John Hill

John Hill 

Mr Hill served as boatswain (The Foreman of the “unlicensed” crew) in His Majesty, King William's Ship, The Buffalo. [1]

John Hill was born on the 3rd of June 1808 in Cheshurst, Hertfordshire England. Mr Hill was a skilled thatcher before serving for his King in the English Navy.

John Hill's most notable mark in South Australian history, other than coming to our fine shores aboard the Buffalo, under the soon to be Governor of South Australia, Captain John Hindmarsh, was to unfurl the flag at proclamation day ceremonies at Glenelg.

As the proclamation, declaring South Australia a British colony was read aloud to the gathered sailors and dignitaries, John Hill raised the British Flag, thus marking his place in South Australian history for all time. He was aged 29 at the time.

Mr Hill was soon engaged to thatch roofs for the newly colonised State, the only skilled Roof thatcher available he was very busy and was summoned to thatch the roof of the Governor's house.

Mr Hill lived much of his middle years in Wilpena before settling in Kapunda with his family, where he died at the age of 77, after fighting an illness for four months. Mr Hill died on the 2nd of April 1885 and was interred in The Clare Road Cemetery. 

Mr Hill's Wife and Family were very proud of the fact that their Husband and Father hoisted the flag on proclamation day and marked the significance upon his tombstone.

His grave also features a very distinct and different marking. It features as the centrepiece the “British Standard” with Gum tree carved into Headstone.

Mr Hills obituary appears in the South Australian Register on page 2, April 11th 1885 and reads:

Deaths of Pioneers.— Our Kapunda correspondent mentions that bluff, hearty old John Hill the boatswain of the Buffalo, who hoisted the flag at Glenelg when the colony was proclaimed, died on Thursday evening, after an illness of four months. He was 77 years of age, and during his life enjoyed the very best of health until recently, when he was attacked by bronchitis. During his illness he suffered a great deal. He leaves  a widow, who is somewhat older than himself 

[1] The “Buffalo” was originally named “The Hindostand” in 1813 when it was built it was sold in that same year to the United Kingdom Navy and renamed “The Buffalo” where it began to ship mast timbers across the globe. It eventually was used to ship English female prisoners to Sydney (187) then travelled to South Africa. The ship was recommissioned in 1835 where it was fitted to house emigrants for transport to Australian Colonies.

Please note, this post was originally made on a short-lived blog I wrote about Kapunda, due to the amount of time spent researching the paranormal, the Kapunda blog suffered a severe lack of posts - rather than lose the blog into the depths of Internet obscurity, I am reposting some of the research back onto this blog as much of it contains, History, Mystery and the Paranormal.

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Macksad Murder

Macksad Murder

Adelaide municipal golf links, a serene location, low rolling hills, trees and flower beds, but in May 1933, the links became home to a homicide crime scene when the body of 38-year-old unemployed fitter, Richard Joseph Supple, was found on the grounds.

Supple had been shot three times and badly beaten around his head with a large blunt object.
Mr Supple's death remained one of Adelaide’s great mysteries at the time. Police searched relentlessly for clues and evidence. There were gaps in the whereabouts of Supple on the day of his death from 3:30pm on Wednesday the 16th of May onwards.


The absence of facts in their enquiries baffled them, how can a man disappear so thoroughly, surely someone must have seen this moderately well-known man about Adelaide.

Detectives Corell, McGrath and Strangways, and a plain-clothed Constable, Sharoe, covered large areas of ground in their enquiries after the finding of Mr Supples body on a Thursday morning, they visited all his known hangouts, his home, his family and his friends, and eventually, some luck came there way when a car with blood on the running boards was found.
The blood was sampled and taken away to pathology for testing.

What was thought to be bullet holes in Mr Supple's body were found to be holes caused by a garden rake. An argument between Supple, his wife, and neighbour, Salem Macksad had broken out. Macksad had used the rake to assault Supple.

An inspection of Macksads Gilbert Street shop revealed pools of blood on his floor. Macksad was taken into custody. Police revealed they had a motive for the murder, but would not lay charges until the blood test result confirmed their suspicions.
Salem Macksad was charged with the first-degree murder of Richard Joseph Supple.


It was revealed that Mrs Supple had an affair with Macksad, her neighbour. They would stop under the trees on Memorial Drive to engage in their carnal desires, and sometimes in the botanic park; but always after she finished her shift working on North Terrace at around 6:30pm – her husband had no knowledge of the affair.

Richard had come home one night and found his wife in the kitchen of Macksad, which angered him greatly. That night he fought with his wife and struck her, giving her a black eye, and from that time on, knowing his wife was cheating on him, he began to drink heavily and make a nuisance of himself upon her.

