Sunday 12 August 2012

Wellington Point's Whepstead House: Where the ghost stories are plentiful, & so are the inaccuracies...

Whepstead House, c. 1909 (John Oxley Library)

On Tuesday night this week, I posted a link on our Facebook page leading to an international website showcasing the alleged "Top 8 Scariest Houses on Earth."  When I stumbled across the link, I was shocked to find that Whepstead House (or "Whepstead Manor" as it's become recently known, due to its days as a restaurant), an imposing villa at Wellington Point on Moreton Bay, had been listed in second place right behind the Amityville House in Long Island, New York...and was even more shocked to discover that the photo used for the spiel on Whepstead House was not Whepstead House at all - it was, in fact, a photo of one of the cell blocks within the still surviving Number 2 Division of Boggo Road Gaol!  Inspired by this highly embarrassing photo error, I announced on Tuesday night that we'd be examining Whepstead House as this week's feature site, including a critical analysis of the multiple ridiculous ghost stories that are consistently regurgitated about this venue.  Imagine my surprise when, the very next night, an outfit going by the name of Paranormal Paratek Queensland, published an article on a brand new blog site, entitled, "Whepstead Manor - The Ups and Downs of a Historic Haunted Home."

In what was clearly an underhanded attempt to earn some notoriety and beat the Haunts of Brisbane to the punch, this group stole our topic for the week and very hastily slapped together a competing article.  Even more disappointingly, they did so by simply "cutting-&-pasting" large chunks of information from two other websites, with a few minor tweaks to the wording - a very poor reflection on a group that outwardly claims to "extensively research" the history of sites they investigate.  The first ⅔ of their article is plagiarised virtually word for word from the Wellington Point history PDF, a 16 page history document that can be downloaded for free on the Redland City Council website.  The last ⅓ of their article focusing on the ghosts of Whepstead House is also plagiarised, virtually word for word, from the "Whepstead Manor" listing on The Paranormal Guide website.  In doing so, however, we actually owe Paranormal Paratek Queensland a huge debt of gratitude...just like the vast bulk of paranormal websites on the internet, they've once again blindly regurgitated the very ghost stories we were intending to set straight in our article this week!

And just for the record, we're certain that Paranormal Paratek Queensland blatantly stole the topic from us, and it was not a simple case of coincidence, due to one overarching and very glaring error in their article - they were quick enough to read my comment on our facebook page on Tuesday night, stating we'd be tackling Whepstead House this week, and they were quick enough to click on the link for the "Top 8 Scariest Houses on Earth."  Unfortunately for their credibility, however, they weren't quick enough to read the rest of our post that night, clearly pointing out that the photo in the "Top 8" link was actually a picture of a Boggo Road Gaol cell block, and not Whepstead House...which they blindly proceeded to use in their article the next night as a photo of Whepstead House - very, very amateur stuff!


Paranormal Paratek Queensland's article about Whepstead, complete
with the incorrect photo of a Boggo Road Gaol cell block attached.

So, "amateur hour" aside, let's tackle Whepstead House head-on and get to the bottom of those rampant ghost stories!

Apart from a long list of alleged supernatural events (candles lit by unseen persons, appearing/disappearing stains on the carpet, objects being thrown across rooms, people having their hair pulled, cutlery being rearranged on tables etc), which can be found on any number of paranormal websites across the globe, let's focus purely on the supposed identities of the ghosts that apparently haunt Whepstead House.  Paranormal websites, including our recent acquaintances at Paranormal Paratek Queensland, claim that the site is home to four distinct spirits:
  1. The ghost of Gilbert Burnett's wife, Martha Ann Burnett - it's said that her passage through the building can be detected by the smell of lavender perfume, which she wore in life, and by brief glimpses of a face in the upstairs windows.
  2. The ghost of Gilbert Burnett's daughter, who vanished without a trace.  This story has specific variants where the daughter either disappeared on the mudflats during a walk, fell through an upper window to her death, or plummeted from the upper balcony with fatal consequences.
  3. The ghost of Gilbert Burnett's son, who was afflicted with a "wilted" leg - according to legend, the ghost of this young lad is regularly seen peering through the banisters on the central staircase.
  4. The ghost of an elderly man, who is alleged to be a servant, is seen randomly about the house dressed in a bowler hat and "butler's uniform."  Alternate versions have an apparition of a man appearing in the attic, or reflected in various mirrors throughout the house.
Before we go any further, we first need to take a few major factors into account.  Gilbert Burnett had two very distinct families - he fathered ten children to his first wife Martha, between 1870 and 1885.  After Martha's death in 1896, Gilbert remarried in 1903 to Ellen Thompson - as a result of this second marriage, he bore a further five children between 1905 and about 1918.  Of these two marriages and families, however, it was during Gilbert's first marriage with Martha that he lived at Whepstead House.  Furthermore, and most importantly, the Burnett family resided in Whepstead House for only two short years -  from its completion in 1889, until Gilbert Burnett was declared insolvent in 1891 and the family were forced to move.  Keeping these essential details in mind, let's now examine the four ghosts of Whepstead House!

