Gawler Underground - The Prince Albert Hotel

Prince Albert Hotel

109 Murray Street, Gawler

  The Prince Albert Hotel on Murray Street opened as the New Bushman Hotel on 31 March 1847 – the sign above the door states it was opened in 1859 by J. McEwan, but this is most likely the date it opened under the Prince Albert name. It retained this name until 30 March 1851, when it was renamed Young’s Hotel. The name reverted to the New Bushman Hotel in July 1852, then Smiths Hotel from 1855 until March 1859, when it was renamed The Prince Albert Inn. As of April 1869, the hotel has had the name The Prince Albert Hotel.[1] In the late 1990s, it became Fibber Magee’s until 2011.[2] The hotel name was then reverted to The Prince Albert Hotel. The hotel’s current legal trading name is the P/A Hotel.[3]

  A local legend states a tunnel used to run underneath Murray Street from the Gawler Arms Hotel into the Prince Albert Hotel, with another tunnel running up to the Hutchinson Hospital (built in 1913) on East Terrace. There is no evidence in the basement to prove either of these alleged tunnels true.

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Researched and written by Allen Tiller

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[1] Ibid.

[2] The South Australian Government Gazette, No. 53, (28 July 2011), pp. 3142.

[3] The South Australian Government Gazette, No. 123, (3 August 2000), p. 414.

Gawler Underground - Good Samaritan Convent

St Joseph’s Good Samaritan Convent

6 Porter Street

St Joseph’s Good Samaritan Convent was built in 1910, opening on October 3rd. The first nuns moved in on 11 November 1910. It served as a school for Sisters of the Good Samaritan and could house twelve female boarders. The chapel, rectory, music room, dormitories, lavatories, bathrooms, community room, sacristy and staircase hall were on the upper level. The north wing contained a reception room, refectory, scullery, kitchen, laundry, cellar, and another outer office.[1] Past students speak of the honour of polishing the cedar staircase and chapel, or ringing the Angelus Bell, all of which still stand intact today.

Music was a large part of instruction in the Convent, with many important musicians being classically trained here, including internationally renowned musician Brenton Langbein OAM, who went on to study at the University of Adelaide. He would later play with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and become a star of the classical music scene in Europe, and a theatre in the Barossa is named after him.

In 1973, the convent and the smaller convent next door were sold to Hristos (Kristos) and Mavis Zisimou. The Zisimou’s, for a while, ran the property as a boarding house. According to her son, Mavis helped people turn their lives around with tough love, an iron fist, and a loving heart. The convent was sold to Dr Naomi Rutton in 2022, who has plans to turn it into a health retreat.

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researched and written by Allen Tiller




[1] 'The New Samaritan Convent, Gawler.', Southern Cross, (7 October 1910), p. 8.

Gawler Underground - Imprint Flowers

Imprint Flowers

1 Tod Street Gawler

 

The building located at 1 Tod Street, now Imprint Flowers, started as Taylor and Ponder Carpenters and Builders in 1855.[1] Ponder left the company, and a new partnership started with Alexander Forgie. Taylor and Forgie were carpenters and builders, and sometime in the 1870s, extended their business to include undertaking. In 1902, Alexander Forgie died, dissolving the partnership of Taylor and Forgie, however, Alexander’s sons, Alexander junior and James Forgie, took over the business.

  In 1908, The Bunyip newspaper reported that a fire gutted the ground-floor offices of Taylor and Forgie, but it did not penetrate through to the boarding house above.[2]

  There is a belief that this site was used as a morgue – and there may be a little truth in that - occasionally bodies were stored here, but the reality was, in the Victorian era, when people died their bodies were prepared for funerals in their own homes. This was generally due to there being no refrigeration storage, so people were buried within a few days of death. This changed once embalming became the norm, and this is more likely the period, in the early 1900s, that bodies were stored here temporarily.

Taylor and Forgie moved to Cowan Street, Gawler, in 1968. Since then, the shop has been a coffee house, a secondhand store, a baby shop, Bake and Brew, Fairy Secrets, and a flower shop.

