Glenelg Riots – part three – Guy Fawkes Day

Remember, remember, the 5th of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent

To blow up the King and the Parliament

Three score barrels of powder below

Poor old England to overthrow

By God’s providence he was catch’d

With a dark lantern and burning match

Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring

Holler boys, holler boys

God save the King!

 

 

Way back on January 24^th, 2023, I published the first part of this series ‘The Glenelg Riot.’ I decided it would be more fitting to publish this post on the 5^th of November – Guy Fawkes Day.

 

 Guy Fawkes Day (also known as Cracker Night, Bonfire Night, and Fireworks night) was an annual celebration in Great Britain and in some Commonwealth countries such as Australia. The day memorialised the attempted assassination of King James 1, a protestant King, by Catholic conspirators.
 On November 5^th, 1605, Guy Fawkes was arrested while guarding explosives that had been placed under the House of Lords. He was part of a plot to blow up Parliament led by Robert Catesby. The other conspirators were captured and executed on 31 January 1606, but not before Edward Montagu, a Member of Parliament proposed that the King had been saved by Divine Intervention, and therefore the day should be celebrated as a day of thanksgiving.

 The 5^th of November became a day for the burning of effigies of Guy Fawkes. In its early incarnations, the day celebrated the Protestant King by defiling Catholic Church symbols, such as the pope, by burning effigies. The holiday remained in Australia until circa 1982 when the Government banned all sales of fireworks.

In 1910 Glenelg celebrated Guy Fawkes night with a riot![1] Crowds had gathered at Mosely Square and Jetty Road to celebrate the evening. All was going well, until around 10pm that evening, an apparent signal went up and firecrackers from every direction were thrown at police.
At around 11pm a large stone was thrown from a lane adjoining Jetty Lane at Constable Harrold. The stone missed him but hit Mounted Constable Clark inflicting a deep wound into his skull which later had to be stitched.[2]A plain-clothed officer arrested the rock thrower, assisted by Constable Keene, who was promptly despatched by a bottle thrown at his head, knocking him out.[3]
The police retreated to the station, but the crowd followed. After a short time, the police came outside and confronted the crowd with their batons drawn. The crowd soon dispersed, and the riot ended.[4]

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

[1] ‘CRACKERS AND CONSTABLES.’, Evening Journal, (7 November 1910), p. 4.

[2] ‘SOUTH AUSTRALIA.’, The North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times (8 November 1910), p. 3.

[3] ‘RIOT AT GLENELG.’, The Sydney Morning Herald, (7 November 1910), p. 9

[4] ‘RIOT AT GLENELG.’, The West Australian, (7 November 1910), p. 8

A Haunting at Melrose – St George’s Folly

 

 The original owner, and builder, of the North Star Hotel at Melrose, was William St. George. The North Star Hotel was originally licenced in 1854, operating from a simple log hut.[1] Such were the profits from his hotel, it allowed St George to build his mansion. The house featured cedar fittings throughout and was believed to be the first in South Australia to have a corrugated iron roof. Unfortunately, St. George never got to enjoy his home, as he was killed in an accident at Roseworthy.

St. George was carting furniture from Adelaide to George’s Knob, ten kilometres south of Melrose in the Flinders’ Ranges when his horses fell into an unseen railway ballast pit, toppling his cart and killing him. William St George was buried at Gawler Cemetery, which is now Pioneer Park in 1863.[2]

His house became derelict and was frequented by squatters. A 1904 newspaper article in the Evening Journal detailed graffiti on the internal walls of the house, one stated ‘I can’t sleep here tonight; this great windy house seems to haunt a fellow.”[3]
It became rumoured that the house was haunted. The Evening Journal claimed that “a party of superstitious people recently slept on the premises with loaded guns, but the ghost did not come that night.”[4]

Eventually, the property was purchased by J. H. Angus and became a part of the Willowie Pastoral Company. It was renovated and lived in by a pastoral overseer for the company John Ross and his wife Lyn. The house then became known as Rosslyn Estate.[5]

