The Ghost of Kitty Whyte

Brighton Beach The Ghost of Kitty Whyte

“Perfect service rendered, duties done

In charity, soft speech & stainless days:

These riches shall not fade away in life

Nor any death dispraise”

(From The Light of Asia by Sir E.Arnold)

In March 1926 Adelaide suffered its first shark attack fatality at Brighton Beach when a young lady, Kitty Whyte, went swimming off the pier and was attacked by a Great White shark.

Memorial to Mrs Whyte

Kathleen Whyte (nee Macully) was the daughter of an Anglican Priest in Brighton. She was holidaying in Brighton with her two young children, awaiting her husband to join them from Port Augusta.

Kitty, as she preferred to be called, was an energetic worker for the Glenelg and Brighton branch of the District Trained Nursing Society, and also taught young children swimming.

On the day of her death, she had just finished teaching her young swimming class, and had her two children with her, when she decided to enter the water again, within minutes.

Mr Harry Southcott, who happened to be seated upon the Jetty, heard loud screams and went to see what was wrong, He witnessed Kitty struggling in the water. Soon the whole ocean around her turned

red with her blood.
 Mr Southcott and another local Mr Trott jumped into a dinghy which happened to be sitting next to the jetty and made their way, 100 feet out into the water where Kitty was frantically struggling.

The two men dragged her into the boat, where she gave them a look of recognition and became unconscious. The two men got her to the shore, where a Doctor was called.

Kitty Whyte died on her way to the hospital from massive trauma and blood loss.

Barrier Miner
, Friday 19 March 1926, page 4

Dr Yeatman who examined Kitty's body found that no one could have helped Mrs Whyte stay alive. The shark had first grabbed her by the left ankle, then when she struggled, had snapped at her body, a wound made its way from her thigh to her buttock, tearing the flesh from her bone and severing the femoral artery and muscles.

Brighton Beach has remained a relatively safe beach since the death of Kitty Whyte in 1926, with few deaths recorded on its shores since then.

Since Kitty's death in 1926, the ghost of a young woman has been seen running along the shore, or at times, along the pier. Witness's claim they watch the young lady as she jumps into the water but she simply vanishes from sight before hitting the water!
 Could this be the ghost of beach-loving Kitty Whyte?

After her death in 1926, a drinking fountain near the jetty entrance was erected in Kitty's memory.

© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

A Haunting in the Stirling Community Theatre

A Haunting in the Stirling Community Theatre

On 20 October 1883, Dr Edward Stirling (Later Sir Edward Stirling) laid the foundation stone for the Stirling Institute Hall.
On 18 January 1884, the Hall was opened, even though it was not yet completed. A large “opening party” was held in Dr Stirling's Aldgate flower gardens.
It wasn't until Saturday, 8 May 1884 that a musical and literary evening was held at the hall, of which the hall would host many more, although somewhat sporadically, until 1972.

The building had two front rooms added in 1885. Further additions were completed in 1898. These included the stage area and two rooms upstairs. Downstairs, the two rooms were used as the Stirling Council offices and the town library. Two upstairs rooms were used by Council for meetings, Lodge on Friday nights, and Anglican church services on Sundays.

The Hall was well used by locals, with silent movies being played there, dances and Grand Balls to raising money for the local hospital. In 1962 the library closed and in 1978 the movie theatre ceased showing films.

The building was saved from demolition in 1972. An effort was made by local community groups to revamp the Hall, the name was changed to the Stirling Community Centre (later to become the Stirling Community Theatre). In 1972 the two resident groups were the Stirling Players and the Hills Musical Company.
The facilities of the location improved over the years and now the Theatre stands to the testament of its two main attractions, The Stirling Players and Hills Musical Company, if neither had attracted large crowds with their excellent reputations, this building would probably have been lost to development many years ago.

It is rumoured that the old council chambers are haunted by a former councillor who was caught having an affair with a colleagues wife. The husband, it is said, beat the adulterous colleague senseless and stuffed him into a large safe in the building, where he eventually suffocated and died.

As far as we have been able to ascertain so far, this is just a rumour, as of yet, we have found no verifiable facts about a man dying in a safe in the Council Chambers.



© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

The Gandhi Ghost of Wasleys

The Gandhi Ghost of Wasleys

1953, Wasley's, a town on the Adelaide Plains, north of Gawler. A ghost was sighted walking the streets in obvious distress.