The ghost of Martha Ann Burnett

It's said that Martha Ann Burnett's ghost haunts Whepstead House, however let's examine the facts: Martha gave birth to all ten of her children prior to moving into Whepstead House in 1889 (her youngest was four years old at the time); she spent two short years with her family at Whepstead before being evicted in 1891; her husband Gilbert constructed another house nearby (Fernbourne) in which she lived with her family for a further five years before her death in 1896; she passed away in her daughter's house at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane, "after a short and painless illness."  Having lived in a happy family home at Fernbourne for five years before passing away in her daughter's house at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane, can we really contribute the "hint of lavender" at Whepstead House to Martha's ghost??  Furthermore, given that Martha passed away in 1896 (116 years ago), who exactly remembers her wearing "lavender perfume" and has attributed the smell to Martha specifically in recent years?!?  Given that Whepstead House has acted as a restaurant-come-wedding reception venue for at least the last 15 years, is it beyond the realm of possibility that the smell of lavender might just come from scented candles or potpourri as a result??  At the risk of sounding overly sceptical, the likelihood of Martha Burnett haunting this site is highly dubious at best.

Martha's Death Notice, published in The Brisbane Courier
 on the 9th of October 1896.

The ghost of Gilbert Burnett's vanishing daughter

Of Gilbert and Martha's ten children that lived at Whepstead House between 1889-1891, three were daughters - at the time they moved into the house, Alice Maud Burnett was 11, Edith Helena Burnett was 14 and Matilda Martha Burnett was 17.  However, contrary to the legends, not a single one disappeared without a trace...nor did any fall from an upstairs window, or plummet from the upper balcony.  All three daughters left Whepstead House in 1891 with their parents, lived at their subsequent home Fernbourne for a number of years, and then moved out into the world to pursue their adult lives...as such, any insinuation that one of Gilbert Burnett's daughters vanished without a trace at Whepstead, and still haunts the property, is completely and utterly bogus.  For clarity's sake, the historical record provides the following information about Gilbert and Martha's daughters:
  • Matilda Martha Burnett, born on the 8th of October 1872, passed away at the age of 32 on the 8th of June 1905, at her sister's house in Manly (Queensland).
  • Edith Helena Burnett, born on the 18th of June 1875, passed away at the age of 33 on the 18th of December 1908, at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Brisbane.
  • Alice Maud Burnett, born on the 24th of November 1878, passed away at the age of 82 on the 19th of February 1961, within the borders of Brisbane.
As a very interesting aside, Edith Helena Burnett married Frederick Charles Barnes on the 26th of June 1895.  Upon her death on the 8th of June 1905, virtually 10 years to the day that she'd been married, her husband Frederick was left to care for their four children.  On the 19th of March 1910, almost five years later, Edith's youngest sister Alice married Frederick and became an Aunty-come-stepmother to Edith's children...the couple went on to parent a number of their own children, who essentially became cousins to their step-siblings.

