm animals and set off for Mount Gambier.

 Jung was furious and set off after him. When he finally caught the bailiff, he shot him with both barrels of his shotgun at close range.

Jung tried to kill himself but was unsuccessful, and fled into the scrub to hide, but hunger overtook him and he returned to his home, where the police were waiting and apprehended him.

Jung was hung inside the Gaol, holding a bouquet of flowers, that he asked to be given to his wife upon his death.

Panorama of the cell blocks from the view of the Hanging Gallows

The next execution was that of William Page on the 27^th of October 1875. Page was convicted for the brutal and gruesome strangling murder of Mary Buchan.

Page, also known as William Walker, had long deserted his wife and family and was wanted on desertion charges. He met Mary and courted her. He soon proposed (with a stolen ring), but kept delaying the wedding. Mary's parents urged her to end the relationship.

On Sunday 11^th of July, 1875, Mary skipped Church to go for a walk with Page, her last walk on this Earth.

Her ending was pieced together by evidence given by Page, eyewitness accounts of Mary's whereabouts and Pathologist findings.

It is believed Mary went with Page, he pushed for sex, and Mary consented, but at the last minute refused, This angered Page, and an argument ensued, in which Mary returned the ring and refused marriage.

Page lost control and struck the girl with a whip with a metal tip on the end, Mary screamed uncontrollably from the pain, so Page grabbed her by the throat to quiet her, but killed her by doing so.

He buried her body and tried to hide the evidence of the crime, he then constructed an alibi, but he was already under suspicion, and when he tried to leave town were arrested.

Page pleaded guilty to his crimes of desertion, theft and murder and was duly sentenced and hung, at 8 am on the 27^th of October 1875.

Next week we look into the final execution at the Gaol

© 2013 Allen Tiller

Freemason Grand Lodge - Sinister by Design Part IV

Sinister by Design: Part 4

Grand Freemason Lodge – Adelaide

Most people are well aware of the long-standing Freemason society that spans the western world.
 It is one of the longest-running "secret" societies in the world and has created a great deal of speculation over what it really does, purely by being so secretive over the past couple of centuries.

Today we are visiting another location designed by Adelaide’s own Freemason architect, John Queten Bruce.

Don't let the name of this blog series fool you, I am actually a very big fan of his work, and admire a lot of his designs, but to put it simply, there seems to be a connection of hauntings and mysteries surrounding the grand houses and buildings he designed.

Is there a link to his being a Freemason?

Did he knowingly add an element to his designs that would attract the supernatural to his buildings?

That's not something anyone but Mr Bruce and his associates will know for sure, but there does seem to be circumstantial evidence to persist in looking further into his work and designs and a supernatural, or paranormal connection.

The Freemason Grand Lodge is another of Bruce's designs in partnership with W. H. Harral who worked as a superintendent.

The land was first purchased in 1922 with the foundation stone, laid under with traditional Freemason ceremony, three years later.

In 1927, the lodge rooms on the third and fourth floor were dedicated.

It is a remarkable landmark on North Terrace with its four massive columns over the entranceway and the words “Audi Vide Tace”, Latin for “Hear, see, be silent, if you would live in peace” carved in a stone inscription above the door and a further inscription stating, “Erected and Dedicated to the Great Architect of the Universe AD 1925”

The Freemason's themselves run their own tour of the building every Thursday, which gives insights into the history, the symbolism and who some of Adelaide's most notable Freemason were as well as a ghost story or two!

There is also a small collection of memorabilia on display on the ground floor and a museum on the mezzanine level. 

You can hear, and see more of the Grand Lodge in Adelaide via this news story, where the ABC get an inside look into the building, and some insight into the spooky goings-on within.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2009/06/22/2605121.htm?site=adelaide

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

All content on “Eidolon Paranormal & The Haunts of Adelaide” site, blog and corresponding media pages (eg Facebook, twitter etc) is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any means or process without the written permission of the author. © 2012, 2013

All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.

Some photos used here on this site are sourced from The State Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.