A witness stated:

"Eventually, the ghost entered the hall where the ball was being held...the crowd stared....and the ghost asked his friend for directions... home!?!"

So, what was really going on in Wasley's on that night?

 A well known Gawler business identity of the era was invited to a ball at Wasley's, and whether a practical joke or just a misunderstanding, believing the ball was a fancy dress occasion.

He drove to his friend's house and got ready, ripping off his clothes. He covered his head in one white sheet, and his body in another, and made his way to the dance hall.

Once inside, he sat in the middle of the ballroom floor and started a Gandhi impersonation...only to realise, as he looked up, that no-one else was in fancy dress.

He quickly stood and departed as the crowd's laughter erupted in his ears, and made his way outside and down the street – only to find, he didn’t know where he was and was lost in Wasley's...

20 minutes later, the 'ghost of Gandhi', now embarrassed and dishevelled re-entered the dance hall, to ask directions back to his freinds house so he could change into his normal attire.

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Humbug Scrub Wildlife Sanctuary

 Humbug Scrub Wildlife Sanctuary

The sanctuary, located behind the Parra Wirra Reserve near One Tree Hill in Adelaide's north, not far from the Barossa Valley was first established in 1905 by Thomas Bellchambers
Thomas was a keen naturalist and wanted to preserve native fauna and flora, he did this by establishing the wildlife sanctuary and writing articles for various newspapers and magazine columns he also wrote books based on the plants and animals he found in the sanctuary and surrounding scrub.

In the middle of the sanctuary Thomas built a small stone hut, and in i,t he lived with his wife, Eliza and ten children, with no electricity or running water.
The Sanctuary garnered national attention and has been visited by dignitaries such as Governor Generals.
In time Thomas passed the sanctuary on to one of his sons, who took care of the property, and now Thomas own grandson, Neville is the caretaker. Tom's old cottage is now a museum, housing a large collection of photos and histories associated with the Bellchambers family and the sanctuary and surrounding gold mines.
Neville who also grew up in the sanctuary is a very kind, spiritual man, and someone I got to know on a personal level when I volunteered at the Sanctuary, it was through Neville, and long time volunteer Keith, that I got to hear many of the local ghost stories associated with the Sanctuary, many of which happened directly to Keith during his 20 years as a volunteer.
The cottage sits above a small lake, and is 2kms from the nearest road, isolated in the middle of the sanctuary. I was very lucky to be allowed to investigate the Sanctuary and Cottage on a number of occasions over the years, and through my investigations got to feel first hand, some of the goings on in the cottage.

The first story I heard was relayed to me by Keith. Some time ago, he was camping in the sanctuary on rifle duty as stray cats and dogs had been attacking the animals. He noticed strange lights down near “Lingalonga”, a small wooden shelter where volunteers prepare food for the animals.
The lights seemed to float in and out of the hut and around the storage sheds, thinking it might be kids who have wandered across the fence line, he went to take a look. When he got close enough he realised the lights were not torches, but free floating little balls of light, that soon extinguished upon him getting closer.
Another story, which was relayed to me was that of a tourist visiting the cottage, she came back to the volunteer area and asked if there was a costume event on that day. She had seen a man in period clothing, a white shirt with a vest over the top, standing on the front porch of the cottage of which she was about to enter, rather than disturb a re-enactment she walked down to the entry to enquire about goings on.

The volunteer on duty couldn't offer an explanation, so the two of them walked up to the cottage and went inside, when the lady started looking at the numerous photos spread around the cottage, she pointed to one and exclaimed: “that’s him!”.

The photo she was pointing at was an old shot on Thomas Bellchambers, wearing a white shirt with a vest over the top – this was not the last time Thomas was seen, he has also been seen by various other guests around the cottage and near his grave which stands at the top of the hill overlooking the entire sanctuary.
Another interesting story involves the cottage itself, on occasion, volunteers camp at the sanctuary, or host night tours, on a few different occasions a glow has been witnessed coming from the fireplaces in the cottage. The fireplaces have not been in use for many many years.

One of my own experiences involved the cottage. Myself and a friend were camping at the sanctuary and were given permission to investigate the cottage, we let ourselves in at about midnight, and sat facing each other, at the table. We turned out torches off, and in the pitch black began to ask questions. It didn't take long until we heard shuffling footsteps inside the cottage with us!
We sat still and listened, and could feel a cold breeze circling us in the room, we both turned out torches on at the same time, as we both felt we had been touched, thinking it was the other making a joke...neither of us had touched each other – we tried further experiments into the night, but nothing happened again during that night, no noises, no cold breezes, no touching.



