Pelberre Railway Station

 

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

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

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

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

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

Researched and written by Allen Tiller (c) 2025

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

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

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

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

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

Witchcraft in South Australia: Part IV Gottfried Hoffman

Witchcraft in South Australia

 Part IV

 Gottfried Hoffman

 In 1853, Lyndoch cattle and pig farmer, 28-year-old, Gottfried Hoffman was living the simple country life in the Barossa Valley. He had emigrated to Australia from Germany with his wife and family and settled in the predominately German Barossa Valley.
Devoutly Lutheran, Hoffman and his family were very well known as they often attended church services at nearby Bethany.
 Things had been going well for the Hoffman family until in late October some of his cows and pigs had suddenly, and unexplainably become ill.

 On the 5^th of November 8-year-old Mary Wressell, a neighbour of Hoffman’s suddenly turned up on the families’ doorstep. She asked politely for some butter, which Mrs Hoffman supplied. Before she left Gottfried asked young Mary, if she could please ask her mother to drop by the house.

 Young Mary returned home to her mother (also named Mary) and gave her the butter and message from Mr Hoffman. Mary Ann (mother) finished her chores and went over to the Hoffman house as requested.

Mary Ann knocked on Hoffman’s door and was greeted by Mrs Hoffman, who suddenly became hostile and accused May Ann of bewitching the family's cows.
 Mary Ann, shocked by the allegation, began to deny any such doing when Gottfried suddenly emerged from the side of the house. He came toward Mary Anne, who held out her hand to shake Gottfried’s hand. Gottfried shook in return, then grabbed Mary Ann’s hand tightly, and slashed across her arm with a large knife.
 He rubbed her blood across his hands and then stated: “mein cows right now.”
Mary Ann cried out in shock and pain, and Gottfried stabbed her in the arm again, then as she twisted to get away he stabbed her twice in the back. He then grabbed a large stick and beat her, before hitting her in the head with a large rock. Mary Ann fell to the ground but somehow managed to get up and make her way home.
As she stumbled along the path home, she looked back to see Gottfried standing at the front of the house with a shotgun.

Mary Ann made it home to her daughter, who raised the alarm with her father that something was wrong. Dr Notts from Gawler was called, and when he arrived, found Mary Ann hysterical. She had wound an inch and a half long on her arm that went through to the bone, and two stab wounds on her back and shoulder. She was also badly beaten and covered in bruises.

Gottfried was soon arrested and charged with cutting, maiming and assaulting Mary Ann Wresell. During the court case, Hoffman’s wife and brother’s testimony conflicted with that of Wresell, but the evidence was overwhelming, and the jury found him guilty. Hoffman was sentenced to 5 years of hard labour.

Curiously, during the entire court case, Hoffman did not deny his belief that Mary Ann Wessell was a witch that had hexed his farm, and that washing his hands in her blood would cure the family's problems!

Researched and written by Allen Tiller ©2018

https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide/

Bibliography

1854 'WITCHCRAFT IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.', Inquirer (Perth, WA: 1840 - 1855), 8 March, p. 2. (SUPPLEMENT TO "THE INQUIRER."), viewed 09 Apr 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65741753
1853 'LAW AND POLICE COURTS. SUPREME COURT—CRIMINAL, SIDE.', Adelaide Times (SA: 1848 - 1858), 3 December, p. 3. , viewed 09 Apr 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207121817
1854 'WITCHCRAFT IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.', Inquirer (Perth, WA: 1840 - 1855), 8 March, p. 2. (SUPPLEMENT TO "THE INQUIRER."), viewed 09 Apr 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65741753

The Haunting of the Lyndoch Hotel

The Lyndoch Hotel

 For a short while, many years ago, I lived in the town of Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley. I discovered a few local ghost stories by chatting with the locals the most common story amongst the people I spoke to was to do with the “projectionist ghost” of the Lyndoch Hotel.

The Lyndoch Hotel is located on Gilbert Street, at the intersection with Barossa Valley Way and Lyndoch Valley Road.
 The hotel was originally opened in 1869 as the “Farmers Rest Hotel, until it was later known as the “Travelers Rest Hotel” until it was renamed in 1937 with its present moniker.
 The original building was gutted by a fire with the building we see today constructed later that year.

It is believed that the former lessee of the Lyndoch Cinema, Mr J.A. Morcom, who played movies in the local hall for many years, is of the resident spirits of the hotel. Mr Morcom passed away in the hotel. It was a regular occurrence for him to spend the night in the hotel after a movie night.

 EDIT: I was informed during the Barossa History Fair (2019) that this part of the story is actually wrong: 

"On the 14^th of February 1959, Mr Morcom passed away after taking his own life in his regular room, room 8. He had grown very sad and disheartened after the death of his wife, and in the end, his sadness overcame him.
 He left a suicide note and a photo of his wife, his note read “Sorry, there’ll be no movies next Saturday”.

The true story is; 
 Mr Morcom had never married and died from a heart attack.

 This incorrect part of the story came from the book "True Barossa Ghosts" and is repeated verbatim on the Lyndoch Hotel website. My apologies to Mr Morcom's family and friends for publishing information that has proven to be incorrect. Perhaps, with the truth now exposed, Mr Morcom's spirit might find some peace.

Mr Morcom's alleged ghost: 

A man staying in room 8 witnessed Mr Morcom in his room, and ever since patrons and publicans have encountered his spirit in the hotel, with visual sightings of him a regular occasion.

 He is described as looking like a “middle-aged man, rather thin, and dressed in a grey shirt and slacks”.
 Bedroom 8 was removed in a renovation of the hotel, but Mr Morcom is still seen where he once stayed every Saturday. Where once he was seen in room 8, he is now seen standing behind a bar.

Mr Morcom’s story was not the only one I heard about the hotel in my time in the town. 

Another ghost is thought to be a local who spent many years drinking at the bar. Like most barfly’s, he had a seat that was his favourite. After his death, I am told it was a regular occurrence for his barstool to move of its own accord, and a few seconds later for the male toilet door to open of its own accord as if someone was entering the loo!

 Was this ghost drinking, and following his old toilet ritual as he did when he was alive, is it just pure coincidence, or is there a natural explanation?

 Have you experienced the “Projectionist Ghost” at the Lyndoch Hotel? I would love to hear your story!

 Email Allen Tiller at eidolon@live.com.au

Written and Researched by Allen Tiller.

www.allentiller.com.au

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Bibliography

 “A Brief History of the Hotels of Lyndoch 1847 – 1937” by Anne Hausler, 1991,  is kindly authorised by The Lyndoch & District Historical Society.

Laughton, VJ, 1991. True Barossa Ghosts. 2nd ed. South Australia: Bull Creek Books Tanunda.

Lyndoch Hotel. 2016. Lyndoch Hotel Ghost. [ONLINE] Available at: http://lyndochhotel.com.au/lyndoch-hotel-ghost/#!prettyPhoto. [Accessed 11 September 2016].