The ghost of Gilbert Burnett's crippled son

Of Gilbert and Martha's ten children that lived at Whepstead House between 1889-1891, seven were sons - at the time they moved into the house, Herbert Dawson Burnett was 19, Percival Francis Burnett was 18, Walter Woodward Burnett was 16, Egerton Gilbert Burnett was 12, Albert Ernest Burnett was 8 and Norman Victor Burnett was 6.  However, contrary to the legends, not a single one of the Burnett's sons appears to have suffered from a "wilted" leg...six of the seven sons went on to own properties where they worked as either dairymen, stockmen or farmers, whilst the odd son out became a warehouseman and travelling salesman.  We know this due to the historical record, and any insinuation that one of Gilbert Burnett's sons haunts the building, who was afflicted with a "withered" leg, is nothing more than candy for the gullible.  For clarity's sake, the historical record provides the following information about Gilbert and Martha's sons:
  • Herbert Dawson Burnett, born on the 23rd of January 1870, passed away at the age of 85 on the 3rd of June 1954, at Colinton west of Kingaroy - throughout his life, he had managed Lahey Bros. Sawmill at Christmas Creek, had farmed near Beaudesert and managed his property at Colinton for a further 47 years.
  • Percival Francis Burnett, born on the 4th of September 1871, passed away at the age of 81 on the 20th of October 1951, at Camp Hill in Brisbane - during his life he had been a dairy farmer at Christmas Creek for some years.
  • Walter Woodward Burnett, born on the 15th of November 1873, passed away at the age of 79 on the 13th of March 1953, at Rathdowney south of Beaudesert - throughout many of his years, he worked a farm in the area.
  • Egerton Gilbert Burnett, born on the 25th of February 1877, passed away at the age of 85 on the 8th of December 1961, at Rathdowney - during his life, he worked properties at both Collinsville south of Bowen, and also at Rathdowney.
  • Albert Ernest Burnett, born on the 9th of April 1881, passed away at the age of 67 on the 26th of January 1948, outside Clermont - throughout his life, he had worked properties in Cleveland, Beaudesert and Clermont.
  • Norman Victor Burnett, born on the 23rd of April 1883, passed away at the age of 79 on the 19th of March 1963, at Beaudesert - for his entire adult life, he had been a dairy farmer in the area.
  • Harold Edward Burnett, born on the 16th of April 1885, passed away at the age of 64 on the 24th of August 1948, at Wooloowin in Brisbane - he had lived most of his life in Brisbane as a Warehouseman and Travelling Salesman.
As a very interesting aside, Percival Burnett (Percy) was present on the Dunwich Jetty on Stradbroke Island, when a large shark was hauled ashore on the 5th of January 1906.  After walking from the jetty to the beach, where the three metre beast had been dragged up, he noticed that the belly of the shark was bulging.  Taking a knife and cutting the fish open, he was shocked to find "a human skull, with some brown hair attached to the crown; also the lower jaw, some teeth, a hand, and some bones."  Through a subsequent Magisterial Inquiry, Percy Burnett was called on to give evidence, as the remains were believed to be those of a boy named William Fielding, who had vanished from the Redland Bay area some days previously.

The ghost of the bowler-hatted butler

I must admit, knowing that two of the ghost stories about Whepstead House are completely and utterly bogus, and one is highly unlikely, this specific ghost story intrigues me for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, I'm intrigued by the concept of a servant/butler that wears a bowler hat in a house.  When I was a child, only 25 years ago, I was scolded if I wore a hat indoors - to do so was considered bad manners!  So...imagine the fall-out upon wearing a hat indoors 100 years ago as a guest??  I could only imagine, if you'd had the impertinence to do so, that you'd be cast outside in a heartbeat for contravening proper etiquette...but what if you were a servant/butler, who, of all people, was expected to uphold the highest levels of grace and etiquette at all times??  I can't imagine a servant/butler wearing a bowler hat either indoors or outdoors...but...what if the apparition seen within Whepstead House is nothing more than a smartly dressed man, in a suit and hat??  Could this one elderly gentleman in suit and hat harp from a different time in the site's history?  Walk this way...

"Bay View" Private Hospital

An advert for Bay View Hospital published in The Courier Mail
on the 9th of December 1939.

At some time in 1937, and the exact date is still unknown amongst historians, Whepstead House was converted into a private hospital.  Around that year, Ethel Dolley, a nurse who had managed two other private hospitals around South-east Queensland (the Bungalow Private Hospital in Nambour and the Bayview Private Hospital in Cleveland), moved her operation into Whepstead House - which from 1937 onwards became known as the Bay View Private Hospital...named after Ethel Dolley's previous hospital up the road in Cleveland.  Predominantly a hospital for the treatment of Neurasthenia, or "nervous exhaustion," this new Private Hospital also accommodated the convalescent, infirm, aged, sufferers of chronic illnesses, and expectant mothers - a number of local children were born within the the confines of Whepstead House.  However, whilst the house was a venue for the birth of many, it also possessed a sadder reputation - during the site's life as a Private Hospital, it was also the venue where many people spent their final minutes.  The following is a verified list of those unfortunates who passed away at Whepstead House come Bay View Private Hospital:

Elizabeth Murray (died 14th May 1838), Thomas Denham (died 16th June 1938), Edward Smallman (died 10th June 1940), Henry King (died 24th June 1941), Mary Lillias Deane (died 27th August 1941), Thirza Emma Redgewell (died 24th March 1942), Joshua Henry Petty (died 23rd September 1943), Jessie Harriet Maclean (died 27th October 1943), Rowena Harp Moller (died 23rd January 1946), Lilian Margaret Stephens (died 5th March 1946), Mary Rose Pennefather (died 28th July 1946), Alice Felicia Fitchew (died 12th October 1946), Frances Edith Bolton (died 16th February 1947), Geraldine Cecilia Anderton (died 9th March 1947), Peter Marks (died 6th July 1848), & Anne Marie Townsend Wren (died 22nd November 1953).

Keep in mind that this list is by no means comprehensive - the above sixteen deaths occurred within the confines of the house between 1937 and 1954 ("Bay View" Private Hospital ran for a further 19 years until about 1973 as a Convalescent Home), and was collated purely through Death Notices and Will Probate Notices within the local newspapers.  It is highly probable, if the records of "Bay View" could be accessed, that this number could possibly be doubled and sit in the vicinity of 40 deaths within the house between the years of 1937 and 1973.  So...knowing what we do, and choosing to accept eyewitness accounts of bizarre occurrences at Whepstead House, is it beyond the realm of possibility that the spirits of some of those who died within its walls still walk the halls through which they passed in their final days?? 

From an historical perspective, two of the names on this list immediately jump out, however.  Mary Lillias Deane, who passed away in 1941, was the widow of Henry Deane - a nationally renowned railway engineer who worked as engineer-in-chief on the Trans-Australian Railway from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta (amongst other major rail projects), was commissioned Colonel in the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps during WWI, and was a highly accomplished botanist, which he achieved in his spare time.  Some years after Henry's death in Malvern, Victoria, on the 12th of March 1924, Mary moved north via Hornsby in Sydney, before seeing out her final days at the "Bay View" Private Hospital.  The second name that springs from the list is Mary Rose Pennefather, the widow of Captain Charles Edward de Fonblaque Penneather - esteemed Naval Commander who explored the Gulf of Carpenteria and named the Pennefather River, Superintendent of the St Helena Island Penal Establishment through the late 1880's and early 1890's, and Comptroller General of Prisons in Queensland for a number of years...during his life, Captain Pennefather visited, and oversaw, many of the since closed penal institutions throughout Queensland that we now consider haunted locations -  including Boggo Road Gaol.

So...there we have it!  Whepstead House is an amazing site with an incredibly vibrant history, having served multiple purposes over the years for the betterment of Southeast Queensland.  However, the perpetuation of completely fictitious stories regarding ghostly identities at the site, in complete contradiction to the historical record, does nothing more than cheapen the amazing history to which this building lays claim.  Multiple paranormal sites across the internet continue to advertise this faux-history regarding the supposed ghosts of Gilbert & Martha Burnett's children, as we've most recently seen via Paranormal Paratek Queensland's attempt at a "factual" article four days ago, however I hope that we've now gone some way towards shedding light on these rumours.  It still strikes me as odd that so many fictitious stories circulate about this house and the apparent identities of the ghosts that reside within...yet not one person has ever researched or mentioned the fact that well in excess of a dozen people passed away at the site whilst it was a private hospital.  So, next time someone raises the topic of Whepstead House in conversation, or you pass by the venue, be sure to speak up and set the record straight whilst sparing a thought for the sixteen (or many more) people who expelled their final breaths within Whepstead House's walls...and possibly still call the venue home!

26 comments:

  1. Very thorough, thank you. I grew up just down the road at Alex Hills and love driving past and imagining era's gone by.. And the grandness Whepstead represents. I never believed the hype with ghost stories but it adds to the mystery of the "manor" although to me
    It will always be a plantation manse' lol
    I was sad to hear about Fernbourne House burning down today. How grand the Fernbourne's liked their houses :) thanks for a great blog!