Whilst camping on a hot summer night, Keith took myself and friend on a night bushwalk to some old ruins behind the Sanctuary, he gave us the following story.
 During World war two, many German people were set upon by their fellow Australians out of fear and suspicion that they were secretly helping the Nazi war effort by sabotaging things here in Australia.
 Many camps were set up around the state to "protect" the German people - one camp was set near Sandy Creek, not far from Gawler
 To escape the persecution, a German man, known as "Flett" fled into the wilderness around humbug scrub - he set himself up a makeshift humpee in the ruins of one of the old mining town buildings and lived a very secluded life.
He would fire warning shots from his rifle over the heads of anyone coming near him - the only man game enough to do so was the caretaker of the nearby wildlife sanctuary, Mr Bellchambers, who would walk down and leave Hessian bags, and sometimes food for Flett, the two men never spoke, but had a feeling of mutual respect and never got involved in each others business
 Flett met a tragic end, his body was found lying on the road near Parra Wirra, his bicycle, which he pushed everywhere (but never once rode), was lying next to him - his body was severely beaten
Stories of the ghost of Flett now haunt the old mining area, often he appears when someone comes near his old home, some dilapidated ruins near the back lake of the Sanctuary, but he has been seen on the road near where died as well. One witness who contacted me directly spoke of seen a man laying on the ground as his family drove past, he got up and looked the driver in the eye, and as he did, his body and clothing turned black and he disappeared, the witness described the colour a fluid movement of what we saw as similar to and “Ink Blot”...

There are other stories from the sanctuary that won't be discussed here as they contain locations and information that are culturally sensitive, but there are other mysteries that are yet to be solved, like who's grave is it that lays in the middle of the scrub, far from anything?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Humbug-Scrub-Wildlife-Sanctuary/246989421651

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

All content on “Eidolon Paranormal & The Haunts of Adelaide” sites, 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 ThStatete 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 Station Masters House - Peake

Station Masters House – Peake

Back in 2010, I had the pleasure of visiting a friend (and team member at the time) down south near Tailem Bend. We visited many places during our travels, including Tailem Town, but we also stopped at the Station Masters Hours at Peake.

We had been made aware of the house by a local who had suggested it for a possible investigation site, and I thought whilst in the area I would look into too it. While the history was interesting, of which we will get to shortly, the site was not suitable for an investigation of any kind without a serious clean-up.

On our inspection, we noted the large amounts of pigeon droppings inside, and one wall of the kitchen was entirely infested by swarms of bees.

Much too and fro-ing happened in the Eidolon Paranormal office, do we get in an apiarist to remove the bees, and clean the place ourselves, or do we not investigate at all, plus with no stories of a genuine haunting, only one of death, was it worthwhile? – in the end, the distance to travel and the cost of cleaning the site won out, and we let it be... Still, I wonder, if cleaned up (which would be a gift to the local Peake community) would something paranormal indeed be found in the Old Station Masters house?

Peake is a little farming community about 150 km east of Adelaide, not far from Tailem Bend. It was first settled in 1912 and named after the State Premier of the time, Archibald Peake.

It was a major stopping point for rail in the area, is one of many stops for loading grain onto freight trains, and also a passenger stop for people getting to local farms.

The town itself was very smaller at the time, and remains a small town, with a population of about 200 people currently.

The Station Masters House was built in 1912 and used continuously until 1990. The last Peake Station Master was Jozeff (Joe) Suchon. Mr Suchon was 78 years old when he died on the kitchen floor of the House back on the 8^th of January 1990.

Local legend has it that he was a very rude man and one who did not take well to his neighbours and other townsfolk, with only one person in the town who would visit him, on a very irregular basis, delivering wood in winter.

Mr Sucheon died in the kitchen, it is presumed of a heart attack, after bringing in wood from the little woodshed at the rear of the house, he fell in such a way that the rear door could not be opened inwards.

His body lay on the floor for over a week, in the January heat before being found, one can only imagine the smell and the mess. This poor man’s body could not be extracted any other way than to cut the lino floor around his remains and lift him out, a very messy and distasteful job for anyone to carry out.

