The Plunkett Street Poltergiest: A Paddington Haunting...

The view from Paddington to the city, c. 1902 (State Library of Qld)

Brisbane's inner-city suburb of Paddington - Queensland Holidays website describes the area as, "Speckled with quaint cottages turned enticing shop-fronts, restaurants that spill out onto the pavement and a mixture of traditional tin and timber houses and renovated Queenslanders.  Visitors will love browsing for quirky keepsakes, vintage and designer fashion, antique and second-hand treasures, retro goodies, home wares and artwork. The bars are a combination of boutique cocktail lounges and casual pubs and the restaurants are well known to the breakfast crowd, who can be found either enjoying a quick catch-up before work or a lazy weekend coffee."  Back around the turn of last century, however, the emerging suburb had a very different feel to it...

In the first few years of the new century, Paddington was in a state of rapid expansion.  In the lowland areas beneath the stately heights of Musgrave Terrace, blocks of land were being snapped up for very reasonable prices upon which workers cottages & stereotypical  "Queenslanders" were hastily constructed...within a stone's throw of the dilapidated former North Brisbane Burial Grounds.  At this point in history, the condition of what had been Brisbane's first "free settlement" cemetery was deplorable - the surrounding fences had fallen & the bulk of the palings had all but been spirited off for use as firewood in the surrounding houses, allowing wandering livestock such as cattle, horses & goats to readily graze amongst the crumbling headstones.  However, a more morbid activity regarding the cemetery occurred in early 1900's Paddington - as the number of workers cottages & "Queenslanders" grew surrounding the cemetery, the number of headstones & grave surrounds in the cemetery seemed to decrease.  Whilst the price of land in the area was reasonable, the costs of upmarket building materials such as sandstone flagging & cast-iron balustrading were not.

Some of the "Queenslanders" throughout Milton & Paddington began to sport fancy balustrading on their verandas, supposedly sections of pilfered ironwork that had originally skirted the borders of the wealthier graves in the Paddington Cemetery.   Similarly, some workers cottages began to boast fancy sandstone pathways from their front gates to their front doors...the result of stolen headstones from Paddington Cemetery turned face down.  About 12 years ago, I was invited to a couple's renovated Queenslander in Paddington just off Musgrave Terrace, to talk to them about a suspected haunting.  They'd not long owned the property, but were concerned that whilst the previous living owner had left, a more immaterial soul had not.  After making some small talk in their kitchen whilst coffees were made, I was ushered out onto their back balcony to "get down to business" & discuss their haunting...& was shocked to discover a very large & weathered headstone propped against the railing of their entertaining area next to their patio table!  When I questioned them about the headstone's origins, the only information they could provide was that they'd found the stone hidden under the house not long after they'd purchased it...possibly a remnant of the nearby Paddington Cemetery.

Whilst supposed thefts of monumental masonry & ironwork from the Paddington Cemetery is open to debate, we do know one thing for sure - on the 30th November 1911, after enduring decades of neglect & a rapidly expanding city centre on its doorstep, the Paddington Cemeteries Act was passed to allow for the area's resumption for public use.  The public were duly notified of the decision by the  Lands Department - relatives of those buried within the confines of the cemetery were given until the 1st December 1912 to make application to have remains & monuments exhumed & re-interred at the expense of Government.  However, by that December, few applications had been lodged with the Public Estate Improvement Fund (Lands Department) - ultimately, the Brisbane Courier reported on the 7th June 1913, "removal of remains of persons buried in the old Paddington Cemetery has been completed.  Under the contract about 45 tombstones and the remains of 100 persons were lifted & removed to other cemeteries" - cleaning & levelling work on the site began 5 days later on the 12th June.

By the 20th June, the Brisbane Courier reported, "Under the Act passed to deal with the Paddington Cemetery, provision was made for reserving a strip a chain wide near the church.  It is intended to utilise this for the storage of the tombstones standing over the remains of persons whose friends did not ask for their removal to other cemeteries.  The removal of these tombstones will be commenced shortly."  Records of the time reported that 505 unclaimed memorials & headstones were removed from the greater cemetery grounds, and were stored in the allocated area alongside the current Christ Church in Milton.  Not long after, the vast bulk of this masonry vanished from alongside the church, never again to see the light of day - one completely unfounded work of fiction put forward recently by a self-professed "historian," claims that the headstones were crushed & used during the Great Depression (1929-1932) as road base on Hale Street - this quite simply is not true, although I'm sure it helps to sell his books.  Ultimately, the monuments & tombstones were spirited away to a known location, a topic we'll visit in a future article, & the possibility does exist that some of these stones found their way into the possession of property owners around Paddington.

Jump forward to 1952, to a 50 year old house in Paddington's Plunkett Street...constructed when the Paddington Cemetery was seeing out its final days.  Occupied for only a short period of time by young married couple Edmund & Mavis Norris, & their eight month old daughter Julie, it became apparent on the 5th of June 1952 that something was amiss in their residence.  Throughout the month of June, the couple were disturbed by mysterious noises within their house.  The disembodied noises continued on a regular basis into early July when the story of the Paddington Ghost finally hit the media, & the story was broadcast across Australia on the 7th of July.  The West Australian, out of Perth, reported that the Norris's were considering leaving their home due to the ongoing haunting...The Canberra Times ran a very similar article confirming that Mrs Norris had first heard the ghost about a month previously, & it was regularly heard traversing the house at midnight.  However, The Courier Mail came through with the goods & reported heavily on the Plunkett Street haunting....

According to the article, "Scores of people travelled to see a "haunted" house at Paddington yesterday [Sunday]."  It was reported that for the past month, mysterious sounds had been heard throughout the house, "like those made by a slightly built woman moving about."  It had been noted in The Canberra Times article that on one occasion when Mr Norris had heard the sounds, he had run out into the hall to confront the culprit only to hear the footsteps walk right past him!  According to the Norris's, scores of children had been hanging around their house all weekend in the hope of spotting the spook, & countless telephone calls had been received from surrounding residents curious to know whether the ghost was up to its old tricks.  The Courier Mail had also received their fair share of calls from Brisbane residents hoping to wade into the debate...all with their ideas as to the origins of the haunting.   A woman spiritualist had even offered to spend a night in the house in the hopes of identifying the ghost.  On the 29th of July, as the ghostly happenings at Plunkett Street were still occurring, the Morning Bulletin in Rockhampton also made mention of the story as a segue to a similar haunting in a Rockhampton house.

