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Tuesday 17 November 2020

The Haunted Boy

The Haunted Boy

(also known as The Crying Boy)



Recently I have seen for sale in Adelaide several the old allegedly cursed “Haunting Boy” paintings, so I thought why not write about that, and get to the bottom of the legend!?

In 1985, ‘The Sun’, a very popular tabloid newspaper in England, published a story in its September 4th edition (page 13) with the Headline “Blazing Curse of the Crying Boy”. The story that followed told how, after a fire burnt their South Yorkshire’s home to the ground, married couple Ron and May Hall put the blame squarely on a picture of a crying boy they had hung in their home.
A fire broke out from an overheated frypan of oil and devastated the home they had lived in for 27 years, the house was a mess, and one of the only things unscathed in the fire was a picture of crying toddler, hanging on a wall. Ron’s brother Peter, was a local fire-fighter, his Fire Station leader, Mr Alan Wilkinson said he had heard of numerous cases of fires where prints of “crying boys” would be undamaged in a devastating house fire, this of course turned a mundane ‘hot chip’ fire story into a leading headline, and propelled the “Crying Boy” curse into the world spotlight.

The story picked up legs in the next day’s edition when The Sun reported that readers had been phoning in with their own horrifying stories of bad luck related to The Crying Boy paintings. Quotes were printed in the newspaper such as this one from Dora Mann in Surrey “All my paintings were destroyed – except the one of The Crying Boy”.
A Mr Parks claimed he had destroyed his copy after returning from the hospital from smoke inhalation from his house burning down, to find the only thing untouched in the scorched ruins was a crying boy painting.
More stories accumulated, about misadventures happening to residents in houses where the prints hung. One lady even speculated that the painting may have been the cause for her husband and three sons dying over a span of a few years.

A security guard named Paul Collier threw one of his two prints on a bonfire to test the theory that the paintings and prints would not burn, he claimed that after an hour in the flames, the painting was not even scorched, this, of course, led to even more sales for The Sun!

Strangely, not all the prints and paintings were of the same crying boy, paintings by Giovanni Bragolin and Scottish artist Anna Zinkeisen became associated with the Curse. Zinkeisen had released her crying boy paintings as part of a study titled “Childhood”.

After some time (and a lot of newspaper sales) it emerged that Alan Wilkinson had personally logged about 50 “Crying Boy fires dating back to 1973”. He had dismissed any supernatural connection between the fires and the paintings, finding that in almost every case, it was human error or human carelessness that had started the fire. He could not explain though, why the paintings would survive the fires unscathed.

As the original sun newspaper story began to fade from readers’ minds, the story of the Crying Boy paintings morphed into an urban legend and spread across the world. Along the way new information was added to the original legend; psychics claimed a spirit was trapped in the original painting, and the fires were an attempt to free itself. Other stories told how the artist’s bad luck had cursed the painting, and that’s why so many bad things happened in its presence.

The Crying Boy legend is still very much alive today, recently shown on the new TV series “Cursed”. If one looks hard enough one can find enough evidence to suggest that this whole urban legend is an exaggerated coincidence designed by The Sun Newspaper back in 1985 to sell newspapers, now it has become part of urban legend and pop-culture.


Anna Zinkeisen's version of the crying boy


Allen is the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.

Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia.

Allen has also been employed as “Historian in Residence” in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council to write the
popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self Guided Walking Tour”

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide

First published in MEGAscene Issue 8 2016


Tuesday 10 November 2020

The Ghosts of the Ambassador Hotel

The Ambassador Hotel
King William Street, Adelaide



It is claimed the Ambassador Hotel is haunted by a former employee named Mary. There has long been the insinuation that room 103 is allegedly haunted by Mary’s spirit, but after interviewing staff in 2016 for the Haunted Buildings in Adelaide library project, that story can now be amended.


Staff claim Mary haunts the dining room and is known to set up table service and do the dishes! It is thought Mary is a former employee who started work at the hotel at the age of 15, living on site. She died at the age of 93 in the hotel and has been helping staff ever since!


Mary is not the only ghost haunting the Ambassador Hotel, another alleged spirit is that of John Gray,
who died when a previous hotel on the same site was demolished. Mr Gray was crushed by a falling wall and is now alleged to haunt the basement.


Room 11 is thought to be haunted by a man named James Wilson who died in the hotel in 1890. Another as of yet unidentified ghost is seen upstairs from time to time in a number of different bedrooms, drifting from room to room as if in search for someone or something.



Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.


Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia.


Allen has also been employed as “Historian in Residence” in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council to write the
popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self Guided Walking Tour”


You can find Allen online at:
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide

First published in Megascene issue 16 2019


Tuesday 3 November 2020

A Haunting at the Corio Hotel, Goolwa

A Haunting at the Corio Hotel, Goolwa




The Corio Hotel, Goolwa was built in 1857. It is named after the paddle steam-ship Corio, which sank on the nearby Murray River in 1857. The Corio Hotel license was approved in 1850 and issued to William Ray on March 31st of that year.

The Corio Hotel also has adjoining shops that are part of the hotel complex. The shops have been used as a saddler shop, blacksmiths, a general store and a barber.

The Corio Hotel in Goolwa was alleged to be haunted by a female ghost who hates other women. It is claimed that this spirit once held a woman down on a toilet when she tried to stand up after finishing her business. The woman stated that as she tried to stand up after using the toilet, she felt a strong hand force her back down.