From the 1^st of November 1920, the house was occupied by Ernest Benjamin Pitman.[6]Pitman received the property from the Soldier Settlement Branch. Soldiers who were honourably discharged from Australia’s Imperial Forces and served overseas were entitled to assistance from the South Australian Government purchased land and assisted in erecting buildings, purchasing seeds and general improvements of the property.
In his book, Ghosts and Haunting of South Australia, author Gordon de L. Marshall interviewed Keith Pitman, son of Ernest. Keith stated that in the 1920s his father first witnessed a ghost. During daylight, the ghost came out from the cellar, it was a skeleton dressed in a shroud. According to Keith, his father was sitting near a window when he witnessed the ghost walk alongside the house, through a 3000-gallon water tank, and out to a paddock, some 400 meters from the house. There it stopped.
Ernest went and investigated the location and found the remnants of an old grave, but no headstone.[7]

The family believed that another ghost haunted the old home, that of William St George. They believed St. George would open doors in the house. The family never felt uncomfortable around this ghost. Keith Pitman sold Rosslyn in 2002.[8]

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

[1] North Star Hotel, Melrose Community Development Association, (2022), https://www.melrose-mtremarkable.org.au/historic-buildings/
[2] ‘MOUNT REMARKABLE’, South Australian Register, (29 October 1863), p. 3.
[3] ‘WHEN MELROSE WAS YOUNG.’, Evening Journal, (29 September 1904), p. 2.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] ‘PITMAN Ernest Benjamin Hundred of Wongyarra, Sections 381/3 1 Nov 1920.’, GRG35/320 Record of land held by soldier settlers – Soldier Settlement Branch 1917-1931, State Archives of South Australia, vol 2, (2019), p. 83, https://archives.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/public/documents/GRG35_320_1917-1931_Record_of_land_held_by_soldier_settlers.pdf.
[7] Gordon de L. Marshall, Ghosts and Haunting of South Australia, (2012), p. 214-15.
[8] Melrose land sale sets new record, The Flinders News, (2017), https://www.theflindersnews.com.au/story/5124039/melrose-land-sale-sets-new-record/.

Old Goolwa Police Station and Court House

The Goolwa Police station was erected in 1859, It was designed by Colonial Architect E.A. Hamilton. The police station had its own water supply via a well. In 1867 a courthouse was erected next door, and in 1874 a sore for Aboriginals was built alongside it.[1]

The Goolwa Police Station was closed in 1993 when a new purpose-built station was opened. At the time the Goolwa Police Station was the oldest operating police station in Australia.[2]

 

Goolwa Radio Alex Fm run a local ghost tour every Halloween. That ghost tour takes in the old Goolwa Police Station and courthouse complex which is now the SA Coast Regional Arts Centre. During one of many tours, a person on the tour snapped a photograph of the front of the building which shows what looks to be a person looking out at them. It is claimed that no-one was inside the building at the time the photograph was taken.

 

“The photo below was taken on a previous Ghost Tour outside the Old Police Station. Witnesses at the event insist there was no one in the doorway when the photo was taken! The figure is thought to be that of a Police Constable who drowned at the Murray Mouth in 1880.”

– Radio Goolwa Alex FM[3]

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

[1] Department for Environment and Heritage, ‘Police Station & Courthouse and Outbuildings’, Government of South Australia, (2012), https://cdn.environment.sa.gov.au/environment/docs/goolwa_police.pdf.
[2] ‘Force defends station’, Times, (25 June 1993), p. 1.
[3] Goolwa Historic Ghost Walk’, Pet Let, (2021), https://petlet.net.au/goolwa-historic-ghost-walk/

Caust's Angel

  

Charles Arnold Caust was born on August 11 1878 at Chain of Ponds in the Adelaide Hills. Caust’s family were devoted Methodists. He left the Adelaide Hills and for five years lived with his sister at Goodwood, and later Hindmarsh.
At age 19, Caust had a vision of an Angel. The Angel said to him “You will not live another ten years.”
Although he was not a superstitious man, the visitation made him uneasy.
Two years later the same angel appeared, saying the same thing. In the weeks before his death, Caust spoke to his wife and his brother Ray about the Angel vision, stating he was not troubled by it, as he believed it was God calling him to work.[1]