Alas, on the 6th of August the story took a 180° turn, again in The Courier Mail.  According to the quite brief article, given that previous interest in the story had been fairly sensational, the Paddington Ghost had now been "laid."  After scores of people had visited the house in the hopes of witnessing the ghostly goings-on, the haunting had apparently reached its conclusion - it was reported that Mr Norris had heard sounds in the ceiling of the house early on Saturday the 2nd of August, & had gone to investigate...only to disturb a large female possum in his roof building a nest.  So, our article comes to an end with a number of poignant questions - in the July 1952 newspaper articles, it was suggested that the sounds could possibly be the result of possums...yet Mr Norris seemingly didn't check his roof for the proceeding month??  The Norris's, who were not newcomers to Brisbane & the possum population, claimed to be hearing footsteps throughout their house, which on one occasion walked right by Mr Norris...were the couple prone to flights of fancy, & let their imaginations run wild on ideas of spooks & spectres??  Or...had the Norris's grown so tired of the constant visits by surrounding residents, that claiming the culprit was a possum finally bought them peace & quiet from a curious public...even though their resident ghost still walked the house at night??

Whatever the answer, the story of the Plunkett Street ghost still exists in the annals of Brisbane history...whether you choose to believe it was simply a possum all along, or entertain the idea that a possum was a scapegoat to cover up an actual haunting that was drawing unwanted attention.  Regardless, the Plunkett Street residence is not the only Paddington house that has been rumoured to contain a ghost resulting from the destruction of the North Brisbane Burial Grounds...

The "ghost" - published in The Courier Mail on the 6th of August 1952

The greatest story (n)ever told: Brisbane's "2nd Most Haunted" rating...Part II

And so we venture into Part II of Brisbane's "2nd Most Haunted" Scandal - ironically, Part I (found here for those who need a refresher) has become the 2nd most-read article on the Haunts of Brisbane, in just one week.  So, without further ado, here is the rest that you've been eagerly waiting for...

When we left last week, York had just been pronounced "The Most Haunted City in Europe" by the Ghost Research Foundation International in 2002, and were apparently in the running for the global "Most Haunted" accolade.  According to a further article published on the BBC News website on the 9th of August 2002,  "Parapsychologist Jason Karl, president of the Ghost Research Foundation International (GRFI), said the city has more spooks than any other."   However, serious questions were already being asked throughout the global paranormal fraternity as to the legitimacy of York's two "Most Haunted" awards in England and Europe - had every English and European paranormal expert provided solid data on their respective regions, & worked collaboratively to definitively "prove" that York in England, above all other cities, possessed the greatest number of hauntings??  The answer to this question was best summed up in the very first sentence of the above BBC News article - "York has been named Europe's most haunted city by a ghost expert."  So...no collaboration occurred...no poll was carried out...no transparency existed...both accolades were awarded purely on the say-so of one man - Jason Karl.

Without leaving to much too the imagination, only 10 months later, York came through with the goods yet again in the global accolades...miraculously uncovering a further 364 hauntings to push their 2000 total of 140 ghosts to a staggering 504 ghosts by July 2003!  Once again, parapsychologist Jason Karl, under the auspices of the Ghost Research Foundation International, awarded the title amidst international media hype, and in turn named the runner-up cities...which is where our story takes an amazing turn, as Brisbane finally appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, on the "Most Haunted" list.  It was at this point that Brisbane's "2nd Most Haunted" rating hit its first MAJOR snag.  If you remember back to last week's article, I pointed out a crucial detail that was published in the Sunday Mail on the 13th of October 2002 - "He ["Jack" Sim] has 250 Brisbane sites where ghosts have been reported, on a database."  Keeping that rough figure in mind, let's have a further look at the totals in the runner-up stakes, as interpreted by Jason Karl & the Ghost Research Foundation International...

On the 12th of July 2003, the Irish Independent ran one of the first articles on York's third consecutive "Most Haunted" award, and provided figures for the top three place-getters.  According to the news piece, "Intensive research into ghostly events around the globe found the north of England city had a total of 504 recorded haunted sightings compared to 300 in Los Angeles, the second most haunted city in the survey, and 225 in Brisbane, Australia."  Wait...WHAT?!?  Brisbane was ranked in third place, not second??  A month later, on the 29th of August 2003, the BBC website ran another article on York's award, stating, "Intensive research by the Ghost Research Foundation International (GRFI) of major cities around the world including Los Angeles, Paris and Brisbane has drawn the conclusion that York is the most haunted city in the World - with a total of 504 recorded hauntings!"  In a box alongside the web article, further numbers were provided on other city's rankings - 250 in Brisbane, 230 in Chicago, 120 in New York...Los Angeles' ranking was absent, which gave the impression that Brisbane might just have been ranked second, although the prior Irish Independent article had already let the cat out of the bag on Brisbane's real ranking!

Ultimately though, the Ghost Research Foundation International was to fold soon after, and parapsychologist Jason Karl's reputation was to be seriously called into question.  Ironically, at the same time York was being issued with its 2002 "Most Haunted in Europe" award, Jason Karl was starring in the first season of British TV's "Most Haunted" series - and not surprisingly, Jason's history was being publicly exposed.  Born as Jason Smith, he had made his television debut on a children's game show called Knightmare in 1988.  "After studying media, photography, television and film at North Oxfordshire School of Arts & Technical School in Banbury, he moved into variety work and gained his British Actors Equity Card whilst performing various interactive live theatre shows at Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures for The Tussaud’s Group."  After the first season of "Most Haunted," Jason was accused of being an actor playing a parapsychologist - a qualification he did not hold, nor ever had done.  To this day, Jason Karl has earned a reputation for tacky ghost game shows & attempting to sell private "ghost hunts" on eBay.  After his personal demise, and that of the GRFI, history would likely also forget about the "Most Haunted" awards...or would it??

Jump forward six years to the 3rd of February 2009, when, out of the blue, an article appeared in the City News entitled Brisbane claims "spooky city" title.  The write-up claimed that Brisbane was one of the most haunted cities in the world, "according to new book The International Directory of Haunted Places and website www.hauntedplaces.com."  We already know that the International Directory of Haunted Places was not new, and had been published nine years previously - this news piece was nothing more than a simple rehash of the article run in the Sunday Mail in October 2002 (detailed in last week's Part I)...but why on earth was this material being dug up again after so many years, and who was behind it??  Eight months later, the answer became apparent - in the October marketing lead-up to the peak ghost tour date of Halloween, a self-penned advertisement for Ghost Tours appeared on business promotion website Services Recommended - for the very first time, the claim that "National Geographic voted Brisbane the 2nd most haunted city in the world" finally surfaced.  It was clear that "Jack" Sim was responsible, but none of it made any sense - Brisbane had been designated "3rd Most Haunted" by the GRFI six years previously, and National Geographic had played no part in the ranking??