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  2. I must admit, I was fascinated by this house as a child, my mother operated tours in the area and would often drive past Whepstead and tell the usual stories (all of the ones listed above), and having a very vivid imagination, I was drawn in by the story of the daughter who disappeared without a trace. Kind of feel like a bit of my child hood was just shattered, lol. Oh well, I am glad someone was able to research the real history of the Gilbert family enough to set the record straight!

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  3. i grew up just a few streets away from whepstead, although then it was bay view nursing home and my mother worked as a nurse's aid there for many years.. I did spend the night there on a couple of occasions as a child with my mother and although I never witnessed any ghostly sightings, I was very spooked by the atmosphere of the house...

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  4. I grew up in the Redlands and have been to Whepstead many times. The first time I went was for my mothers birthday and I have to say that I was a little freaked out by the place. I was only about 7 years old at the time and didn't realise what I was feeling nor did I know about any ghost stories, but years later I went back for another 'do' and the feeling of dread an oppression was so intense. I found out from my mother that I had a relative pass away in the manor when it was a hospital. I asked if we could have a small tour of the rooms on the second floor, to see where my relative lived their last days. I can't say that the place is haunted, but certainly morbid and oppresive... It would not surprise me if there are the odd manifestation..

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  5. what are your problems i lived down the road at Trafalgar vale avenue and my mother worked there when it was a wedding venue she was the bar maid. she has so many stories one is she was rushing to get ready for a wedding and because they worked there they new of all the hauntings so my mum every morning would say hello and goodbye to Mary (edith was known as mary)and her and her colleagues forgot to say hello one of the workers put the cutlery out on the table walked out walked back in and the cutlery was all switched around. so she switched them back and got all of the chairs ready for people to sit at ribbon and all walked out my mum walked in and there were chairs everywhere pushing everywhere and the cover on the fire place zoomed across the room, they heard footsteps up the stair way loud stomping and slamming of doors giggles and screams. they wondered what was wrong and my mum realized it was that they hadn't said hello they all said hello and sorry and explained why, the footsteps came down the stairs all the doors opened and the chairs started slowly going back to normal and the fire place cover was placed gently in front of the fire. another is that my mum was working upstairs at the bar and cleaning up after a different wedding and she heard noises in the bathroom loud yells and smashes and mens voices coming from the girls bathroom she walked in to see what was happening and there was nothing. so yer i believe in ghosts i believe in my mum i believe in the stories she has told me !!!!

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  7. Top article. All your articles are informative and great. Please write more.

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  8. Hi......I worked there as a chef at Whepstead 'Manor' around 1996 for 6 months Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.....The Bowler hat guy appeared on the balcony one Saturday night and there were five tables dining there.....They all saw him (but I didn't)........A clairvoyant turned up the following weekend and said her clients had dinner there some time before and their kids were seeing an old man with a bowler hat appearing every night in their rooms......parents didn't believe them but eventually saw him for themselves.......they got a priest in who said you need to be really mean to him and tell him he's not welcome and wallah....he disappeared and turned up that night at Whepstead.......whether it's true or not I don't know but she was adamant and continued her Sunday tarot card readings....the only other incident I can recall.......and I can't remember their names after all these years (forgive me if you're reading this) but they were lovely people, she worked the business side and he did the grounds and general maintenance and had been working there for the something like 17 years......He was a butcher and one day after nothing ever happening for all these years he came into the kitchen claiming something had touched him in the bathroom whilst he was washing his hands and was really freaked out after all these years of nothing............but at the end of the day I have no personal stories and only people telling me what happened at the time...... closing note......I never once went to the bathroom there....I always went outside!

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    1. are you sure about the 17 years? this would take us back to 1979.
      I also worked at Whepstead for a period of time during 1986 - 1987 and there was no such couple - the house was owned at the time by Michael Dobson and the cricketer Jeff Thompson did all the landscaping

      As for weird feelings and strange happenings, I can confirm there are ghost/s in the building - who are they are will always be a mystery. During my time at Whepstead no one every stayed on their own at night to lock up and many times after lock up when you looked back at the attic room, the light would be on.

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    2. I'm just going by what they told me...I kept all the wedding brochures etc so next time I revisit the archives I'll let you know their names.