William Strapps took his sons Claude and Frank, and Frank’s friends Gordon Miller and Leslie Heming out for a sail in a canvas canoe at about 4pm. As the boat turned, it capsized, spilling all inside into the sea. Witnesses on the shore and jetty watched on as Claude Strapps swam to the shore, and the others struggled in the deep water.
 Caust was sitting at Henley Beach on Saturday 8 January 1906, with his friends and family. A boat with five people aboard capsized a fair distance out. Caust, who was holding his child kissed her and said ‘God will help you if I fail. He handed his daughter to a friend, ran down to the water, stripped off and jumped into the sea. He swam towards the upturned canoe in heavy seas. Large waves tumbled him, but he struggled on. Another wave crashed over Caust, and he disappeared from sight. His wife, now standing on the shore watching, screamed in uncontrolled grief – her husband was gone…

 The boys and their captain, nearing exhaustion were rescued by Stanley and Herbert Scrymgour. In a newspaper interview William Strapps called Caust ‘one of nature’s noblemen,’ and went on to state,

as being unacquainted with boats or with the sea he was unaware that we were in no immediate danger. Our craft is a good life raft when capsized, and none but swimmers are ever allowed aboard. The fact that he could not manage a boat, and was not an expert swimmer, only increases one’s admiration of his futile efforts.[2]

 

Causts body was found the following day at Grange Jetty.[3]It had been nine and half years since the angel visited Caust, foretelling his death. He was buried at Hindmarsh cemetery.

 

A monument was also erected at Chain of Ponds in honour of Charles Caust on 15 December 1907. Between 200 to 300 people attended the dedication service. The monument is of Italian marble and is erected adjacent to the gate of the Methodist church.[4]

 

Front Inscription

A tribute to the heroism and self – sacrifice of – Charles Arnold Caust who was drowned on Jan 6th 1906, at Henley Beach while endeavouring to rescue others in peril

Aged 21 years.

He being dead yet speak.[5]

 

In 2003, Chain of Ponds Winery in the Adelaide hills released a single vineyard shiraz called ‘The Ledge’ in honour of Charles Arnold Caust. You can find out more about it here: https://www.chainofponds.com.au/our-wines

 

 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller ©2023

 

[1] ‘In Memoriam.’, Australian Christian Commonwealth, (26 January 1906), p. 5.
[2] ‘DROWNED AT HENLEY BEACH.’, Chronicle, (13 January 1906), p. 39.
[3]‘HENLEY BEACH DROWNING CASE.’, The Age, (9 January 1906), p. 5.
[4] ‘A MEMORIAL TO THE LATE CHARLES ARNOLD CAUST.’, Australian Christian Commonwealth, (4 January 1907), p. 11.
[5] ‘Charles Arnold Caust’, Monument Australia, https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/tragedy/display/116440-charles-arnold-caust#:~:text=The%20monument%20commemorates%20Charles%20Arnold,Henley%20Beach%2C%20on%20Saturday%20afternoon.

Talia Caves – Part II: Ghosts and Embellishments.

 Talia Caves – Part II: 

Ghosts and Embellishments.

 

 In January 1961, Shirley and Bruce Baldwin were enjoying a seaside holiday on the Eyre Peninsula. Stopping at Talia, Bruce decided to get some photographs of the coastal cliffs and Talia caves. The film was developed and Bruce noticed an unusual figure standing in the ocean. He gave the negative to his friend Michael Leyson who had the image printed. Leyson submitted the print to be published in the book Haunted: The Book of Australian Ghost Stories, giving full credit to Bruce. However, Leyson claims that the author of the book disregarded the true story, misquoted Leyson and wrote a new story about the nurse that puts her reputation in disrepute. That book is by respected author John Pinkney, who, unfortunately, has since died and cannot defend himself against accusations of dishonesty, exaggeration, and embellishment.  