The most amazing revelation in this saga, however, came one year later in 2010, once again in the October marketing lead-up to the peak ghost tour date of Halloween - on the 28th of October 2010, Channel 10's 7pm Project ran with a segment on Brisbane's "2nd Most Haunted" status...not surprisingly, "Jack" Sim and his tours featured predominantly.  Ironically enough, the 7pm Project was quick to add on their website that, "Local historian Jack Sim, who runs Brisbane Ghost Tours, says Brisbane was voted the world's second-most haunted town by no less an authority than National Geographic.  (At this stage, 7PM's Interweb correspondent has been unable to track down the original list.  In the meantime we'll take his ["Jack's"] word for it, like we took that Charlie Chaplin time traveller video dude's)."  So, it was clear that even the 7pm Project were highly suspicious of the claim, but run with it they did...and almost instantly, as though the "2nd Most Haunted" moniker had now been completely validated purely on the authority of the 7pm Project, a ridiculous banner was posted on the Ghost Tours website (located at the top of this article, & also [HERE] on the Ghost Tours website in full form).

7pm Project's Segment on Brisbane's "2nd Most Haunted" claim...

However, "Jack's" publicity stunt clearly backfired, as residents across Brisbane began to heavily question Ghost Tours about National Geographic's involvement.  2 days after the 7pm Project's segment, The Boggo Blog published the first article questioning the legitimacy of the claim, a topic they again followed up six months later in April 2011 (I strongly advise reading both of these accounts).  Needless to say, "Jack" Sim & Ghost Tours were silent on the matter...however, by May 2011, posts began to appear on the Ghost Tours Facebook page, again requesting clarification.  After ongoing pressure, Ghost Tours finally posted a statement on the 30th of May 2011:

 

Without giving too much away just yet, one detail in the statement was very, very clear - the only time Brisbane had been mentioned in conjunction with Chicago for haunted potential, was in the 2003 web article published by the BBC, where Los Angeles' ranking had been omitted and it "appeared" as though Brisbane had been designated "2nd Most Haunted" by the GRFI!  So it was now clear - "Jack" Sim's entire marketing campaign was teetering on a knife-edge, based purely on a single misleading article published seven years beforehand on account of a GRFI award.  So, what of this mystery National Geographic article??  According to Ghost Tours' statement, a scan of said article, which had apparently drawn on GRFI's findings, would be posted to once and for all set the record straight...yet four more months passed, without a scan in sight, amidst further ongoing pressure by the public.  On the 12th of September 2011, Ghost Tours yet again posted an official statement:

 

After being backed into a corner for non-disclosure, Ghost Tours clearly contradicted their statement published over 3 months beforehand - the company now needed to locate a copy of the article to scan (which they seemed to possess 3 months earlier), and the scan would be posted publicly in the very near future to alleviate any concerns about false advertising on the company's part (the article did exist and was not a lie?!?).  Surprisingly, it was now stated that National Geographic had based their article on data supplied by the Ghost Tours camp, who had "happily supplied information to NG"...this was in stark contrast to the previous statement, whereby information came from a "Paranormal society who they interviewed for an article on The Most Haunted City - which was quoted as York."  To this day, six months later, no scan of the National Geographic article has surfaced on the Ghost Tours site...and has not done so for one very good reason - IT DOES NOT EXIST!

So...what is the truth??  In order to expose Brisbane's "2nd Most Haunted" myth, I took the liberty of writing to the Headquarters of the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. with two simple questions - had the National Geographic Society ever undertaken a poll, from which an article was published, on the most haunted cities in the world?  If so, had Brisbane been voted, by the National Geographic Society, as the 2nd most haunted city globally?  The answer, which is best viewed in its original typed and hand-signed form on National Geographic letterhead [right here], was a resounding no!  However...one last detail was provided that would crack the scandal wide open, and expose Ghost Tours and "Jack" Sim once and for all...

According to the correspondence, "the October 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveller Magazine contained a short article titled "The Most Haunted City in the World?" concerning York, England."  The article in question covers 9 pages, and is written purely about York.  And for that matter, the Traveller Magazine is nothing more than a spin-off publication - yes, it it published by National Geographic, but at the same time it is not the National Geographic Magazine.  On investigation, a blurb exists independently at the end of the article on York, entitled Beyond York: More Ghost Cities - and for the first time ever, independent of Ghost Tours and their inability to provide this information, here it is on the Haunts of Brisbane word for word:

"Apparitions have been "sighted" in many spots around the world, but there are certain cities that, like York, tout an abundance of resident spirits. Making the top ten on many lists? Ghost-ridden New Orleans, from the spooky French Quarter to the Garden District and the city's graveyards; the Old World capital of Prague, whose dark streets have been visited by a headless horseman and a wandering skeleton; St. Petersburg, Russia, where sightings have included the ghosts of Russian mystic and royal confidant Rasputin and a social revolutionary, Sofia Perovskaya, who appears on a bridge with a rope burn apparent around her neck; and Florence, Italy, with wraiths that drift along the walls of the Belvedere Fort and various ghosts - a cleaning lady, a woman knitting - at Pensione Burchianti. Then there is Brisbane, Australia, ranked after York by the Ghost Research Foundation International, with more than 240 sightings, including phantasms who wander the stairs and ride the elevators of City Hall."

So, there you have it - one measly, generic sentence regarding Brisbane!  National Geographic has never run a poll on the world's most haunted cities, National Geographic has never voted Brisbane the 2nd most haunted city in the world (and nor did the Ghost Research Foundation International for that matter), and National Geographic has never published an article on the most haunted cities in the world in which Brisbane featured (a small blurb tailing an actual article in a spin-off publication does not count).  In Ghost Tours' statement above on the 12th of September 2011, they are very quick to point out that "Accusing us of lying is unacceptable on this webpage" - well, Ghost Tours, where do you stand now??  Ultimately, for "Jack" Sim and Ghost Tours, Brisbane's "2nd Most Haunted" rating was nothing more than a fraudulent marketing campaign...and can now hopefully be laid to rest once and for all.

The greatest story (n)ever told: Brisbane's "2nd Most Haunted" rating...

If you read one ghost story this year that stands your hair on end and drops your jaw, this is definitely the one!  Over the next two weeks, the Haunts of Brisbane will embark on a 2-part article, 'laying' what has been one of the most sordid ghost tales in Brisbane to rest...for good.

This tale anchors its roots all the way back in mid-1998, when a small-time tour company lurched onto the scene in Brisbane.  Registered under the simple, generic name of Ghost Tours by Cameron (a.k.a. "Jack") Sim, local Brisbane "goth clubs" were bombarded with flyer hand-outs to drum up interest, and almost instantly the media's attention was piqued.  Ghost tours in Brisbane were a new concept, a venture that had only existed in southern states like Melbourne, through operations such as Drew Sinton's Haunted Melbourne Ghost Tour (established in 1997, & clearly mainland Australia's longest running ghost tours, unlike Brisbane's Ghost Tours claim).  [2022 Edit: at time of writing the Haunted Melbourne Ghost Tours were still running - they are no longer] The original Brisbane ghost tour, and there was only one, took tourists on a 60 minute walking tour via a handful of sites in the city for a sum of $10 a head.  In June 1998, local newspaper The Queensland Independent published the first article promoting Brisbane's new tourism venture, detailing a tour that journalist Louise Rugendyke had taken with "Jack" Sim - "decked out in a black fedora hat, a dark pinned-striped jacket and matching pants."