She freaked out as no-one was in the cubicle with her, or in the toilet at all. Suddenly the hand let go, and she shot out of the toilet into the hotel and ran out through the front door, only to tell her story later when she had calmed down.

A ghostly woman was witnessed in the Corio Hotel in 1977 by staff member Gary Crouch who described her in a witness statement as; “A short woman with grey hair that had a bluish tinge. She was wearing a dress that hung down loosely over her knees.”

Gary and his boss saw the ghostly woman head toward the female’s toilets from the central games room. Thinking it was a person locked in after closing, the two men went to ask her to leave, only to find no living soul in the women’s toilets. The men checked the rest of the hotel, which had been locked up for closing, to find nobody other than themselves inside!

The ghostly presence isn’t just centred on the women’s toilets, it is also known to go about its business in the men’s! Male patrons have reported toilet rolls spinning at incredible speeds of their own volition.


Other witnesses have seen the ghostly woman standing at the front bar when staff have turned to serve her, she has vanished. The temperature in the room is also said to drop dramatically in the apparition’s presence.
There once stood a blacksmith at the rear of the hotel, which today is part of the bottle-shop. A bottle-shop worker once witnessed the apparition of a man walk through a wall, where once there was a door, and off through the car park, through a fence, disappearing as he crossed a road.

 


Allen Tiller is a paranormal historian, genealogist, author, and featured on the television show “Haunting: Australia”.

Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.

Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia.

Allen has also been employed as “Historian in Residence” in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council to write the
popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self Guided Walking Tour”

You can find Allen online at:
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide

First published in Megascene issue 16 2019



Tuesday 27 October 2020

The Adelaide Ghosts and Ghouls and Walking Tour

The Adelaide Ghosts and Ghouls and Walking Tour


Back in 2016, I was invited by the Adelaide City Libraries to undertake a world fist
history study into ghosts and hauntings in the council area of the City of Adelaide. Titled “Haunted Buildings in Adelaide”, the project encompassed inviting members of the public to come into the City Library and North Adelaide Library to express their own personal encounters with ghosts in the City of Adelaide.
I then took those stories and investigated them, as well as a number of already well known Adelaide ghost stories, and investigated their history. In the first year, we had over 90 people attend, and at least 40 of those stories ended up being added to the libraries catalogue under the heading “The Allen Tiller Collection: Haunted Buildings in Adelaide”.
In 2017 I returned to the library to turn those stories, and some new ones into 5 self-guided walking tours through the City of Adelaide.
At the end of history month this year, we launched one of those tours, titled the “Ghosts and Ghouls and Self-Guided Walking Tour”. The difference between this tour, and other tours, is the City Library invited a professional sound recordist, Mr Anthony Frith, to record me speaking the tour stories.
The tour is a downloadable, free self-guided walking tour which you can find via this link:


https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au/explore-the-city/visit-adelaide/maps-trails-and-guides/adelaideghosts-and-ghouls-walking-tour

The tour starts at the City Library, so I thought I’d share with you all the starting story of the tour: A Ghost in the Library Harris Scarfe’s city store sat on this site previous to the current Rundle Place building.
The Harris Scarfe’s building was constructed in 1917 and, in an unfortunate accident, a concrete worker fell into the foundations as they were poured. He was sucked down into the mix, suffocating, and crushing him at the same time. It was deemed too difficult and risky to save the worker, and after the concrete had set, too expensive and labour intensive to remove his body – so he was left in the foundations.


In 2012, McMahon Services was engaged to demolish the previous building and construct the new one you see today. As part of their plan, they decided to recycle as much of the original building materials as possible.
The old steel, glass and concrete were stored, crushed or melted, and reused in the construction of the present building. Including the concrete in which the worker had died.
So the remains of that worker, that was previously in the foundations, can possibly be found across the entire building today, and perhaps, that explains one of the hauntings associated with the building … but perhaps, more interesting, and relative to the city library is another more modern death.


In the 1970s, Harris Scarfe’s had a sports section on level three, and within that section was a department selling guns. In 1975, a man entered the store, went to the gun counter and asked to look at a gun. He loaded it with his own bullets, then in front of staff and customers, put the barrel
against his head, and shot himself dead.
The store was on level three, the same level that the City Library now sits on. Is it a coincidence that a black shadowy figure is sometimes reported whisking along the hallways towards the elevators today, in the general vicinity that a black shadowy figure was seen whisking along aisles when Harris Scarfe’s stood here previously?


Lifts are also said to be haunted in Rundle Place, just as they were reported haunted in the old Harris Scarfe’s building. Are the ghosts that haunted the former building, lingering in the new building?

In an interview in the Advertiser in 2011, a former employee of Harris Scarfe’s named Rod stated the following:
“I’ve been here at two o’clock in the morning, by myself, and the goods lift would start-up and just go by themselves,” “You’d see them drop to the second flor, you’d hear the door open, you’d hear footsteps and then the lift comes back down to the basement and you’re thinking ‘well, I know I’m the only one here’.”

You can find the City Library at Level 3, Rundle Place, Rundle Mall (Enter via Francis
St - off Rundle Mall or via Da Costa Arcade) The Adelaide Ghosts and Ghouls Walking
Tour, a different way of seeing Adelaide!

 

Allen Tiller is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator, eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.


Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia.


Allen has also been employed as “Historian in Residence” in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council to write the
popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self Guided Walking Tour”


You can find Allen online at:
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide

First published in MEGAscene issue 13 2018

© Allen Tiller


Tuesday 20 October 2020

Mendelsham Robe Terrace Medindie

Mendelsham “Stonehenge” Robe Terrace Medindie


 Designed by iconic South Australian architect; John Quinton Bruce for Fred Scarfe, A Director of South Australian department store icon, Harris Scarfe’s, ‘Stonehenge’, as the building was named, is a beautiful building located just north of Adelaide on Robe Terrace at Medindie.