 Pinkney states in his book that Sister Millard’s death occurred in 1923. That her death was a murder, “A nurse became pregnant to a respected married man. He was so terrified of the scandal that might engulf him that he tried to solve the problem by hurling her from the high cliffs.’[1]

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

---

[1] John Pinkney, ‘Haunted: A Book of Australian Ghosts”, (2005), p. 22.

Talia Caves – Part I: Sister Doris Belle Millard

 

Sister Doris Millard set out with friends on Saturday 24 June 1928 from Streaky Bay to visit the Talia Caves. The little travelling party, consisting of Mr and Mrs J.B. Hastings, Mr and Mrs W.H. Brownrigg and Sister Millard camped overnight at Talia, and in the morning, Sister Millard suggested she might walk to the cliffs to take photos of the ocean.[1]
She walked to the cliffs with Mr Brownrigg reaching a narrow ledge that overhung a deep fissure in the rock. Brownrigg advised Millard not to walk on the ledge, but she replied, ‘If you can go there, I can”. Brownrigg walked a few steps away when he heard the rock crack. Turning, he saw Millard was gone., She had fallen ten meters in the raging waters below.

Brownrigg found his way down the cliff face to the waters below. He could see Millard trying to stay afloat in the raging waters as waves crashed over here, pulling her this way and that. He called out to her, and she got within a few feet of him, only to be washed away with the next wave.
Brownrigg watched as Millard would be pushed up into the narrow flume of the caves, then dashed back out onto nearby rocks. She lasted about fifteen minutes more until she disappeared from Brownrigg’s view.[2]

Sister Millard had recently resigned from her position as a nurse at Streaky Bay. Prior to that, she had worked at Broken Hill. Originally, she was from Prahran in Victoria.

News of the tragic circumstances of Sister Millard’s death spread quickly. Stan Emery, the local police officer of the region organised a service in the sister’s honour. Emery also hand-delivered a report on Millard’s parents in Melbourne.

The West Coast Sentinel (newspaper) organised a subscription list and raised over 60 pounds to erect a memorial to Sister Millard.[3] The memorial acted not only to honour the sister but to warn of the dangers of the cliff.
The memorial was unveiled on 25 November 1928.[4]

Next week: Talia Caves – Part II: Ghosts and Embellishments.

Researched and written by  Allen Tiller © 2023

[1] ‘NURSE LOSES HER LIFE’, Port Lincoln Times, (29 June 1928), p. 1.
[2] ‘TERRIBLE DROWNING FATALITY.’, West Coast Sentinel, (29 June 1928), p. 1.
[3] ‘SISTER MILLARD MEMORIAL’, Barrier Miner, (22 August 1928), p. 2.
[4] Sister D. B. Millard, Monument Australia (2022), https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/tragedy/display/51858-sister-d.-b.-millard.

Haunted Salisbury South Australia

Haunted Salisbury: South Australia is the culmination of many years of research into the haunted history of Salisbury, South Australia by award-winning paranormal historian, Allen Tiller. In this book, Allen Tiller investigates the origins of historic local hauntings and crimes, Salisbury’s founding, and the people who shaped the City of Salisbury, some of whom, are now alleged to haunt the places they lived and worked.
Allen Tiller is a university-educated, award-winning paranormal historian from Gawler, South Australia. He was a member of the cast of the television show Haunting: Australia, and the best-selling author of The Haunts of Adelaide: Revised Edition, and Haunted Adelaide, the first book in this series about hauntings, history and crimes in Australia.

Purchase your copy here: BUY NOW

Lost Hotels: The Junction Hotel – Roseworthy.