In the article, "Jack" was directly quoted as stating, "Brisbane is probably the most haunted city in Australia" - clearly a massive declaration from a completely inexperienced tour operator who had just launched an untested tour operation, in direct competition with other well-established and successful interstate ghost tours.  It was clear from the get-go that "Jack" Sim was determined to earn long-ranging notoriety for his new tour venture...and the seeds for Brisbane's greatest rumour were finally sown...

At the same time in 1998, American author Dennis William Hauck had embarked upon a bi-monthly periodical entitled the HAUCK REPORT - a small-time web-based journal promoted through his U.S.-focused Haunted Places Directory website.  Both the report and website were comprised of reader-submitted supernatural encounters, book reviews and plugs for paranormal organisations and ghost tours.  Dennis had cut his teeth as an author in the 1970's, writing numerous articles on UFO's and Sea Monsters for various pulp magazines.  However, by the mid-1990's, Dennis was known predominantly for two books - William Shatner: A Bio-Bibliography, & Captain Quirk, which, amongst other things, detailed William Shatner's UFO abduction experience in the Mojave Desert shortly after the cancellation of the "Star Trek" television series - a premise ironically paralleled in the 1999 sci-fi comedy movie Galaxy Quest.  However, in 1999, Dennis began to compile material for a book which would attempt to list as many haunted places around the world as possible.

 The International Directory of Haunted Places, published in 2000.

Released in September 2000, the paperback edition of the International Directory of Haunted Places listed "more than 750 geographically arranged entries on haunted houses, sacred sites, UFO landings & other supernatural locations" around the globe.  14 sites around Brisbane were listed in the Directory - 7 cemeteries & 7 buildings, and virtually not a single ghost story between them.  Even very basic details such as suburb and road names were incorrect for the majority of listings, which begged the obvious question - who on earth had supplied this information on Brisbane for the listings??  The answer was quite simple, clearly stated by the author on page IX of the book's Introduction - "I would also like to thank...[J]ack Sim for the material from the Brisbane Ghost Tours."  So, once again, "Jack" Sim was trying to convince the world that Brisbane was the most haunted city in Australia...by blindly listing as many potentially haunted sites in Brisbane as he could (all 14 of them, half of which were cemeteries!), in an attempt to get the jump on any other Australian city.

Unfortunately for "Jack" Sim and Ghost Tours, the International Directory of Haunted Places was just that - a very long list of "haunted" sites around the globe.  Not once in the book were cities ranked as to their haunted potential, nor was a "Top 10 Most Haunted" list published.  So, imagine everyone's surprise two years later when the Sunday Mail published an article on the 13th of October 2002...just over two weeks before the peak ghost tour date of Halloween.  Entitled, Ghost town! - Is Brisbane one of the world's most haunted cities?, the article stated that, "Brisbane has been voted the most haunted place in the southern hemisphere by international ghost-hunters.  [T]he International Haunted Places Directory and New Zealand association NZ Ghost ranked Brisbane above even the former Tasmanian penal colony Port Arthur for eerie activities.  Their websites list Toowong Cemetery, Boggo Rd Jail, City Hall and former hospital Whepstead Manor, at Wellington Point, as the area's most haunted spots."  But how could this be?!?  The International Directory of Haunted Places paperback had at no stage made any such claim about Brisbane's haunted potential two years previously??

Unfortunately, the "International Haunted Places" section on Hauck's Haunted Places Directory website had...although not quite to the extent of the Sunday Mail's report.  According to said page, "Brisbane in Queensland is the most haunted city in Australia and locations covered from that city will include the Old Government House, the Parliament House, and the Brisbane Arcade, and City Hall, where at least three ghosts haunt the hallways.  One is an elegant woman, another a maintenance man who continually rides the elevator that killed him in a freak accident, and the last is an American Sailor stabbed to death in a fight with another sailor in the downstairs tearoom.  Brisbane cemeteries are also hotspots of paranormal activity."  Very amusingly, New Zealand association NZ Ghost, still a small-time website in 2002, had cut and pasted the exact same statement on their website as if it were their own!  So, no..."International ghost-hunters" had not voted Brisbane the most haunted city in the Southern Hemisphere - Hauck's website had made the outlandish claim that Brisbane was "the most haunted city in Australia," which in turn was blindly regurgitated on a New Zealand amateur ghost-hunting website...a far cry from the Sunday Mail's "most haunted city in the southern hemisphere!"

So, who on earth had supplied this misinformation to the Sunday Mail about Brisbane's "most haunted" ranking??  Once again, the answer was clear - Ghost Tours operator "Jack" Sim, who was extensively quoted throughout the Sunday Mail article, making every effort to promote his business alongside the completely ridiculous claim that, "500 people a month are signing up for night trips to Brisbane graveyards and city murder sites, or sleepovers at Boggo Rd Jail."  Choosing to publish the bogus information they'd been fed by "Jack" Sim, the Sunday Mail clearly ran with the story without making the slightest effort to verify the claim.  However, one choice statement towards the end of the article stands out - a crucially important detail that will play a major part in next week's PART II of this article - in the Sunday Mail report, "Jack" was quoted as saying that, "He has 250 Brisbane sites where ghosts have been reported, on a database."

Meanwhile...in England...the city of York was attempting to earn itself yet another "most haunted" title.  Two years earlier in 2000, York had vied for the title of "Most Haunted City In England," a title it apparently "won" with over 140 hauntings.  However, by 2002, at a time "Jack" Sim was desperately trying to earn a marketable commendation for his Brisbane business, York again was making the news.  In the same year, York was "pronounced" the "Most Haunted City in Europe" by the Ghost Research Foundation International, according to the British newspaper The Guardian, on the 10th of August 2002.  "Sweeping aside the wailing nuns of Rome and a range of marshland manifestations in Scandinavia, York's ghosts are also now in the running for the global "most haunted" accolade. Jason Karl, president of the Ghost Research Foundation International, which awards the titles, said yesterday: "My colleagues and I have travelled extensively for the last decade and nowhere have we found more ghosts.""

So...exactly who was Jason Karl and his organisation Ghost Research Foundation International?  On what grounds was Jason Karl and his organisation qualified to "award" such titles of "most haunted?"  How on earth could York with its 2000 title of "Most Haunted City in England" with 140 ghosts challenge Brisbane with its 2002 claim of 250 ghosts for "Most Haunted City in the World?"  And, most importantly, how the hell did National Geographic get tangled up in all of this mess???

Stay tuned for next week's PART II, when everything will finally be revealed!