It would seem during a heated exchange with Macksad one evening, Macksad grabbed a three-pronged hoe-rake and struck Supple in the head, causing three bullet-like puncture wounds, which the police would later think were bullet holes.

Mr Macksad who had a shop right next door to the Supple family home on Gilbert Street, and Mrs Supple were in the trists of a secret affair that Richard had stumbled upon it... and within a couple of weeks, he was dead.

Salem Macksad was duly sentenced to twelve years of hard labour in Adelaide Gaol

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Remembrance Day 2013

Remembrance Day 2013

Today is Remembrance Day (Also known as Armistice Day), a day that marks the anniversary of the armistice which ended the First World War (1914–18). Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month,".

Each year Australians (and most countries of the Commonwealth) observe one-minute silence at 11 am on 11 November, in memory of those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts.

I thought, as my Great Grandfather fought in this war that I would honour him by offering this weeks blog a day early and devoting it to him, a man I never met, but a man I will always respected, like so many other Australians who go to war, to give us the freedoms we have today.

Sadly, I only have two photos of my Great-Grandfather during his service period.

The man on the left with the "X" marked on him is my Great Grandfather Harold James Buckingham Tremaine. He is pictured here with the 6th Cavalry Brigade (Adelaide): , 9th, Light Horse Regiment

This picture was taken in Cairo as far as I am aware, There is no story attached to it that I know of, unfortunately, my Grandmother, had past-on before she could relay the story to me.

Harold James Buckingham Tremaine

Born in Kapunda 1882 - died in Kapunda 1967
(enrolment register)

                                     Service Number: 1613

Rank: Private

Roll title: 9 LHR [Light Horse Regiment] - 11 to 14 Reinforcements (October 1915 - February 1916)

Conflict: First World War, 1914-1918

Date of embarkation: 18 November 1915

Place of embarkation: Adelaide

Ship embarked on: HMAT Geelong A2

(Discharge Register)

http://cedunaworldwar1.weebly.com/t.html

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

A Mysterious Letter - The Torrens Drowning Case

A Mysterious Letter

Mysterious letters began to turn up at the local Adelaide police station in December 1931 and the home of the Lawson family in Hilton, after the body of 17-year-old James Charles Lawson was found at the bottom of the Torrens Weir in Adelaide.
The letters, sent anonymously, appeared to be made by someone lacking in literacy or trying to disguise themselves as appearing so.
The letter received by James' Mother, was signed “I am one who knows” and contained a number of insinuations toward the Mother that she may have had a hand in the boy's death. The letter also alluded to the boy running away from home regularly, and that the reason for this was known by the letter writer, insinuating it was caused by harsh treatment of James by his Mother.

One line in the letter stated “If an inquest is going to be held, I am going to make myself known”, a thinly veiled threat that this anonymous writer knew something more about the boys death and would come forward as a witness to provide possible evidence that could lead to a murder trial – the letter was signed by “A Mother”.



The police issued a statement urging this Mother to come forward and state the facts she knew. They assigned an officer, one they thought would be approachable, for the anonymous writer to come forward too. Constable E. J. Davis, a plainclothes officer.  'Mother' never came forward.

As is law, an inquest was held into the death of young James, and hoping that the anonymous writer would be brave enough to come forth, a young court orderly was sent into the hallway and doorways of the building and told to announce in his loudest voice “That if anyone wished to give further evidence, he, or she, should come forward now and be heard!”
No-one stepped forward.

It was found by the inquest that James died from drowning, Dr. A F Lynch, who conducted the post mortem examination added to the testimony stating that James had eaten a very heavy meal shortly before he entered the water and that, due to this, it was probable that a sudden chill on top of a full stomach had resulted in his losing consciousness and drowning.

Do you believe the verdict of the inquest, or do you think something more sinister happened to young James?

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween

  This week, I want to do something different and focus on Halloween. I know there will be plenty of readers who will go "oh, American rubbish", but Halloween isn't American! Its origins and celebrations predate the discovery of America and actually come from Europe, where in some places, like Scotland, it is still celebrated in its traditional form!

 You may not believe it, but Halloween has been celebrated in little old Adelaide almost since the city's inception. The Caledonian Club held an annual Halloween celebration, and many references to it can be found in old newspapers.

 In the picture above, U.S. servicemen celebrate Halloween in Australia by bobbing for apples

This skeleton tap dancing photo is from the State Library

I could go on and on about Halloween, and how much I love it, its origins and its celebration, but I think this week's blog will be short and sweet as I am working on editing some videos for a project that will become public very soon!

So until next week - enjoy Halloween and happy ghost hunting!

One Year of The Haunts of Adelaide

One Year of The Haunts of Adelaide

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of this blog “The Haunts of Adelaide”, and our long standing look into Adelaide (and South Australia's) History, Mystery and the Paranormal.