In 1867, plans were submitted to the Bench of Magistrates for licensing of ta proposed hotel at Roseworthy. George Powning had his submission rejected as the board thought the dining room and bedrooms were too small for a hotel catering to the region at the time, especially one across from a train station.[1] Licensing for the hotel took almost a year to be approved. The first applications were presented in January 1867, but as the construction of the hotel needed to be completed the board did not think it appropriate to be open to service. It took a memorial signed by numerous people of the Roseworthy community to be presented to the licensing bench for approval to open be granted on 15 December 1868. The first publican was William Steed who ran the hotel from 1868 to 1902.[2]

As an interesting side note, the Bunyip newspaper printed in 1871 that the Roseworthy school was built through the efforts of Mr Steed, publican of the Junction Hotel, Roseworthy.[3]

H.T. Kurtz was the publican after Steed, having the hotel from 1903 to 1905. From 1906 to 1909, J. McFayden was the publican. E.A. Wickens was publican between 1910 and 1911, followed by Florence Jennings (1912), Chas. Nottle (1913) and then H.A. Payne 1914- 1916. Between 1917 and 1923 the publican was C. J. M. Lucas.[4]
 Mrs J Roberts was then publican between 1924 and 1926, followed by Mrs W. Roberts (1927) and William Roberts between 1928 and 1933. From 1936 until 1955, the publicans were Ethel Joyce and Colin Campbell Leitch. In December 1954 the Publican licensing board granted a transfer of the license to Colin Campbell Leitch from the Junction Hotel, Roseworthy to Leitch’s Hotel.[5]

The Junction Hotel license was transferred to Leitch’s Hotel, which was situated on Main North Road. The Hotel cost £20, 000 and was built at the junctions of roads that led to the Riverland, Gawler and Tanunda (pre-existing highways.) The hotel had 12 rooms with 6 bedrooms with ensuites and was designed by architects Walkley and Welbourn. It was built by the construction company J. Jenkins and Sons.[6]
The Hotel considered local farmers and the rising wine industry, with the News reporting that the hotel had a specialised round bar and a wine-tasting terrace. Steven Clark MP officially opened the new hotel on 18 March 1954.[7]

A Bunyip newspaper report stated that the ‘lounge accommodates 40 people and dining room 32…Outside the beer garden is set on a lawn, and the playground, with shell grit pit, includes a children’s slide and kanga-plane.”[8]

The former Junction Hotel was demolished in the 1960s.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

Roseworthy Junction Hotel [B 45255], State Library of South Australia, (2023), https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+45255

[1] ‘BENCH OF MAGISTRATES.’, South Australian Register, (24 September 1867), p. 3.

[2] J.L. Hoad, Hotels and Publicans in South Australia, (1986), p. 341.

[3] ‘ROSEWORTHY SCHOOL DEMONSTRATION.’, Bunyip, (2 December 1871), p. 3.

[4] J.L. Hoad, Hotels and Publicans in South Australia, (1986), p. 341.

[5] ‘2 hotels granted licences’, News, (7 December 1954), p. 33.

[6] ‘START ON HOTEL IN FORTNIGHT’, News, (23 October 1953), p. 10.

[7] ‘Bar outstanding’, News, (15 December 1954), p. 37.

[8] ‘NEW HOTEL HAS GALA OPENING.’, Bunyip, (24 December 1954), p. 5.

Tracy Muzyk murder – update March 2023

On a previous blog post – found here (http://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com/2016/07/muzyk-murder.html), I detailed the gruesome murder of Tracy Muzyk. I have since spoken to family members and follow reports of those convicted closely.

 On 3 March 2023, ABC News reporter Candice Prosser published a report on one of the convicted murderers, Bruce McKenzie. McKenzie and four other people were convicted for the prolonged torture and murder of Muzyk in 1996. McKenzie was 18 years old when he was convicted. He was paroled in 2021 and placed in a pre-release centre, where he was caught in possession of contraband reported as “10 suboxone strips, a white parcel described by McKenzie as “smack”, a packet of tobacco and a USB memory stick, hidden in his underpants.” [1]

McKenzie’s locker was also searched where nine mobile phones were found. He admitted to smoking cannabis “due to Covid isolation and harassment from other prisoners.”
In his defence, McKenzie stated that the contraband had been smuggled into the prison due to him being threatened by a group of men who ‘stood over’ him.

McKenzie was raised in Victoria, where his family still reside. His lawyer argued that it would be beneficial to McKenzie to be paroled to Victoria where he would receive support from his family. The South Australian Parole Board had no objection to McKenzie being paroled to Victoria, however, in doing so, the Victorian Parole Authority would assume supervision obligations for the rest of McKenzie’s life.