The Spectre of York's Hollow: Possible origins examined.

Victoria Park from the Royal Brisbane Hospital, c. 1936.

Every weekday, I travel down the Inner City Bypass along with thousands of other commuters...& as I do, on my way to & from work, I still can't help but shoot a glance at the railway shed at the halfway point between the Normanby Hotel & Royal Brisbane Hospital - just below that structure, an underpass still exists that played host to easily the most incredible ghost drama in Brisbane's history. In 2005, I documented the appearance & fallout of the Victoria Park Ghost as it occurred, in the Encyclopedia of Haunted Places.  For those of you who are Brisbane ghost fans, you are likely aware of the story...for our fans further afield, who may be unaware of the event, here's an abridged version as published:

"The episode began in November 1965, after a group of local children overheard rumours suggesting a ghost had been observed within a tunnel beneath the rail line bordering Victoria Park.  The following night, the intrepid ghost hunters crept down in the hope of spotting this spook.  One boy, lagging behind the rest of the group as they passed through the tunnel, experienced more than he could have imagined.  As he endeavoured to catch up to his friends, he was accosted by a misty green, armless, legless, headless apparition that seemed to materialise from the wall of the tunnel.  Seemingly "mesmerised" by the spectre, the boy was dragged by his friends to the nearby Royal Brisbane Hospital - his companions feared he had been possessed by the ghost.  The ensuing tale, as related by the children to hospital staff, made sensational newspaper headlines the next day and within a short time, thousands of local residents were lining both sides of the tunnel in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the ghost.  For the next week, the Victoria Park ghost became the major talking point of Brisbane, not to mention a fantastic opportunity for family outings."

In his book, Haunted Brisbane: Ghosts of the River City, which was launched at the same time in 2005, "Jack" Sim was kind enough to mention that, "Speculation as to the Thing's origin was rife.  Enginemen at the Roma-Street railyards claimed it was the ghost of a man who jumped off a pedestrian overpass into the path of a speeding steam train and was killed."  We known that the electrification of the railway line that runs alongside Victoria Park, now known as the "Exhibition Line," became operational on the 3rd of March 1982, so steam trains were indeed running in 1965 - however, I'm confused as to which pedestrian overpass Mr Sim refers to in his version of events, as no pedestrian overpasses existed on that line in the vicinity of the haunted tunnel at the time.  "Jack" also provides a single possibility for the ghost's origin, whereby, "The description of the apparition having limbs severed led reporters to hunt through old crime files looking for a gruesome death that matched.  They soon found one, Swedish seaman Karl Dinass who was suspected of having murdered a sixty-five year old widow named Kate Ryan at West End.  [O]n 29 November 1960 he threw himself under a train.  His horrible injuries matched the description of the ghost.  As it had appeared close to where Dinass was killed, it was speculated that if anybody's spirit was haunting the area it would be his."

It was true that comparisons were drawn between Dinass's suicide five years previously & the Victoria Park ghost, although Dinass's demise had taken place further along the railway line.  The brutal 1952 murder of vagrant Walter Hall, bashed to death and thrown into a small pond on the nearby Victoria Park Golf Course by fellow vagrant Lawrence Burnell, was also proffered...however, this death too had taken place some distance from the underpass where the 1965 ghost had been spotted.  In an attempt to explain the ghost in logical terms, an impressive photograph was published in the newspaper in the days proceeding the sighting, showing a vaporous mass rising from an open drain in the floor of the tunnel...supposedly the result of gases expelled from rotting vegetation caught below.  However, this too was dubious, as the photo was taken using a considerable long exposure setting in order to give the impression of a misty apparition.  All in all, suggesting the ghost originated from events that had transpired in the 12 years prior to the 1965 appearance, at locations removed from the haunted tunnel, is a little short-sighted.

We might well mention the case of Ann Smith - At 5:47pm, on the 2nd of June 1885, a steam train left Roma Street Station on its way north.  Passing through Normanby Station at 5:51pm, the train ran out onto the stretch of line that runs alongside Victoria Park at a speed of 25km per hour.  Within a minute, in the fading light of that winter day, Engine-Driver Edward McCaskie noticed a female figure laying on the tracks about 40 metres ahead of the train, below the current Brisbane Boys Grammar School.  He immediately reversed the engine, sounded the horn & prayed for the train to come to a stop...which, tragically, it did...12 metres too late.  Shocked that the woman had not moved a muscle, even though the horn had been sounding the entire time, both the driver & guard jumped from the train & ran back to the horrible scene.  George Holmes, the parkkeeper at Victoria Park, also ran towards the train.  Seeing what he thought was a parcel laying just behind the train, he snatched it up without thinking, only to realise that he had inadvertently picked up the woman's severed head.  He immediately ran back to the Normanby & raised the alarm with Constable Keane who in turn notified the Police.

The subsequent Inquest questioned a number of people about the incident - evidence provided by the driver that Ann had not flinched the entire time the train approached, or by the guard James Thompson that he did not witness any muscle twitching when the body was removed or a great deal of blood flowing from it, suggested that Ann may very well have been dead when she was struck by the train.  Dr Charles Ferdinand Marks (Member of the Legislative Council, & stepfather to renowned Brisbane architect Robin Dods), examined the body & found the "head and upper part of the face separated from the trunk and lower jaw."  He postulated that Ann had been killed as a result of being rolled against the sleepers by the cow-catcher fitted to the front of the engine...however, it was intimated that this was no more than an educated guess.  Ann's husband Charles, who had seen his wife earlier that day before boarding his ship to travel north,  also testified - he stated that Ann had been in good health, she had never had fits, & he had given her his months pay prior to boarding.  Had Ann been murdered & laid on the tracks to cover the crime?  We will never know.  Does her ghost haunt the Victoria Park tunnel 800 metres further down the line?  Possibly?

So, do we have any other contenders??   On the 2nd of January 1882, it was reported to Police that a 19 month old boy had died of injuries sustained in a tent in Victoria Park - the father, William Smith, had kicked at the mother during a fight on the 31st of December, & had inadvertently struck the child in the head...Smith was subsequently arrested & charged with manslaughter.  On the 29th of October 1888, four year old Thomas Childs, who entered the park with two other boys, attempted to jump a waterhole known as "The Bottle-hole"...he misjudged, fell in & drowned, his body finally being recovered by two students from the nearby Christian Brothers' School (Gregory Terrace).  On the 30th of January 1890, the body of the Railway Department's Chief Draughtsman Richard Roehricht was discovered by a young boy walking through the park...he had shot himself for unknown reasons.  On the 17th of March 1893, the body of Sydney newspaper representative George Wallace was discovered beneath a bush...he had shot himself some days beforehand.  On the 1st of June 1903, the body of Francis Ricou was discovered in Victoria Park...his autopsy discovered that he had dropped dead due to haemorrhage of the brain.  On the 15th of November 1916, sugar plantation worker John Nisbett entered the park drunk, after having lost his job due to a strike...he subsequently shot himself.  The list goes on...