 Often it is reported that Frederick Norman Scarfe, former Mayor of Kensington and Norwood is the man who had the building erected, but by the time it was built, Frederick was a very old man.    Frederick George Alexander Scarfe is the man who built the impressive house, he was a director of Harris Scarfe’s at the time, and a very wealthy individual.

 The building consists of 15 main rooms and includes a gracious reception hallway and a sweeping grand staircase. There is also a ballroom, a formal lounge-room, a library and a formal dining room, plus five bedrooms and a wine cellar.

  The house was often featured in local newspaper stories as Mr Scarfe would host events at his home. Scarfe was well known for throwing grand balls and parties, in which Adelaide’s elite would gather.

  In 1919 Frederick Scarfe sold the house for an impressive sum, citing in advertisements that he found the housekeeping tasks laborious, with it being such a large manner. Scarfe was not keen on paying maids or cleaners.

 During the 1930s the home was owned by and lived in by Mr Ernest Jolly, his wife Evelyn and two sons, Derek and Dennis. Jolly was a well-known for importing and racing thoroughbred horses. The Jolly’s were high-society members, and their functions were often reported in local newspapers.

 In 1994, The Adelaide Advertiser (April 24th, 1994) published a story about the house featuring a local businessman, Tony Syrianos, who had purchased the manor for $1.2 million dollars. After the purchase, the businessman out that the house is haunted by a young lady.

 The spirit of the young lady appears in an upstairs bedroom known as the Blue Room. It has been stated that she only appears during the hours of 11pm and 5am. She is said to walk from the Blue Room, to a bathroom, sometimes with the variation of walking up or down the extravagant staircase. She is dressed in a white nightgown with an overly frilly neckline.

The haunting of the Robe Terrace Manor (called Mendlesham on the show) appeared on 1990s television show “The Extraordinary” (episode 38). In the show, Mr Syrianos claims he is terrified of the ghost, and won’t enter the house at night. O the show they describe the spirit as being aged between fifteen and twenty years of age, with shoulder-length hair.
 Another witness reported a foul smell emanating from the Blue Room, doors slamming, windows opening and closing, and cold spots in the room. All these events occurred when the room was redecorated.

 Another witness, returning from a party reported all the paintings flying off the walls, and lights turning on by themselves.

 It is thought the spirit is that of a young girl who died in the house from the effects of tuberculosis around the 1920s, when the disease was making itself felt in North Adelaide.

 

 

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”


You can find Allen online at:

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

This story was unpublished but written for MEGAScene Issue 20 2020

© Allen Tiller


Tuesday 13 October 2020

A Ghost in the Little Pub

A Ghost in the Little Pub


 On the corner of Hindley Street and Gilbert Place sits The Little Pub also affectionally known as the ‘Littlest Pub on Hindley Street’ to some. The upper section of this hotel is now known as the Tattersalls Backpackers (or Hostel).

The first building on this site was the Bank of Australia built-in 1851 by builder Mr Botting.[1] The bank was managed by Mr Samuel Tom.

 In 1851, the bank became the Blenheim Hotel (known as the Weiland's Hotel from 1879 until 1882).   The Blenheim Hotel was an iconic hotel in Adelaide's past for many things; including being used as the City Council Chambers (until the structure of the Town Hall in 1866), but perhaps most famous for, or perhaps infamous, the 1855 Hindley Street Riots.
  The Hindley Street Riot happened on the 20th of September 1855 during the election for the Legislative Council voting for West Adelaide. The nominees, chosen by the Governor of the day, were James Hurtle Fischer and Anthony Forster.
  At the time voting was often done in hotels, and was public, meaning there were no secret votes, no partition between voters and no secrecy. "Touters" stood either side of the door to polling booths, and could see the colour of voting slips, red and blue, and would signal to the crowds a person's vote. [2]
  This, of course, caused great tension between friends and enemies and led to general unrest in the large crowd of onlookers. The first signs of violence came from a report by watchmaker Mr Griffin, who told police he had been knocked down and mistreated, without provocation, by a group of ruffians with bludgeons.[3]

  Closer to the end of voting, it became known that Forster was in the lead, but a murmur of protest had gone through the crowd that many of Fischer's supporters had not been allowed to vote.  Suddenly, a large contingent of men (described as "Irishmen" in the newspapers of the time, perhaps as they were considered "the working class") stormed the Blenheim Hotel and made their way to the balcony. They tore down all the banners, and ripped them shreds, breaking the banner polls and turning them into weapons.
 The men returned to the street, where they met with over one hundred other men, all carrying bludgeons, and began to herd the crowd down Hindley street toward King William Street, opposite the Exchange Hotel, where Forster had his headquarters.

 Some men tried to climb the balcony of the Exchange Hotel, but were pushed back by Forster's supporters, choosing instead to throw rocks and bricks at the balcony. All the windows were smashed, and a table was placed against the windows to stop the ongoing barrage of debris hitting the men inside.
  The rioters then began to violently attack and hit with bludgeons, Forster's supporters outside the hotel, with many men sustaining head injuries. The wounded began to seek refuge, with some finding their way to the nearest police station.
  The mounted police soon arrived on the scene, along with the foot police as led by Superintendent Tolmer.
 Tolmer had been waiting nearby with his men, and before proceeding into the fray, read out "The Riot Act", the first time it was read in South Australia. [4]
  Rioters had reached the balcony of the Exchange Hotel and had begun to throw rocks into the crowd indiscriminately, striking friend and foe.
  Tolmer decided his best attack to quell the riot was to stop the men on the balcony. As he began to climb a balcony pole, a man grabbed him from below, and for his efforts, received Tolmer's right boot, including spur, squarely on his chin, sending him sprawling to the ground below.