Go Underground and visit the basements via this link

Researched and written by Allen Tiller

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[1] 1942 'TAYLOR & FORGIE', Bunyip, 24 July, p. 2.

[2] 1908 'A FIRE.', Bunyip, 1 May, p. 2.

Gawler Underground - Table Top Warfare

Piles Building

146-154 Murray Street, Gawler.

Built in 1877 for owner John Pile by Mr J. J. Peek of Gawler South.[1] The shop on the end that was most recently B Music was built by Taylor and Forgie Carpenters around 1880.[2] This retail shop has been F. Lines and Sons Butchers, W. Miller Butcher, and Arthur T. Hewett Butchers.
The Commercial Bank of South Australia, Stewert Music Emporium, and H.B. Crosby have all occupied the premises; as have many other businesses, including R.J. Lavis Draper and Grocer, Gawler Curtains and Blinds, The Salvation Army, Stratco, Malcolm Buckby M.P., Reminisce Photography and a family-run deli.

International movie connection: Frank Thring Sr. worked at H.B. Crosby, making boots. Thring married Gawler born Grace Wight while they were both actors in the Gawler Theatrical Club. Frank and Grace's daughter, Viola, known as Lola, dated future Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt before dumping him and marrying his father! Thring later founded EffTee Pictures - a massively successful movie house. Frank Thring's son with his second wife Olive, went on to star as Pontius Pilate in Ben-Hur, and starred in the movies The Howling 3, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and a host of TV commercials.

In the early 1980s, artist Audrey Emery opened the Brownstone Jazz Cellar, a coffee shop in this basement. The Brownstone Jazz Cellar only lasted a couple of years; it was incredibly successful, but with success came rent increases that priced it out of the cellar. It closed circa 1983.

Go Underground and visit the basements via this link

TABLE TOP WARFARE

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[1] 'Editor's Notes.', Bunyip, (9 February 1912), p. 2.

[2] 1878 'COLONIAL MANUFACTURES.', Bunyip (Gawler, SA : 1863 - 1954), 12 July, p. 2.

 Is Architectural history a lie? 

– The Tartarian Mudflood Conspiracy.

 

A basement window looking out to Murray Street - Gawler.

 Recently on the Haunts of Adelaide Facebook page, we have had a few conspiracy theories that certain older buildings in Adelaide were built by a highly advanced global empire that visited Australia (and other locations around the globe) pre-European settlement. The conspiracy is that the Tartarian global empire was intentionally erased, and that history was rewritten to make buildings seem younger and more modern.[1] Subscribers to the theory believe that a vast, technologically advanced empire arose in north-central Asia, and spread peacefully across the globe. They believe that approximately one hundred years ago a great cataclysm occurred that toppled the empire which led to many of its buildings being destroyed, and its history erased from records.[2]

European Cartographers often used the toponym ‘Tartary’ to describe Central Asia. The area was bound by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. There were a multitude of different cultures living within this area. Tartary was not defined, nor did it represent one race of people. In modern terms, this area spans from the east of the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea and includes Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and Siberia.[3]

The Tartarian ‘theory’ was originated and perpetuated by pseudo-historians who combined a Russian fervour for their allegedly lost empire (Tartaria being the supposed real name of Russia according to some conspiracy believers) with an alternative historical chronology. Basically, the timeline we all know is actually much shorter in reality. This theory has then been picked up by influencers and shared as a fact being hidden by someone in authority – usually a shadow Government, the Rothschilds, the Illuminati or the Secret Owl Society. [4]

Buildings such as the Capitol in Washington, the Pyramids in Egypt, The Great Wall of China, and Bastian Star forts, such as seen in Portugal, Netherlands, and Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka was a Portuguese and Dutch colony, so no mystery how the design was utilized there). Here in Adelaide, buildings being assigned to the Tartarian include the Adelaide Town Hall, the General Post Office and the Edmund Wright Building. This is despite detailed records of design and photographic evidence of construction.