The truth is...dozens of people have died under tragic circumstances in the vicinity of the Victoria Park tunnel.  If the tunnel is in fact haunted, attributing the haunting to a shortlist of one or two unfortunate souls is absolute folly...however given the large number of people who have perished in the grounds, under the most horrendous of circumstances over the past 160 years, I must say that I'm surprised more unexplained sightings haven't occurred...

Unity, Imperial, Cecil, Jets - however you cut it, the place seems haunted...

The Hotel Cecil c. 1984 (Picture Ipswich, Ipswich City Council)

In researching material for last week's article on the supposed ghosts of the Rosewood Hotel, I came across information on another haunted Ipswich pub that, amazingly, existed independent of any reference to "Jack" Sim or Ghost Tours.  The article, published in the Queensland Times on the 14th of November 2009, gave insight into the resident ghost of the Ipswich Jets Club, located on the corner of Downs & Lowry Street in North Ipswich.  According to the piece, the ghost is known to the staff of the Club as "Harold," & it's believed the haunting harps back to an 1890's bar fight in which a patron lost his life.   The building seems to exhibit all the usual haunted traits - disembodied footsteps heard throughout the Club, doors heard slamming even though they're locked, other random phantom sounds...& a phantasm that only inhabits a corner office on the upper floor, spied huddling in the room's corner by but a few unlucky employees.  According to the article, those staff that have unwittingly stumbled across this crouching spirit now refuse to go anywhere near the room...& in fairness, can you really blame them??

The history of the site is quite varied & interesting, & as fans of the Haunts of Brisbane page on Facebook would know, has provided for some interesting conversation over the past week!  A very common misunderstanding about the site's origin continues to this day - specifically, that the building started it's life as the Imperial Hotel, built & opened in 1887, under the control of James Cooper.  In reality, the site pre-dates the commonly known history by 7 years...back to 1880 when the Unity Hotel was built & operated by William Frederick Larter, a carpenter & joiner who'd immigrated to Australia from London, arriving in Moreton Bay aboard the Conrad on the 26th of November 1855 with his young family.  In 1883, the license for the hotel changed hands to James Cooper, a shrewd businessman who by 1886 would become an Ipswich Alderman & eventual Mayor to the town in 1909.  However life as a publican proved tough for Cooper, & in 1886 at the Ipswich Licensing Meeting held at the Courthouse, when reviewing license renewals, he was taken to task on the state of his establishment. It was put to the Board that the Unity Hotel was old & dilapidated, & needed cleaning up...less than a year later, it had been, under the new name of the Imperial Hotel - renovated, refurbished & refurnished.

Published in The Brisbane Courier, page 5, on the 8th of April 1886.

The Hotel continued under the name of the Imperial until 1891, having passed out of, & back in to, James Cooper's hands.  In April of the same year, after public pressure was placed on the authorities regarding the excessive number of public houses in Ipswich in disregard of legislation, the license was stripped from the establishment, as were two other licenses at offending Hotels in the growing town.  3 months later, however, the National Workmen's Club applied for a club license on the premises - whilst concerns existed that the establishment would not be run according to regulations, the license was still approved...& hence, the Hotel continued to trade.  A further change in 1904 saw the venue renamed the Hotel Cecil, a trading name the building carried for almost 100 years before it was again renovated & transformed into the Ipswich Jets Club in 1998...& it appears that the site's ghost has been making himself known ever since!

So, what of this ghost??  Before I delved further into the history of the site & any potential identities for the Jets Club ghost, I chose to contact the establishment with one simple question to aid in the search - I was very curious to know whether the name "Harold" was a nickname created by staff at the Hotel, or whether someone at some stage had a rough idea of the person's/ghost's identity?  The venue was very kind & open in getting back to me, with the answer that "Harold" was a given nickname - the rumour persisted that "Harold" was the ghost of a Traveller who was killed in a pub brawl years & years ago.  Again, long-term staff told of lights turning back on late at night, chilling winds blowing through the building when doors & windows were shut & doors continually opening after being closed...so, again, something otherworldly is clearly persisting in this 130 year old establishment...but why, exactly?  Let's delve back through history, to see if we can locate an event that could possibly give rise to a haunting on the site...

After scouring the historic record, the occasional Court Hearing for assaults at the Hotel crop up, however no Criminal Hearings or Inquests can be located to indicate that any fatal fight occurred on the premises...so, we can pretty much scratch the "pub brawl" theory.  However, one interesting event & two accidental deaths can be attributed to the Hotel in the first 70 years of its life.  Our one interesting event involves on of the Hotel's publicans - Alexander Gilbert Burnett.  A native of Calstone Wellington, a small village in Wiltshire, England, Burnett emigrated to Australia & finally settled in Brisbane finding work as a Storeman.  In 1908, he accepted the license for the Crown Hotel at Rocklea, moving to Ipswich a few years later to take up the license of the then Hotel Cecil.  Unfortunately, it would be on Burnett's watch that both deaths would occur...a month apart & within Burnett's first year as licensee, but we'll examine both of those shortly.  Ultimately, Burnett held the license for the Hotel for four years, until ailing health cut his life short at the Oakdale Private Hospital in Ipswich on the 13th of December 1915.  Burnett's body was returned to the Hotel Cecil, where it lay in state until 3:45pm the next day when it was conveyed to the Ipswich General Cemetery.

Published in The Brisbane Courier, page 6, on the 14th of December 1915.

So what of the deaths at the Hotel?  Well, just after 9pm on the 22nd of July 1911, two friends named Edward McMahon & Jack McDonald finished their last drinks at the bar in order to make their way home.  Exiting through the door to the footpath, Edward stumbled awkwardly on the step, likely being intoxicated after his drinking session with McDonald, and lost his balance in the process.  In an instant, McMahon pitched & fell to the footpath, the back of his head striking heavily on the ground likely rendering the poor man unconscious.  Immediately, the Ambulance Brigade were called for, & McMahon was rushed to St. Mary's Private Hospital, an establishment run by Dr Flynn out of what is now the Carrington Guest House on Roderick Street near the top of town.  Unfortunately, McMahon's head injuries were too severe, & he passed away at the hospital shortly after.  Two weeks later, at the Inquest into McMahon's death, the evidence put forward would show the fatality was no more than a very unfortunate accident.