 

The Blenheim Hotel was renamed Tattersalls Hotel in 1882 after the Tattersall's Club moved into the building from its previous home at the Globe Hotel. The owners of Tattersalls decided to demolish the old building in 1900 and rebuilt over the following two years. Its architects were Garlick & Jackman, with building undertaken by R Seller.[5]

 There have been many deaths since the rebuilding of the hotel in 1900. In 1922, Walter Smith dropped dead of unknown causes in the street outside the hotel.[6]
 In 1927, the former Postmaster and Harbour Master of Edithburgh on the Yorke Peninsula, Mr FW Allen passed away from a heart attack in the front lounge of the hotel.[7]
 Only two years later in 1929, publican at the time, Mr Harry Richards also passed away in the building.[8]
 

 The Little Pub is reputed to be haunted, but you may not have heard the most recent ghost story to surface from this location. During my tenure as Paranormal Historian in Residence at the City Library for the ‘Haunted Buildings in Adelaide’ history residency, I asked the public to come forward with their ghost stories.
 A gentleman came forward and told me that he had a friend who had worked in the hotel for many years. His friend, the worker, was very well known by patrons and easily recognisable due to his unusually distinctive hat, clothing and mannerisms.
 The former worker passed away, and not long after his death, he began to haunt to Little Pub. One afternoon, weeks after his death, a staff member entered the basement, and to his surprise saw his former colleague sitting on a keg staring off into the distance. He knew it was his former colleague as the hat and clothing was the same he had worn when alive, and was very distinct (I am not going to tell you what he wore, but if you claim to see this gentleman and contact me, I’ll know straight away if it was him or not, as will his former friends and co-workers!)

 No-one knows why he would return to the pub. Who wants to go back to work after they die?  Perhaps he just wanted to say goodbye to his former colleagues, or perhaps his best memories are in that basement. Either way, we will never know, but to this day, he is seen from time to time in the basement of the Little Pub on Hindley Street.

 

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”


You can find Allen online at:

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 19 2019

© Allen Tiller



[1] 'Fifty Years Ago', The Register, (3 February 1923), p. 9.

[2] Corinne Ball, ‘Hindley Street Riot', SA History Hub, History Trust of South Australia, http://sahistoryhub.com.au/events/hindley-street-riot, accessed 18 June 2017.

[3]  'An Historic Building Demolished.', South Australian Register, (20 July 1900), p. 3.

[4] 'THE RIOT ACT.', The Express and Telegraph, (17 October 1911), p. 3.

[5] George Boeck & Erika Esau, ‘South Australia, A Tourist's Guide to Australian Culture and History’, (2017), http://www.esauboeck.com/guide-sa.

[6] 'Casualties.', Observer, (14 January 1922), p. 20.

[7] 'MR. F. W. ALLEN DEAD', News, (15 October 1927), p. 9.

[8] 'Death of Well-known City Publican', The Register News-Pictorial, (12 February 1929), p. 24.


Tuesday 6 October 2020

The Haunted Barossa Junction Motel

The Haunted Barossa Junction Motel

 

In 2014, my paranormal investigation team 'Eidolon Paranormal' were invited to conduct a paranormal investigation at a remarkable location, The Barossa Junction Motel. The motel was somewhat of an icon on the road between Nuriootpa and Tanunda, with its train carriage hotel rooms, and train-themed restaurant. It also contained a large motor vehicle-related museum.


The hotel was the idea of John Gordon, who was also behind the Buffalo Family Restaurant in Glenelg. Gordon set up the location in conjunction with his good friend Bruce Hoffman, after their winery, Hoffman’s Wines were purchased by Peter Lehmann.

The site of the motel was originally the Barossa Drive-in Theatre. The screen from which was incorporated into one of the large halls inside the museum.

Gordon and Hoffman sold the location to Eric Parker in 2003, but due to ongoing overheads and lack of interest, the site was sold in 2014. Woolworths purchased the property to extend their Dorrien Estate Winery which sat alongside the property. This led to most of the contents, old trains, cars and other memorabilia being auctioned off and removed.


The Barossa Junction Hotel had long been rumoured to be haunted. Legend had it that in the train carriages the spirit of a girl had been seen. She was said to be a young teen who could be seen inside the carriages, or sometimes walking between them in the yard. No-one could identify whom she might be, but there was speculation she either died by falling off a carriage or drowning in the onsite swimming pool. Another train of thought (pun intended) was that she may have died on one of the train carriages before they were converted into hotel rooms at the Junction. Either way, there is no proof of her history or her ghostly presence.

 

 We investigated the site the night before the auction. We were granted access to every location inside the property and made the most of it by investigating every train, room and vehicle we came across.

 The swimming pool which was located inside a building was also rumoured to be haunted. We entered late in the night to find the pool virtually empty. The room looked as though it had not been used in some time as cracks were starting to appear with plants in them. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere, and with our night vision lights reflecting off the remaining water, it created a spooky and creepy effect. Even though we had heard this area might also be haunted, on this night, no one came forward.