 One of the things that Tartarian conspiracy theory believers love to argue as a feature of Tartarian architecture is buildings with basement windows. If you look around Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Gawler, or Kapunda, you’ll see this common feature that allows light to get into basement rooms with pre-electric light (it is widely believed that Port Adelaide has lower basements because the city was ‘built up’ to stop tidal floods, however, there is no evidence of this. One would think if this were the case the original ground-level doors would be visible in what are now basements, and sub-basements, that were originally basements, would be present in all buildings).

Another feature of the conspiracy is that much of our history has been intentionally razed or destroyed by disasters and war. An example is the fire in the Norte-Dame de Paris, the 12th-century Roman Catholic cathedral in France was seen as a deliberate attempt to destroy more Tartarian architecture by conspiracy believers.[5]  Some believers in the theory cite Napoleon’s invasion of Russia as the beginning of the rewriting of Tartarian history and add that further World Wars destroyed much of what was left of the empire in the 20^th century. However, they do not cite how Napoleon’s army overcame the vastly superior weaponry of the Tartarian – as one must assume, a world power with such great architectural stills, would also have an advanced military and weaponry.[6]
  There is little reasoning offered on why such a coverup and rewriting of history has occurred. Much of the rhetoric involves believers riffing on old maps, weaving together narratives based on conjecture picking out small inconsistencies, and a flagrant disregard for documented history.
 There also seems to be little or no understanding of economic differences between now and two hundred years ago. Today, glass, steel and concrete are reasonably cheap to build with; stone, terracotta and marble are not. It was also much cheaper to hire skilled workers and labourers two hundred years ago than it is today.

© Allen Tiller 2025

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[1] Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, What Is the Lost Empire Of Tartaria?, Discover, (2023), https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/what-is-the-lost-empire-of-tartaria.

[2] Zach Mortice, ‘Inside the ‘Tartarian Empire,’ the QAnon of Architecture’, Bloomberg, (2021), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-04-27/inside-architecture-s-wildest-conspiracy-theory.

[3] Mark C. Elliot, "The Limits of Tartary: Manchuria in Imperial and National Geographies". The Journal of Asian Studies. Vol. 59, (2000), pp. 603–646.

[4] Josie Adams, Inside the wild architecture conspiracy theory gaining traction online, The Spin Off, (2022), https://thespinoff.co.nz/internet/14-01-2022/inside-the-wild-architecture-conspiracy-theory-gaining-traction-online.

[5] Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, What Is the Lost Empire Of Tartaria?, Discover, (2023), https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/what-is-the-lost-empire-of-tartaria.

[6] Zach Mortice, ‘Inside the ‘Tartarian Empire,’ the QAnon of Architecture’, Bloomberg, (2021), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-04-27/inside-architecture-s-wildest-conspiracy-theory.

Allen Tiller - South Australia's History Festival 2025

 

I have a few things going on this year for South Australia's History Festival.

I have worked with Gawler Youth to develop a geocache that investigates Gawler's history and it's ghosts. The Youth chose the name "History behind the mystery". It opens on May 12th at the Gawler Youth Space at the Gawler Civic Centre.

I have been working with Daniel Down of Gawler Photographs to bring you Gawler Underground:

Come visit our FREE exhibition titled "GAWLER UNDERGROUND". Check out two years’ work exploring some of Gawler's most hidden basements.
  Not only will you be able to see detailed photographs of these historic basements, but you'll be able to get a real feel for what's below Gawler’s streets by connecting to our YouTube channel through QR codes supplied at the event, giving you a firsthand look inside these basements.
  Artists will also present their own interpretations of the basement/building/moods.
  Outside the cafe space in the Gawler Civic Centre:
Mon - Sat
May 13th - May 31st
Find out more here: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/1221942235989540

I will be presenting Playford Ghosts on Saturday, 17th May at the Playford History Festival
book here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/playford-history-festival-stage-line-up-tickets-1278638796059

And I will be presenting Ghosts of Salisbury - Wed May 21st - at Salisbury Library
book here: https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/events/ghosts-of-salisbury-with-allen-tiller/

#gawler #history #ghosts #allentiller

 Chicago – South Australia

Did you know that South Australia once had a suburb named Chicago?