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  9. I lived nearby and had weird experiences after going there for dinner around the year 1990. I didn't link my experiences straight away as i didn't know the house was haunted.

    here's my experience:
    After attending dinner at Whepstead house i started having strange things happen at home. It started with when i went to the toilet and the light would flash fast on and off. The bulb was fine and lasted years. It only happened to me when I went to the toilet. If i stood outside and turned the light on it was fine.

    Not long after I started getting a heavy wait on my shoulders as if someone was sitting on them. I was constantly running to the mirror but never saw anything. I was so sure something was there.

    Mum soon started complaining about things been moved around the house and food going off when she just bought it. She of course blamed me but i didn't do it.

    Over night our dinning table split in half clean cut straight down the middle. Mum thought someone must have done something to it but no one had. I thought that it just split itself for some scientific reason.

    I use to put my gold fish in the bathroom basin when I cleaned it's tank. I left the room for a while and when I came back my gold fish was snapped in half and there was blood through the water.

    I started to think we had a poltergeist and started to have nightmares. I started to sleep in the same bed as my mother.

    I use to walk home from school and mum had started sitting in front on the TV staring at it (the TV wasn't on!) She did this for hours.

    The worst of my experiences ( and there's plenty more i am leaving out) was when I was waiting on the bed for my mother to finish having her shower (mum and i lived alone by ourselves). Something grabbed my pony tail and pulled me back. Now I am not talking about a small tug - this was something that made my whole body fly backwards landing on my back. No one was there, i screamed crying to mum in the bathroom.

    I discussed this with my friend at school and she told me her dad worked at Whepstead and she believed in ghosts. She told me stories of how her dad had seen chairs flying around and whole bunch of similar stuff. It was then I thought we brought something home that night from whepstead House.

    I was convinced we had a poltergeist and told mum. Mum put the house up for sale.

    I don't think Whepstead House has ghosts i think it has something more sinister. I think the stories are made up to explain the unusual things that happen.

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    1. Okay this story really freaked me out because my friend's Dad is friends with the man that currently lives there and he said that he would let us over to tour the house and now I am starting to have second thoughts...

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  10. Are we allowed to just go and look at this place or do we need to contact some one

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  11. Graham Dobinson bought and renovated the place,put the fence around, built the band stand, driveways, did a great job,that was Bill and Ralph that did the fence only using hammers,nail guns were not everywhere , Then we all started to promote the Ghost stories,worked well,it was on the menus , We had a lot of strange things happen there, this was due to the fact we were drunk a lot of the time, We would do over 400 people on a Sunday for a roast,Put on a couple of weddings and do 100 plus for dinner that night. Very long hours mixed with a variety of substance can make you imagine all sorts. Had a blast there in the late 80's as did a lot of locals....No Ghosts just good marketing.

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  12. HI, WE HAD OUR WEDDING RECEPTION THERE IN 1986 AND ARE WONDERING IF THE OWNERS EVER OPEN THE GROUNDS OR THE HOUSE TO THE PUBLIC, AS WOULD LOVE TO REVISIT IT AS WE ARE CELEBRATING OUT 30TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY THIS YEAR?

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  13. Do u still do wedding

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  14. hey I was really triggered by this story and research I live right around the corner of the manor and I walk pass there everyday to catch the train anyways. one night me and my cousin had finished rugby league training so we decided to walk pass the manor and as we got closer and closer to the manor I started to feel like I was being watched (this was around 8:30pm) so we come to the burnett street back gate and as we looked at the house we noticed a man standing in one of the window oh how spooked I was and then just a gust of wind just blew from out of no where so I did not feel safe and made the wise decision to leave

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  15. Interesting and funny! amazing the stoopid stuff some people will come up with.
    It will be 30 years this year that i have had my Haunted House open (Almost every night) for 30 years.
    I have built and repaired almost everything here, myself. I like scaring people just slightly, then making them laugh! i have had some people beg me to stop making them laugh because their face hurts! Wanna take a look? - www.hauntedravensgrin.com

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  16. Army helicopters made their drops on a small area of dry land. Graham took his boat to meet them and we carried the food to the nursery where it was distributed.fence installation estimate

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  17. I spent 5 years as a kid 6-11
    Living in feirnborn house. In late 80s early 90s. Hearing the peacocks cry all night. Spooked me
    My bedroom was in the centre of house so no windows no light.
    Darkness. Plus living in a house over a 100 years old

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  18. Great post.Thanks for one marvelous posting! I enjoyed reading it;The information was very useful. Please kindly visit our site to get more information about Home GP Perth.