We came up with absolutely nothing. Not a thing from a train carriage, the pool area, or the car museum! This isn’t entirely unusual in investigating the paranormal, but we were granted the privilege of investigating a truly iconic location in the Barossa Valley!

After the auction, Mr Parker moved what was left of the collection to his museum in Greenock, located in the old Perry’s Electrical site. It is not known if the alleged ghosts moved with him.

 

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”


You can find Allen online at:

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 18 2019

© Allen Tiller


Tuesday 29 September 2020

The Truth Behind the Infamous “Schneider’s Alley”

The Truth Behind the Infamous “Schneider’s Alley”

 

Clifton Manor

Not far from Waterfall Gully sits Schneider’s Alley, a well-known local urban legend about an evil doctor that is alleged to have murdered people and put their bodies into a freezer. Within the urban legend is the story of a blue ghost seen in the area that scares away visitors…but how much of this story is true?

 Schneider’s Alley is actually a combination of several true stories, mixed together with mythology, misinterpreted eye witness accounts and misinformed whispers that turned into Adelaide’s greatest urban legend.
  The “Alley” itself doesn’t exist, instead, a small alleyway called Andrews Walk, which was once the main entrance of the residence of Clifton Manor has been appropriated as the haunted walkway as well as the large park behind it.

The good doctor in question, Dr Michael Schneider, was in fact not a GP, nor an experimental doctor. He was, in fact, an optometrist, an “eye doctor”. Dr Schneider was very well-loved in the wider Adelaide community for his charity work and for his animal and plant sanctuary, of which he would open for public usage. Local Adelaidean’s could enjoy the splendour of his estate at open days and events, his sanctuary featured native animals and birds, as well as a vast variety of plants, flowers and foliage.

The park, that was since Dr Schneiders land, behind Clifton Manor
Dr Schneider was a good man, a man who served for his country, the Empire and King George in World War One, and returned a hero. His name and legacy are now stained by the local urban legend that has grown out of hand off the back of curious thrill-seekers and social media chat rooms.

Dr Michael Schneider acquired Clifton Manor in 1934. He lived in the house with his wife from this point on until his death in the 1970's. Dr Schneider established a native wildlife and bird sanctuary on the 40 acres of land he owned behind Clifton Manor, which included a Koala enclosure. After enlisting in the Australian Medical Corps in World War 2, Dr Schneider closed the sanctuary and released the koalas back into the wild. His remaining animals were donated to the Adelaide Zoo.

There is no record of murders, rapes or anything sinister ever happening on the grounds of Clifton Manor. It is reported Dr Schneider died at his home in the 1970s. The house and land were then bought by T&G Mutual Life Society and subdivided into the current format of streets, parks and housing found today. I have spoken to former neighbours of the good doctor, and they cannot believe his name could become so tainted in modern Adelaide.

 I have investigated the site and surrounds myself on numerous occasions and could not find any evidence of a haunting (this, of course, does not mean it isn’t haunted). I tried every tactic I could think of and got nothing, not even one simple EVP...If there is any kind of ghostly goings-on here, it does not want to be found nor seen.

So where does the story originate from? Well, in my opinion, which is formed from countless hours of research, interviews and investigations locally, is that this story is a bastardisation and union of two other events that happened very nearby, twisted into an urban legend that spread through Adelaide like a wildfire. There was a notable death in the area, only two streets from the allegedly haunted site, where a man had been found, cut into pieces and stuffed into a chest freezer, this was during the early 1990's, which is just enough time for the story to grow into what it is now.

Combine that with the 100-year-old story of the haunting of Waterfall Gully, where the ghost of Constable Tregoweth is allegedly seen as a “blue glowing” man, which is almost the exact description of the ghost reported by many witnesses in the Schneider’s Alley area. There is also something else I would like to point about this story, the majority of the reports (but not all) come from people who were out to “scare themselves”, most were drinking, drunk or stoned, going into a location (some illegally) trying to scare themselves or the people they were with. This leads to all kinds of stories, variations on the truth, and people witnessing things that were actually staged scaring meant for other groups of people, you can see where this is going right?

 People wanting a thrill or a scare is an age-old thing, and what better way than to go somewhere allegedly haunted, I have done it myself, but I cannot stress enough that having respect for the location, the people that live around it and for other people who may be present, as well as the alleged ghosts, is paramount.


   Close to Schneider Alley, and the actual crown of the original Doctor Schneider’s estate is Clifton Manor, a large, castle-like structure that sits nearby the park and walkway that attracts all the attention – this is a private residence, so please, don't go bothering its inhabitants looking to investigate, you will probably receive a hostile “go away!” or some other choice words.

Clifton Manor was built in 1850 by C.D. Sismey after acquiring the estate from Harry Osbourne. The house was added to by Nathenial Cox in 1872.  The manor was passed on to a nephew, Mr Harloe Knox in 1926. Harloe Knox subdivided the large estate and sold off approximately 50 acres of land.
  The manor then was sold (with approx. 40 acres of land) to Mr Hermen Hoeper - who in 1934 sold it, Dr Schneider. Dr Schneider then established a wildlife sanctuary on the surrounding 40 acres (of which most is now a park). The original driveway and gates of Clifton Manor are still standing and now mark the entrance to Andrews Walk on Hallet Rd, Stoneyfell - Clifton Manors entrance being moved to Waratah Way.
Dr and Mrs Schneider lived in the large house together and had two housemaids who also lived in the house and a gardener. The gardener lived in a small stone cottage out on the grounds, near Dr Schneider’s zoo. Dr Schneider passed away in the early 1970s.