 Chicago was an industrial area 5 miles from Adelaide, which had a school and its own football club.[1] The Yatala South District Council decided that the name needed to be changed due to confusion with Chicago South Australia mail being mistaken for Chicago, Illinois, USA mail.
 The Chicago Post Office, South Australia, stated it did not matter that the name was changed, as it was to avoid confusion.[2] However, there was conjecture in local newspapers that the real reason the name change was first suggested was that the ‘name reminded them too much of gangsters, daylight hold-ups, and "Scarface" Al Capone.’[3]

Names suggested for the renaming included Booth and Makinville (in honour of Mr. Norman Makin Speaker of the House of Representatives), Killarney, Northview or Suburbia.[4] Mawson was suggested but rejected due to the name being used in Western Australia.[5]  Braeville and Mapleton were also suggested but were vetoed by the Nomenclature Committee, owing to similar place names in Australia.[6]
While new name suggestions were considered some members of the public believed the area should be absorbed into nearby suburbs, such as Islington, Kilburn, SunnyBrae, and Islington Park. and Braeville. Ultimately, the Yatala District Council of the day, overseen by chairperson, R.A. Thompson, would have the final say on the name.[7]

A name was chosen by the council and debated in Parliament. Kilburn was chosen as it complied with official requirements, ‘inasmuch, as it is a wholesome word; and does not clash with any existing place names in the Commonwealth.’ [8]   The News reported on the name transition the following,

Kilburn is the designation of a private subdivision adjoining Chicago. Hitherto the name has not been recognised officially in the Lands Titles Office. There is a suburb of London called Kilburn, and the name also occurs in Yorkshire and Derby Shire. In an earlier form: it is mentioned in Domesday Book, and its roots have reference to church and stream. Chicago is a Red-Indian word for "wild onion."[9]

The Mail, not long after the announcement of the name change from Chicago reported,

'Kill— Burn'

'What's in a name?' asked Shakespeare. Residents of Chicago will find that there is more in one than meets the eye. For the new name for Chicago, near Port Adelaide, is Kilburn. And Kilburn, according to the residents, sounds much more aristocratic than Chicago, which is reminiscent of battle, murder, and sudden death.
Kilburn, they say, suggests the emerald isle, with ruined castles dreaming by moonlit lakes and moss-covered walls and leprechauns.

But the Fates have conspired against Kilburn for latest cables from Chicago, America, state that gangsters after killing off their victims are suspected of burning the bodies.

Thus— Kill-burn.

It seems that Adelaide's Chicago cannot escape association with us shady namesake.[10]

 

Also changed at the same time, announced by Governor Sir Alexander Hore-Ruthven, was the suburb name Mellor Park, which was changed to Lockleys.[11]

 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2025

Photos:

Gregory's  Street Directory of Adelaide and Suburbs, State Library of South Australia, Map 36 (1936), https://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/nodes/view/2108#idx12271

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[1] 'Chicago Club', News, (25 February 1925), p. 5.

[2] 'Renaming Chicago', News, (15 February 1930), p. 3.

[3] 'Name of Suburb Changed', The Standard, (23 March 1960), p. 7.

[4] 'Renaming Chicago', News, (15 February 1930), p. 3.

[5] 'Chicago Renamed', News, (26 April 1930), p. 3.

[6] 'Renaming Chicago', News, (7 April 1930), p. 4.

[7] 'Renaming Chicago', News, (15 February 1930), p. 3.

[8] 'Exit Chicago!', News, (3 May 1930), p. 3.

[9] Ibid.

[10] "Kill-Burn"', The Mail, (24 May 1930), p. 3.

[11] 'Kilburn Vice Chicago', The Advertiser, (13 August 1930), p. 10.