Today the house is part of a tourist walk through Peake, and the local tourist catalogue, even states the above facts about Mr Suchon's death, even mentioning the fact you can see on the kitchen floor exactly where the lino had been cut around his body to remove his remains... Rest in Peace Mr Suchon

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

All content on “Eidolon Paranormal & The Haunts of Adelaide” sites, 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.

Bushrangers of South Australia

Bushranger's of South Australia

George Hughes, Henry Curran and James Fox were the scourge of the South Australian colony back in 1839 – 1840. These three lawless men committed countless crimes, from Crafers to Gawler, and will be forever remembered as Bushrangers.

Crafers Hotel 1840's

The three men were notorious in their time, and struck fear into the hearts of men and women in South Australia, on one occasion they “stuck up” Mincalta house , just outside Gawler, a building on the Estate of Kingsford House, which was made famous on “McLeod's Daughters”, An Australian Television show.

Long before their life of crime in South Australia, these men were well-known criminals. George Hughes was sent to Australia after a crime spree in the South-West English county of Gloucestershire. His brother was hung for his crimes, whilst George was sent to New South Wales as a convict.

Hughes and Curran met whilst convicts in New South Wales, and made their escape in 1839, they spent months crossing the harsh country, still shackled in chains, to make it to South Australia. Somewhere along the way, they met James Fox, and not long after committed the aforementioned crime outside Gawler, and then held up a sheep station close by.

The three men held up Mina Pffender, the Station Managers wife, demanding supplies and money, Mina refused to give over anything to the three men, and fearing for her life, escaped. One of the men shot at her as she ran, but missed. Mina made it to safety and raised the alarm, but the local constabulary was far too late, and the three men were long gone

The men made their way towards Mount Crawford, camping along the way, they took target practice sessions, peppering a tree with sprays of bullets from their guns, which in turn led the local police to issue a report, and some smart constable to put two and two together as too who had used so many precious bullets.

The men made their way to Crafers in the Adelaide Hills and were eventually caught by the police there, drunk in a local hotel.

The three men were charged with numerous crimes, including theft and armed robbery, Hughes and Curran were also charged with Rape, a crime that could see a man hung in Australia at the time.

The three men were brought up on charges, and somewhat of a media circus ensued, little Adelaide, at the time, had seen nothing like this before.

The Adelaide Gaol Governor, Mr Ashton, released a statement to the local newspaper “The Adelaide Chronicle” which held a list of prisoners for trial on the 4th of March 1840, included was the charges against Hughes, Curran and Fox.

In the article, it claimed the three men had stolen a “coat, a waist-coat and several articles of clothing.  Value five pounds, the property of Michael Pffender, with the intention of murdering her, on the 26th January 1840.  Also for stealing from the tent of Julius Fielder, on the 28th January 1840, 20 lbs. of flour, 6 lbs. pork, 4 lbs. sugar, 1 lb tea, 5 in notes some power and shot, a double-barrelled gun, a pistol etc., the property of the said Julius Fielder.  Also for stealing from the tent of Mr Jones, a gun, his property, value ₤5.”

The South Australian Register, another local newspaper of the time also ran a story on the case, which was much longer and featured evidence brought against the men by Pffender family, of which the three men had robbed. - the story ran on March 7th 1840 and can be found on National Libraries Trove website

The three men were found guilty, but Fox, who had shown some signs of remorse, was given a lighter, merciful sentence of life in prison. Hughes and Curran though were to be hung in a public execution.

Justice was quick in those days, and the 4th hanging of men in South Australia was to be done on March 16th 1840, in front of the States first Police Barracks, publicly.

Even though he knew he was about to die, Hughes callousness and bravado reigned, turning an already grotesque public display into an even more repulsive event.

He asked for some tobacco and pipe so he could have his last smoke, already tied around the arms, and about to be walked up to the steps to the noose, he suddenly lunged forward and rushed the stairs of the scaffold and ran at the executioner's assistants who were readying the noose.

Hughes was restrained by two men as he kicked and protested.

Curran, in a much more solemn mood with his death fast approaching, stared into the gathered crowd.

The noose was put over their heads, and as the switch was pushed and the men began to fall, Hughes, defiant to the last, caught his boot on the edge of the scaffold – only to have it kicked off by the Colonial Chaplain.

Thus ended the lives of two of South Australia's Bushrangers...

Further reading:

http://www.barossaherald.com.au/story/252956/historic-kingsfords-new-chapter/

http://books.google.com.au/books/about/History_of_Gawler_1837_to_1908.html?id=htQNAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y

Crafers Hotel

http://www.crafersinn.com.au/history/  

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

All content on “Eidolon Paranormal & The Haunts of Adelaide” sites, 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.