 Schneider’s Alley in my opinion is an over-hyped union of other local stories, It may indeed by haunted, but there was no experimental laboratory or deaths at the hands of Dr Michael Schneider, so you can count out that being the cause of the alleged haunting...however, this is an urban legend that just will not die, and surfaces from time to time in the local media. I implore the local media to investigate the case further and clear the name of the doctor and hopefully dispel some of the rumours and myths so that he may rest in peace and the people that live around this much-visited site may also get some peace and quiet.

 

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”


You can find Allen online at:
www.AllenTiller.com.au
www.EidolonParanormal.com.au
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 17 2019

© Allen Tiller


Tuesday 22 September 2020

The Blue Ghost of Waterfall Gully

The Blue Ghost of Waterfall Gully

 

  Fifteen minutes south-east of Adelaide sits a little chalet built-in 1912, that was once a kiosk and is now a wedding venue. Waterfall Gully was once a somewhat unattractive gully, but that changed in 1912 when F.W. Young and Mr V.H. Ryan chose the area to be the first to receive beautification, as a potential tourist destination, under the States newly formed the “National Pleasure Resorts Board”.
 Local stone was used to construct the kiosk and surrounding buildings, walkways and lake at the bottom of the waterfall.
 Waterfall Gully soon became the place to visit during the 1920s. A little oasis to escape the summer heat, just a short ride by horse and cart, or later car, just outside of Adelaide.

 

 In December 1926, South Australia was engaged in another of its notorious heat waves. A bushfire spread through the Adelaide Hills and made its way into the ravines of Waterfall Gully. In those days, SAPOL wasn’t just police officers, they also acted as the states fire and rescue service, as well as its ambulance service.

 

 One police constable, taking on the fire-fighting duties on the day was Thomas Alfred Tregoweth.

 Tregoweth had served in World War One with the 48th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement in Hannover, Germany. As a 19-year-old, he spent 1918 as a P.O.W. before returning to Australia in 1919. When he returned to South Australia, he took up a position in the family business as a shopkeeper at Norwood working for the family business.
 Tregoweth soon met his future wife, and settled down with her, together they had a son they named William.
 

On the day of the fire, Tregoweth valiantly fought the raging inferno from the cliff tops around Waterfall Gully, but as he fought, the wind changed, and the fire turned, cutting off his escape route.  The fire was ferociously hot and began to lick at his skin, soon the flames scorched him, and the air became too thick with smoke for Tregoweth to breath.  To survive, he made the decision to jump from the cliff into the valley below. The fall didn’t kill him, but his horrific injuries from the fire would end his life just four days later. He was 29 years old.

 Since 1930, people have witnessed paranormal phenomena at the base of Waterfall Gully and in the scenically located kiosk. So often had spirits been sighted, that it became a tourist attraction worthy of signage, which was once displayed at the entry of the walking trails. The signage detailed eye witness accounts of the “Blue Ghost of Waterfall Gully”, but today those signs are long removed.


 One former owner of the kiosk reported that a ‘blue spirit’ was often seen inside the building, and was responsible for moving objects, likes plates, knives and forks. A ‘blue man’ had also been witnessed along a walking trail leading up to the waterfalls by a young woman and her boyfriend.

 The young couple had visited Waterfall Gully late at night, and while walking the path, the young lady had twisted her ankle. From out of nowhere a “glowing blue man” had appeared, looking somewhat concerned for the young ladies’ welfare. The young couple was startled by the strange man’s appearance, and ignoring her injury, made a hasty retreat to their car to escape the luminescent blue man!
 The never looked back to see if he followed, but sped back along the winding Waterfall Gully Road toward Adelaide.

 

Where the ghost jogger and cyclist are seen on Waterfall Gully Road 

  Is it a coincidence that Constable Tregoweth’s uniform of the day was blue? Is it coincidental that many psychics state that protective male energies are blue, and that this “blue man” seems to be very protective?

 The alleged ghost of Constable Tregoweth is not the only evidence of paranormal or spiritual activity at Waterfall Gully.  A phantom cyclist is also alleged to be seen cycling along the road from the area of Macallan Avenue toward the waterfalls. It is thought he could be the spirit of a cyclist who was hit by a car whilst cycling along the road, perhaps clipped by a car on one of the many visual blind spots along Waterfall Gully Road.
 Along with the cyclist, another spirit often alleged to be witnessed along this stretch of haunted road, is the spirit of a phantom jogger. Nothing is known about this spirit’s past, but a mist-like apparition in the shape of a person jogging has been seen by some locals on foggy mornings as the sun rises, heading south towards the waterfalls…perhaps there is something more to the waterfall, something unseen by the living, that attracts local spirits too it?

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the  2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”


You can find Allen online at:
www.AllenTiller.com.au
www.EidolonParanormal.com.au
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 15 2018

© Allen Tiller


Sunday 20 September 2020

The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal: REVISED EDITION

The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal
REVISED EDITION

The Haunts of Adelaide: Revised Edition, (BOOK + KINDLE) is now live at Amazon.com.au​ in traditional book form!!!
The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal is researched and written by award-winning historian, Allen Tiller.
This second edition of The Haunts of Adelaide has been completely rewritten with extra historical facts, footnoting, an index, more photos, and most importantly, more ghost stories!
Join Allen Tiller, one of Australia's leading paranormal historian's, as he documents some of Adelaide's most haunted locations and the history behind the buildings, the people, the urban legends and the ghosts that haunt Adelaide and its suburbs, in this completely revised and rewritten edition.
Inside you will discover the ghosts that dwelled at Graham's Castle, Younghusband Mansion, The Adelaide Arcade, and Waterfall Gully. Find out the truth behind Schneider's Alley and the read about the tiger of the Union Hotel!