What a year it has been, for the blog, and for me personally.

The inspiration for this blog came from a few sources, one including my friend Liam at The Haunts of Brisbane. I had long thought about writing a blog on the History of Adelaide, with a slant towards mysteries, paranormal events and the darker side of Adelaide, with a little push from Liam, the blog was born. (thank you Liam!! :) )

Early on an employee of the State Library of South Australia took an interest in the research and stories I was exploring, and put the blog forward for the National Library of Australia's “Pandora “ Archive.

“PANDORA is a digital archive dedicated to the preservation of and long term access to Australian online electronic publications of national significance.” - from the Pandora website www.pandora.nla.gov.au” 

This inclusion was a huge, an unexpected, honour for me, and was the second inclusion of my teams work, with the Eidolon Paranormal website at www.eidolonparanormal.net being included in the Pandora Archive back in 2011.

Also this year, I went away to film a television show, “Haunting: Australia”, where I got to investigate alongside two friends Gaurav Tiwari from Indian Paranormal Society and Robb Demarest from Ghost Hunters International, as well as some new friends, Ian Lawman from Most Haunted, Rayleen Kable from Psychic TV, and the one and only Ray Jorden, from The Paranormal 5.

The cast of Haunting: Australia

We had some great adventures, and caught some great evidence...you'll have to watch the show when it comes out to see where we went and what we gathered...It was an amazing, eye opening experience to be involved in something like this.

TV was never a goal of mine (I was always more interested in making documentaries), but who would say no to Robb??

I can tell you I learnt a great deal from working with the cast, and also a great deal from the crew (looking at you Mick Eady ;) )! So all round it was a vast learning experience that will add new ideas to how I approach my own videos in the future, and how I approach our own paranormal investigations

Back to writing, Whilst the Eidolon blog takes a little break while I freshen it up a little, The Haunts of Adelaide will keep pressing forward, there is so much history in Adelaide, a lot of it untouched, forgotten or distorted from the facts, the blog could go on for years!

Also this year I got married. Yes it should probably be further up the page, but this post is supposed to be about the blog, not me...but

then, I write the blog, so I guess the blog, in some ways, is about me? Right?
 Anyhoo, I would like to thank my lovely Wife, Karen (who I met in a cemetery – and no she isn't dead!) for putting up with me as I research, explore and write, sometimes well into the wee hours, when I could be spending more time with her – Without Karens unending support and tolerance, this blog probably wouldn't have survived its first month!!

I would also like to thank each and every one of you who takes a little bite out of your day once a week to read my humble little blog, I hope it brings back memories for some, teaches others, inspires yet others, to investigate and research themselves, but most of all I hope you, the reader, enjoy the journey of discovering Adelaide, and South Australia's past with me.

Thank you for reading The Haunts of Adelaide

- Allen Tiller

Myer's Explosion

Myer's Explosion

On the 4^th of October 1928, Adelaide awoke to the news of a massive explosion in its city centre.

“A terrific explosion of gas occurred on the second floor of the Myer Emporium, Limited (late James Marshall's) early on Thursday Afternoon. A carpenter sustained concussion” - The Register, Friday 5^th Oct. 1928

The building was undergoing reconstruction, with new showrooms and facilities being installed, and a new ceiling being installed on the 3^rd floor, which had just been completed the day previously.

Not long after 1pm on the Thursday, a large explosion rocked the Myer Emporium, causing the veranda to shake. People along Stephens Place, frightened ran into the street and watched as the whole veranda shook, and smoke began to emanate from some of the buildings windows.

What could have been a very tragic day happened whilst most worker were out on their lunch break, but some of the female staff on the 2^nd floor of the building were so shocked by the explosion, they fainted, and were sent home – the most serious injury of the day was that of a carpenter, Mr Alfred Broadbridge, who had been working in the north western corner of building, where it is thought the explosion may have emanated from.

Front of Myer's Emporium in 1936

Mr Broadbridge was struck with a falling object, and rendered unconscious, later he was taken to the Adelaide Hospital suffering a concussion, and was held for observation

Earlier that day, employees on the second floor had complained about the ongoing smell of gas, a supervisor looked into the situation and closed of the gas mains until they could be inspected, however, the leaking gas had made its way into the floor/ceiling cavity between levels two and three and accumulated. It was unclear what ignited the gas, but the explosion was heard clearly throughout the area.

Rear entry of James Marshalls,
which would become Myer's Emporium

Small fires broke out, but due to a few brave employees, and the Central Fire Station staff, these were doused pretty quickly, resulting in a minimal amount of damage.

What could have been a disastrous event in Adelaide's history was averted with no single loss of life, and no major damage.

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au