The death of McMahon would have come as quite a shock to the licensee William Burnett, as only a month earlier he'd had to deal with discovering the body of a man in the back yard of the hotel.  At about 6am in the morning on the 10th of June 1911, Burnett had ventured out into the yard & stumbled across the body laying on the ground.  The police were immediately called for, & on investigation they were able to positively identify the man as Hubert Lenehan, a 27 year old brass finisher who had worked at the nearby North Ipswich Railway Works.  It was found that on the day prior, Lenehan had complained of feeling unwell at work, but had soldiered through his shift before finishing up & heading into town with friends for a few drinks.  When the time came for the men to go their separate ways, Hubert's mates left him alone in the yard of the Hotel apparently happy & in good health...unfortunately, Hubert would never make it back to his home in Tivoli.  A subsequent autopsy would show that Hubert had succumbed to natural causes, a result of an enlargement of both the heart & liver.

So, whilst it's always folly to try & attribute a positive identity to a ghost, short of an apparition tapping you on the shoulder & introducing himself personally, we've uncovered 3 historic events that may possibly have generated the haunting of the building.  Could the ghost possibly be that of William Gilbert Burnett, one of the Hotel's licensees, still turning lights on & off and opening the doors as he once had in life??  Did the spirit of Edward McMahon return to the Hotel, the last place he'd been conscious & happy, prior to suffering severe head injuries & passing away at a Private Hospital across the Bremer River??  Or, as the only soul who actually perished on the site, has Hubert moved indoors from the back yard, now wandering the corridors of the building??  If the ghost of the Ipswich Jets Club is Hubert, then the staff of the Hotel weren't too far off when they nicknamed him "Harold!"

The Rosewood Hotel - a tale of 3 supposed ghosts & 1 massive bum steer...

The newly rebuilt Rosewood Hotel in 1916 (John Oxley Library)

Ipswich - the ever-growing city in which I grew up.  Owing its origin to no other than Captain Patrick Logan, who in 1826 located limestone deposits in the area that would become invaluable in the construction phase of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, Ipswich's European heritage is only one year younger than Brisbane's.  Adopting the name Limestone as a result, the area became a convict outpost for the Penal Settlement where Brisbane now stands, supplying valuable building materials via the Bremer & Brisbane River to its sibling settlement.  By 1840, enterprising pastoralists were beginning to settle the outlying Darling Downs area, even though it was strictly forbidden for free men to approach the outskirts of either current Ipswich or Brisbane, which were still designated as restricted penal settlements.   However, on the opening of Brisbane Town to free settlement, Limestone soon followed & opened its borders, being designated Ipswich after its namesake in Suffolk, England.

With an almost equal historic timeline to that of Brisbane, it's no wonder that Ipswich also has its fair share of ghost stories...after all, the history of both areas have been intertwined for the past 185 years.  Ipswich abounds with haunted sites, some far more well-known than others...however, through mass media attention & a much-hyped public "ghost hunt" a few years back, one site artificially stands out amongst the others - the Rosewood Hotel.

For a start, it's best that we examine how the Rosewood Hotel & its resident ghosts recently found themselves in the media spotlight, as the story provides important perspective before we delve deeper.  In 2004, the Rosewood Hotel was co-purchased by Ipswich Councillor David Pahlke - we know this fact, because it features in his bio alongside every Ipswich City Council - Division 10 newsletter published for his electorate on the internet [example].  According to his bio, he "has developed a passion for "Ghost" paranormal viewpoints" - what these paranormal viewpoints are, & how they better the lives for those in his constituency, is anyone's guess.  In the City West News, published on the 20th of October 2008, page 6, an article ran on the ghosts of Pahlke's Rosewood Hotel - in a final comment, the article detailed that, "historian and ghost tour operator Jack Sim has stayed in the hotel and confirms something happened while he was here.  He will even dedicate a chapter to the hotel incidents in his book Haunted Ipswich, which is due for release next year."  Thus, the media's attention was now drawn to the Rosewood Hotel...

Unfortunately, Haunted Ipswich: Ghosts of the Heritage City did not live up to its expected publication date in 2009 as per the article (very classily launched in May 2010, alongside the unveiling of a restored monument on a child's grave), however by mid-2009 plans for a public "ghost hunt" of the Rosewood Hotel were already well underway.  "Jack" Sim & his Brisbane-based Ghost Tours company, in league with an outfit calling themselves Queensland Paranormal Investigators, stirred the media pot to announce that the haunted mystery of the Rosewood Hotel would finally be unlocked - a "ghost hunt" was planned for the 27th of June, & 20 members of the public could book to attend for a $65 fee per head...first in, best dressed.  An article promoting the "ghost hunt" was run in the Queensland Times on the 2nd of June 2009, stating, "Customers are given the opportunity to use scientific methods such as EMF readings, or detecting disturbances in the electro magnetic field, and old fashioned methods like flour through to divining rods and spiritual boards."  Surely, this was sizing up to be a bang-up, serious investigation of the pub's ghostly history, right?

And with that, the "hunt" went ahead on the 27 of June.  On the 30th of June, the Ipswich News ran a follow-up piece, detailing what had been uncovered - "The investigators picked up quite a bit of activity. It was all a bit of fun, but I don’t think they left disappointed.  One of the things they picked up were words (through Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP) on tape of an English lady talking. She was speaking phrases you wouldn’t use today.  A few psychics who visited said similar things which also seem to line up. They mentioned a pioneering lady in early costume who was a cook.  They also spoke of a man named Billy with red hair and a man named Rusty with red hair, who could be the same person."  So, we now had some hard evidence, backed by "evidence" collected by a few psychics...& all of this material seemed to strongly corroborate what was known about the haunted history of the Hotel...

So, what do we know about the ghosts of the Rosewood Hotel?  From details published in the above newspaper articles, the hotel allegedly houses three ghosts, the most famous of which has become known as the "water ghost." The trapped spirit is allegedly that of a man who accidentally started a fire in the hotel in 1914, which resulted in the destruction of the building.  It is said that the ghost's name is "Rusty," & that he was a red-headed Scotsman - he's gained the reputation as the "water ghost" because bedsheets, clothes etc in one of the Hotel's rooms are found to be damp for reasons unknown.  The second ghost is apparently that of a woman in period dress, who is seen standing at the top of the staircase on the second floor. The third ghost is allegedly that of a U.S. soldier who was shot dead by Military Police in the doorway of the hotel after venturing into town from the nearby Calvert Ordinance Depot during the Second World War.  Now, one very big factor to take into account with all of these hauntings, according to the articles, is that the details were uncovered by various psychics & clairvoyants - at no stage do any of the articles mention historic record being used to verify these claims.

So, without further ado, let's do just that!  What do we know about the history of Rosewood & potential incidents that could provide us with an origin for these ghosts?  We will start with one very important piece of information - according to the 1903 edition of the Australian Handbook, "It [Rosewood] has four hotels, the Rosewood, Commercial, and Royal on the northern or Scrub side of the railway, and the Rising Sun on the opposite side."  Both the Rosewood & Royal (George) Hotels are located on John Street, a mere 100 metres apart.