Get spooked with 30 stories from the other side: The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery, and the Paranormal: REVISED EDITION


KINDLE:  https://www.amazon.com.au/Haunts-Adelaide-History-Mystery-Paranormal-ebook/dp/B08JJCB6KP/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&qid=1600727647&refinements=p_27%3AAllen+Tiller&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Allen+Tiller

Tuesday 15 September 2020

The Haunting of the British Hotel, Port Adelaide

The Haunting of the British Hotel, Port Adelaide


Designed by architect, W. Beattie, The British Hotel opened in March 1847 as a single-story
hotel consisting of 20 rooms, including a bar, taproom, kitchen, three parlous and ten bedrooms.

Its first manager (and possibly builder) was Captain James Wakeling, who had previously owned the Port Tavern, which had been destroyed by a fire that wiped out large sections of the Port in January 1847.
Behind the hotel once stood a two-story building used at the stables for the hotel, in which lived the hotel’s Ostler, a person who looked after the horses in the stables or the hotel owners and guests. Captain James Wakeling worked previously for a South Australian company as Captain onboard the ships Sarah and Elizabeth and was an early pioneer. It is said he was very strict in how he ran his hotels and was very punctual in closing the hotel's doors at 10pm nightly. This led to one incident, where a large Irish Shipmaster, played a trick on the old Captain and changed the clock hands on Wakeling’s clocks, so the pub stayed open an extra hour, until 11pm!

The hotel was sold in 1849 to William Mart. Only a few years later, in 1853, Captain Wakeling passed away at the age of 65 in Rundle Street, Adelaide after contracting influenza. As Captain Wakeling was much respected, in his honour, all vessels in the Port flew the flags at half-mast the day following his death. Wakeling was buried in the West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.

John Wakeling and Mary Ferrers managed the hotel between 1859 until 1863, when it then fell into the ownership of Henry Ayers, who in 1876 added the second story.
Ayers, then Premier of South Australia, sold the hotel not long after the improvements he made to James Ralph Russell, who had worked in the hotel as its publican since 1863. Russell, in 1878, added a veranda and balcony.
In 1907 the hotel changed its name to McGraths British Hotel to reflect its new licensee, John McGrath and family. McGrath ran the hotel until his death in 1932, when it was then taken over by his two daughters Elizabeth and Esther. Esther would take sole licences responsibility in 1935 after South Australian laws prohibiting single women from owning or running hotels was amended.

The Russell family, who had owned the hotel since 1863, decided in 1937 the time was right to sell. The hotel then fell under the ownership of the South Australian Brewing Company but was still operated under the license of Esther McGrath, who stayed on until 1952.
The hotel had many more licensee’s over the years, but eventually closed for a few years, until being revamped and reopened in 2007.

Over the years there have been many deaths inside the hotel, including in 1905, the death of a hotel worker, Ethel Hammond, aged 39, who passed away in an upstairs bedroom where she lived.
Former publican John McGrath died in the hotel in 1922, and in 1954, Alexander Thompson died in one of the upstairs bedrooms.
It has long been alleged that the hotel is haunted, with paranormal activity experienced across all levels. One spirit alleged to have been seen in the basement area is that of Sir Henry Ayers, five times South Australian Premier and served in Parliament for an unbroken 37 years. Although he lived in, and is said to haunt, Ayers house on North Terrace in Adelaide, it would seem his spirit has been seen here, in the basement on occasion over the years after his death in 1897.


In a 2015 interview, the then owner described poltergeist type activity happening in the basement. It was stated that:
“In the cool room there are stacks of two-litre milks toward the back of the shelves, not on
the edge ... One morning, we came out and there’s one just thrown in the middle of the
floor. How in the hell, that moved ...”


It is not known who the mischievous poltergeist-like spirit might be, and no one is 100% certain why Sir Henry Ayers haunts the hotel, or even if the alleged ghost is actually him, or just someone who might appear like him (or just a case of mistaken identity from an intoxicated witness). Either way, the hotel, like most of the hotels in Port Adelaide, is considered haunted!

References:


Our Port, (2015), The British Hotel, Government of South Australia, retrieved from http://ourport. com.au/content/uploads/2016/04/DiscoveringPort-Adelaide-The-hidden-gems-of-the Portrevealed.pdf


James Hunter, History SA, ‘British Hotel (Port Adelaide)’, SA History Hub, History Trust of South Australia, retrieved from http://sahistoryhub.com. au/places/british-hotel-port-adelaide.

The British Hotel, (2018), History, retrieved from https://thebritish.com.au/about-us

1853 ‘LAW AND CRIMINAL COURTS.’, South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA: 1839- 1900), 26 May, p.3, viewed 09 Oct 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38463754


1905 ‘SUDDEN DEATH.’, Evening Journal,  29 June, p.1, viewed 09 Oct 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208008634


1905 ‘Facks and Roomers.’, The Areas’ Express (Booyoolee, SA: 1877-1948), 30 June, p.3, viewed
09 Oct 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224371446

S. R. Parr, ‘Ayers, Sir Henry (1821–1897)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre
of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ayers-sirhenry-2914/text4193, published first in hardcopy 1969, accessed online 10 October 2018.