Devlin's Ghost

 It has been alleged the ghost of a man, with a long red beard, and flowing red locks is seen riding on a white horse around the area of Devlin's Pound not far from the Overland Corner Hotel. It is thought the spirit is that of either one of two men, Patrick or Jim Devlin.

So why is the spirit of this man haunting the area?

 In 1846, cattle were sent via routes from New South Wales to Adelaide. To get across the Murray River, the route crossed near Renmark. An area not far from the pound was found to be a good place to herd the cattle, where they wouldn't wander off or need to be watched the entire night.

Due to the constant traffic of stock drovers, a crafty young man named Patrick Devlin erected a wine shanty where stockmen could drink and refresh themselves, eat a meal, and safely sleep. The wine shanty was illegal and attracted many unsavoury types, including prostitutes and bushrangers.

It is said Devlin got tired of eating fish daily and began to hunger for some prime beef. He produced a cunning plan and began to help himself the stock at the pound, herding it up into the safety of the cliffs around the pound.
 Devlin got away with his cattle rustling for a long time, he had begun small but got ever more confident and ever less cautious. His greed soon took him to rustle his neighbour's cattle, and that proved to be his mistake.

Patrick Devlin, owner of the wine shanty suddenly disappeared without a trace. For a while, the locals thought he'd packed up his swag and set off around the country with all the money he'd made selling illegal grog.


  A few years passed and a shallow grave was found. In it was the skeleton of a man with a bullet hole in his skull, and a matted red beard across his face. The person who found the grave knew straight away they had found the body of Patrick Devlin. Legends began to spring up straight away about his death, some suggested he was killed for the treasure of a few sovereigns hidden under the wine shanty floor, and others say he was killed by a local stock drover who caught him red-handed. Then there were rumours it was the local constable, that he had confronted Devlin, and a gunfight had erupted – whatever the cause, Devlin was dead.

Not long after his body was found, Devlin was seen again, on a dark stormy night as a flash of lightning lit the cliffs. A man on a white horse was seen on the ridge of the Pound, his long red hair and red beard flowing in the strong wind.
He was seen many nights when the weather was bad, and all who saw him knew it was Patrick Devlin, returned from the dead; seeking vengeance for his death from whomever's gun had dealt the fatal blow.

To this day there is supposed to be a buried saddle bag somewhere in the Pound that was put there by a Bushranger who never returned to claim it!

DEVLIN’S GHOST

He’d travelled from auld Ireland’s shores no one knew when or why,

and wandered through Australia’s lands, beneath the southern sky.

But finally he settled down, and with grog he did some peddling,

And thus began the legend of the man called ‘Paddy Devlin’.

His shanty, made from river gums, was on the stock route track,

and cattleman would stop for grog and rest their aching back.

The cattle too, would quench their thirst down at the Mighty Murray

for drovers back in those old days were never in a hurray.

They brought their herds from NSW, headed for Adelaide town,

And the word soon spread that Devlin’s shack, was the place to bed them down.

But ‘Paddy’, sick of eating fish, hungered for some beef,

And soon one dark and moonless night he turned into a thief.

It started with a single beast, that from the herd did stray,

But soon it grew to several head that vanished every day.

The drovers searched along the track, but never one was found,

For they were hid below the cliff, all safe in ‘Devlin’s Pound’.

But Devlin made one big mistake, he preyed upon his neighbour,

A thing that simply was not done, in this land they call Australia.

He disappeared from the scene and nothing more was heard,

Some said he’d simply packed his swag and flown off like a bird.

The years passed by and then one day a shallow grave was found,

The bones and skull, with a bullet hole, were just below the ground.

A long red beard was proof enough that this was ‘Paddy Devlin’,

And that he’d met his just deserts because of his foolish meddling.

Soon tales were told of ghostly deeds along the old cliff top,

And drovers would avoid the place, no longer would they stop.

For it was said that ‘Devlin’s Ghost’ astride a now white steed,

Would still be driving cattle off to satisfy his greed.

So if by chance you pass that way on a lonely moonless night,

Maybe you’ll be rewarded by this chilling fearful sight.

Be not dismayed, just pour a glass and raise it in a toast,

Then you may brag in every bar, that you drank with Devlin’s Ghost.

– Author: John Gordon.

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au