On 3 March 2023, The Supreme Court re-sentenced the 44-year-old McKenzie. Justice Kevin Nicholson, stated of Muzyk murder, “The many acts of torture were barbaric and inhuman. [McKenzie] was also only 18 years old. He had grown up within a dysfunctional family,”

“You told [a social worker] that you were involved in the assault on [Tracy] at the house and that you continued on out into the paddock, at the paddock, you tried to stab [Tracy] with a star dropper. You also picked up a rock which took two people to hold and dropped it on [Tracy’s] head. You then stabbed her to try and kill her.
You told the social worker that the reason for your involvement was peer pressure because the others were egging you on. After leaving school, you moved from one youth refuge to another. You involved yourself with illegal drugs. On the day of the murder, you had taken heroin, and you described yourself as being ‘off my face’.”

After his concluding remarks, Justice Nicholson sentenced McKenzie to five months imprisonment, and another eight months non-parole period for the murder of Muzyk, which was backdated to August last year.[2]

McKenzie is due for release in May 2023.

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[1] Candice Prosser, ‘Murderer who tortured Adelaide woman Tracy Muzyk to be released from prison within months.’, ABC News, (2023), https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-03/tracy-muzyk-killer-ian-bruce-mckenzie-to-be-released-again/102049450.

[2] Sean Fewster, ‘Torturer, murderer back behind bars months after parole.’, The Advertiser, (2023), http://www.adelaidenow.com.au%2Ftruecrimeaustralia%2Fpolice-courts-sa%2Ftracy-muzyk-murderer-ian-bruce-mckenzie-back-behind-bars-for-trying-to-bring-drugs-into-prerelease-centre%2Fnews-story%2F53d19fc3254381e89106aeb573ae45e2&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-high-control-score&V21spcbehaviour=append.

A Haunting at Waterhouse Chambers

Waterhouse Chambers was built by successful grocer Thomas Greaves Waterhouse, who had invested heavily in the Burra Mines, and made a small fortune in return.

 Waterhouse used his earnings to construct the impressive building, which was so iconic at the end of Rundle Street, that the corner became known locally as “Waterhouse Corner”, before being usurped as “Beehive Corner”, when the even more impressive “Beehive” building opened across the road.
 The building has seen many uses, including, at one time, being used as the head office of the South Australian Mining Company.

The building left the ownership of the Waterhouse family in 1919 after A. Waterhouse sold it to F.N.  Simpson of Gawler Place through realtor J.S. Kithor. In 1921 Kithor would on-sell the building to tobacco merchants “Lawrence and Levy” who remodeled the ground floor shop front.

After ninety years of occupying a section of the building, Shuttleworth and Letchford moved their offices to the YWCA building on Hutt Street.

 The building has seen many tenants over the years but perhaps one of the best-loved was the 44-year occupation by the iconic confectioner, Darrell Lea before the current Tennant, Charlesworth Nuts took over in 2013.

 

Ghost Stories:

Long rumoured to be haunted amongst the local paranormal community, ghost stories for this particular building are very hard to come by, but it would seem, that the majority of stories that have surfaced involve the upstairs section of the building.
 It has been reported that staff so not like the feeling of the upstairs room, reports of paranoia, smelling phantom pipe tobacco smoke when clearly no one is smoking, and hearing loud footsteps in rooms have surfaced.
 At one point this led staff from a downstairs shop, which used the upstairs as storage, to abandon the upstairs section as no one wanted to enter the rooms for fear of the unknown. If it is indeed haunted, it has yet to be investigated by a professional paranormal investigation team or group of skeptics to find the cause of fear and paranoia! 

Trivia: Before the imposing Beehive building was built the corner of King William Street and Rundle Street was known locally as “Waterhouse Corner”.

This story was originally written for the Adelaide City Library project “Haunted Buildings in Adelaide.” For a more complete history of the building and eyewitness accounts of ghost stories at this building please refer to my book “Haunted Adelaide” available via Amazon here: Haunted Adelaide

© 2016 Allen Tiller