1922 ‘Family Notices’, The Register (Adelaide, SA: 1901 - 1929), 8 March, p.2, viewed 14 Oct 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63582157

1954 ‘Family Notices’, News (Adelaide, SA: 1923 - 1954), 12 July, p.24, viewed 14 Oct 2018,

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134753904

First published in MEGAscene issue 13 2018


Allen Tiller (ALIAtech, DipFamHist) is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
He is the winner of the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence” in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”


You can find Allen online at:
www.AllenTiller.com.au
www.EidolonParanormal.com.au
www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

Tuesday 8 September 2020

A Haunting at Ayers House

A Haunting at Ayers House


Figure 1: Ayers House on North Terrace, Adelaide - Photo © 2014 Allen Tiller


Built in 1846 for William Paxton, a Chemist who worked out of Hindley Street, Austral House, as it was known then, was a much smaller residence than the grand house that stands on North Terrace today.

 The original property was bought by Robert Thomber in 1845, who sold it to Paxton. Paxton originally leased the property to Ayers from 1855, then sold it to him in 1871.
 Henry Ayers started making big changes to the property in 1857 with the addition of rooms at the rear of the house. In 1859 he built the ballroom on the eastern side, and in 1871 he added the dining room on the western side, which gave the house a sense of symmetry. In 1874, six bedrooms were added at the back in a new two-story section.

 Ayers’ spared no expense, rooms featured hand stencilled wall and ceiling decorations. The walls were constructed with local bluestone, and it was one of the first properties in Adelaide to feature gaslighting. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings, much of which is still present today.
Hand-painted ceilings in the ballroom and dining room were beautifully painted by an artist named “Williams”, who had to lay on his back, on a mattress supported by ladders, for three days to achieve the look.
 In the dining room, Sir
Ayers had his family crest painted of three doves and an olive branch above the fireplace.
 The ballroom featured cedar flooring, with folding cedar doors that allowed extra space to be opened up for guests, which in Henry Ayers time, was a regular occurrence, as he enjoyed being the centre of social life from the upper echelon of Adelaide society.

 Sir Ayers’ daughter, Mrs Lucy Bagot gave an interview describing the property when she was a child in “The Mail” in 1928:

 'The property originally extended to Tavistock Street on the west, Rundle Street on the south, and on the east to what is now the site of the East-End Market. Where the row of two-story- houses now stands   next to the Botanic Hotel were two Indian bungalows, one of which was occupied by Rev. John Gardner, minister of Chalmers Church and father of the late Mr. Gavin Gardner, and the other by Mr Wentworth Cavanagh— afterward Cavanagh-Mainwaring, father of Dr. Cavenagh-Mainwaring and Mrs. Arthur Cudmore, of Adelaide. 'On the western side Dr. W. Moore, father of Mr. H. P. Moore, purchased the block on the corner of Tavistock Street and built the house there which is now called Frome House. When my father died in 1897 the house was empty for 18 years with the exception of a housekeeper, maid, and boy, who looked after it. Then in six months, it was let four times.'

In 1914 it was bought by Henry Woodcock and following Mr Woodcock, by a syndicate who built an open-air garden and dancing Palais. They named the previously un-named house “Austral Gardens” and set the property up as a multi-use business, including the RSL who used it as their headquarters until they moved to Angas Street in 1923.

 The property was purchased by the Government in 1926 and used to accommodate nurses from the Royal Adelaide Hospital across the road until 1969.
 The Dunstan Government approved restoration work to the grand old mansion in 1972, which saw some structural damage repaired.
 Around this period the National Trust of South Australia used the house as their headquarters and began public tours through the building.

Today the house is known as “Ayers House” in recognition of Sir Henry Ayers, Minister and President of the Legislative Council, and Premier of South Australia a record 5 times!

It is local legend that Sir Henry Ayers returns to haunt his former abode. A story related to me a long time ago from a then-current volunteer involved seeing the spirit of an older gentleman walking through the house.
The description fitted Ayer’s description, and what is known of his look from portraits, almost perfectly.
 The possibility that Sir Ayers would return to his home isn’t completely “out there”, it's actually a common haunting occurrence for old mansions and homes that deceased owners return to the places they loved most, so why not Sir Henry Ayers, returning to his much beloved home, and the place he died?

 Since the writing of my first book “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”, I have since heard that the spirit of Henry’s much-beloved wife, Anne, has been sighted by staff in the grand old mansion as well.

Another spirit is said to be a small child, but as of yet, she has not been identified. Perhaps the spookiest encounter in Ayers house belongs to a staff worker who was working late one evening when all six phones in the house began to ring simultaneously as the lights went on and off repeatedly at the same time!

 

Please use the following when referencing the above information for your research or publication.

© Allen Tiller 2016 – “Historian in Residence” – Adelaide City Council: “History Hub” – “Haunted Buildings in Adelaide” - This work is produced in collaboration with Adelaide City Libraries

 

References:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/printArticlePdf/48173745/3?print=n

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/48271429?searchTerm=austral%20gardens%20history&searchLimits=l-state=South+Australia|||l-category=Article

http://www.adelaideheritage.net.au/all-site-profiles/ayers-house/

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ayers-sir-henry-2914

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ayers

Books:

Henry Ayers: The Man Who Became a Rock - By Jason Shute

The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal – Allen Tiller

Ghosts and Hauntings of South Australia – Gordon de L Marshall


 

Allen Tiller is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator, eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen is the winner of the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia.

Allen has also been employed as “Historian in Residence” in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”

 

First published in MEGAscene issue 12

 © Allen Tiller