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  19. Where on earth are the prices or information regarding the whepstead manor tour. Ive read about the deaths etc but no tour info is found. Thanks 👻

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  20. Hi is this open to have a look inside

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  21. My cousin had her 21st birthday party at Whepstead Manor sometime in the 90s. The younger kids were not allowed to go, including myself but my 16 year old cousin did. For more than a year after attending, my 16 year old cousin and her family were plagued with mysterious happenings. My aunt denied it for months and never talked about it until one night my family stayed over and my mum complained the next day that someone was calling out her name all night long but whenever she checked, everyone was asleep. My aunt finally caved and said she thought she was going crazy. She too heard her name being called all the time and even saw an old man with a bowler hat walk down the hallway into her daughters room and she flew down with a bat preparing to knock an intruder out but found no trace of him. It became a regular occurrence. Things would go missing and be moved. Electronics would stop working. My twin cousins would play their game boys and feel someone leaning on them, creating a dark shadow over their screens as if someone watching over their shoulder. They thought it was their sister and would have massive fights but it started happening when she wasn't home so they soon realised it wasn't her. One day my cousin was home sick and my aunt had to duck to the chemist and when she returned he was screaming and shaking like a leaf. He had heard his name being called while no one else was home. We all had dinner at a dine in pizza hut which was right across the road. You could see their house very clearly and My mum and aunt both saw my cousins bedroom window curtain lift open to the side and a black shadow standing there. No windows were open in the house when they checked and her windchimes that were hanging in the windows were lying broken on the floor. My other cousin was in their basement rumpus room which attached to their garage, when their dog who was beside him began growling. He's the sweetest dog and never behaves that way. My cousin looked up at the doorway and saw a black shadow. He screamed and the dog barked and it darted across the room into the garage and into the car. They then realised whatever it was must have came with them from somewhere. They reached out to the staff at Whepstead and went to visit the place to ask some questions. Without my aunt even mentioning the description of the old man with the bowler hat the staff said they hadn't seen the man they referred to as the butler for a long time. He fit the description and the activity they were used to seeing themselves. I remember going to Whepstead with my aunt on several occasions and listening to the managers and staff talk to her about it. They got many people involved, some psychics, priests etc to try and "return" the ghost lol. The staff even went to their house and told him to come home with them lol. I don't know if he ever did return or if he just crossed over but things went back to normal. Although my cousins were rather messed up from their experiences. There's some they won't talk about to this day. So thank you for the clarification on the identities of the ghosts, it is disappointing when people make things up but I do definitely know without a doubt that place is haunted! Id be interested to know if the new private owners experience anything and if they'd be willing for someone to actually do some paranormal investigations in that place!

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  22. I remember this place in the 90’s as a wedding function centre.
    There was an elderly man named Roy Bourne who used to do concierge he also lived there upstairs in the attic bedroom.
    I actually met him walking not far from the manor he fell as we were driving past.
    We stopped to help him & took him back to webstead house.
    He invited us in & we sat chatting with him for a while.
    At the time they did weddings & it was also a restaurant doing lunch and dinners.
    I used to call in & visit him regularly.
    He gave me a tour of the place but would never allow anyone up to the viewing area on the roof he always said it was unsafe.
    He told me that a young man fell of the roof many years ago he was told.
    He also told me there was a ghost, it was a young lady in a white gown who used to be seen in the corridors and you could hear her giggling & running up the stairs.
    He also said that cutlery & folded napkins did get moved around, doors creaking & he used to hear singing sometimes.
    I also remember him telling me the staff indeed would say good morning & good evening in friendly happy voices to the house.
    Roy said he never felt uncomfortable there & loved the history of the place.
    The carved bar in the drinks lounge was really beautiful.
    I remember the beautiful carved chairs, beautiful big vases with lovely flowers some he would pick from the garden to add to the arrangements.
    He lived there for quite a few years like a caretaker who also helped out.
    He spoke very kindly of the staff that worked there.
    Roy had no family so I kept in touch with him & we used to meet in the city for lunch sometimes.
    He always wore a suit, a hat & very shiny shoes.
    I don’t know what ever happened to him as I moved away & lost contact with him.
    I sent letters but no reply or return.
    He really was a lovely old gentleman.

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