At 2:00am in the morning, on the 3rd of January 1914,  an orange glow was noticed by the town's Night Officer coming from the back of Fraser's Boot Shop - it was instantly apparent that a fire had started inside.  Within minutes, the alarm had been raised & town residents formed a bucket brigade to try & extinguish the rapidly spreading fire before it moved to surrounding buildings.  Without luck, the fire inevitably spread to Tomlin's Chemist & Fite's Fruit & Refreshments Shop, either side of Fraser's...before long, the eaves of the Rosewood Hotel next to Fite's were also well alight.  By 3:30am, the fire had finally been contained, but not without consequence - fortunately, not a soul had lost their lives, although 9 buildings lay in smouldering ruins, having all been burnt to the ground.  So...in complete contradiction to the advertised ghost story of the Rosewood Hotel, we now know that a fire was not accidentally lit at the hotel in 1914, but had originated from Fraser's Boot Shop 3 doors up from the establishment.  We also know that no lives were lost during the blaze that decimated a sizeable chunk of 1914 Rosewood's business district.  So, where did the notion of a man nicknamed "Rusty" (or something to that effect), who possibly accidentally lit a fire & maybe perhaps died in that fire, come from exactly??  The answer is quite simple...

At 3:00am on the 30th of October 1933, a fire was started in a boarder's room at the Royal Hotel (remember, the Royal Hotel is 100 metres up the road from the Rosewood Hotel).  The glare woke the licensee Mr. McCormack, who promptly rushed his children outside before running back into the Hotel to wake the boarders upstairs.  Fortunately, all were evacuated safely...bar one - a miner from Westvale Collieries, nicknamed "Sandy" Easton, became confused in the smoke in an attempt to locate the fire escape, & ran into a bathroom instead.  With great effort, the licensee, his wife & another boarder managed to drag "Sandy" out through the bathroom window, however he had already suffered severe burns - raced to the Ipswich Hospital, poor "Sandy" succumbed to his injuries shortly after.  As a result of the fire, the Royal Hotel & two adjoining premises were destroyed.  Given the extent of "Sandy's" burns, it is even possible that the fire may had started in his room...we will never know.  What we do know, however, is the story of "Rusty" at the Rosewood Hotel & "Sandy" at the Royal Hotel down the road are remarkably similar...& we know which one is based on historic fact!

Published in The Courier Mail, page 11, on the 31st of October 1933. 

Next, we turn our attention to the female ghost in period dress seen on the second floor of the Rosewood Hotel.  Unfortunately, we're not left with much to work with here, so need to delve into the historic record to locate an event that could likely give rise to a haunting...again, the Rosewood Hotel comes up trumps, but surprisingly again the Royal Hotel shows up.  At 10:30 in the morning, on the 28th of May 1926, the young wife of the licensee Patrick Downey, Mary Francis, was standing in her bedroom on the second floor of the Hotel...it can only be supposed as to what occurred over the following seconds, however passers-by heard screams from the bedroom door that opened out onto the upper balcony & watched in horror as Mrs Downey ran into view, her clothes ablaze.  In her panic, she struck her head heavily on a post & toppled over the rail, falling into the street still on fire.  Her husband, who had been downstairs, ran out into the roadway & managed to extinguish her clothes, however she had already been horrifically burnt & succumbed to her injuries a few minutes later.  It was supposed that she had struck a match in the bedroom, that in turn had inadvertently ignited her clothing.

Very sadly, her husband who had been left with their infant son, chose to dispose of the license on the Royal Hotel a few weeks later to return to Brisbane at the start of June 1926...on the 18th of October, after having lost his wife & mother to his child not even 5 months previously, the 36 year old Patrick succumbed at the Brisbane General Hospital after ailing for a short period, leaving his young son an orphan.  If ever a tale of tragedy was to give rise to a haunting, this would most undoubtedly be it...unfortunately, it again happened in the wrong Hotel for our intrepid "ghost hunters."

As for the U.S. Serviceman who was apparently shot dead by Military Police in the doorway to the Rosewood Hotel, no records exist to support this claim...although we must also take into account that this ghostly information, like the rest, was offered up by an unnamed "psychic."  It was not unusual for the U.S. Forces in Australia during the Second World War to demand media silence on "unsavoury" events involving their soldiers - for anyone who is aware of the events that took place during the sensational Battle of Brisbane, virtually not a word was published about it in the Brisbane newspapers at the time on the request of the U.S. Military hierarchy - however, I am still highly sceptical if this event at the Rosewood Hotel ever took place, & would be more than happy to receive correspondence from anyone capable of confirming this ever occurred.

So, all in all, we're left with one Ipswich Councillor, one Brisbane ghost tour operator, & one "paranormal investigation" team with egg on their faces...not to mention the unknown number of "guests" who were fleeced out of $65 each for the privilege of "hunting" ghosts in the wrong Hotel.  If either "Jack" Sim or the so-called Queensland Paranormal Investigators had even remotely bothered to do their research, they would have known they were advertising a bogus "ghost hunt" at the Rosewood Hotel based on historic events conveniently borrowed from the Royal Hotel just up the road.  Ironically, the Queensland Paranormal Investigators were showcased on Channel 9's A Current Affair, six months later on the 14th of January 2010 - the segment encouraged Stephen Downes, a renowned Australian expert in marketing & corporate branding, to write a very colourful article on his blog, entitled, "Who ya gonna call?  Consumer Affairs, the ACCC and the ACMA!" - I couldn't urge you more to read this article, as it perfectly sums up what you've read in this article.  Ultimately, dodgy tour operators seeking fast bucks with less-than-reputable ghost "investigators" in tow, are the scourge of the paranormal field, & further aid in destroying any reputation legitimate researchers have.  And as a final word to Councillor Pahlke - I'm truly sorry, but if you were after a haunted pub in Rosewood...you clearly bought the wrong one.

"Petrie Mansions" - a "how to" for the avid Ghost Hunter...

 Petrie Terrace, ca. 1902 - the building at centre right is our target.

This week, after looking through the multitude of ghost-themed websites that now exist across Australia, I noticed that the vast majority sported long lists of "known" haunted sites throughout Brisbane...yet none provided even the slightest detail as to the history of the site, the supposed aspects of the haunting, or any indication of the resident ghost's origin.  Obviously, to the amateur "Ghost Hunter" or history buff, nothing is more frustrating - Why is the place regarded as haunted?  Has anything paranormal actually happened there?  What happened to give the impression that the ghost belongs to "that" specific person?  And most importantly, what is the history of the site, & do any historic aspects tie in to lend credence to the apparent haunting??? 

In this week's article, I hope to enlighten you all with a basic LOCAL HISTORY 101 lesson, through the examination of a known Brisbane haunting.

For the amateur parapsychologist or Brisbane resident who suspects their house may be haunted, hours of wading through the regular ghost sites may likely leave you asking, "but why??" - the vast majority of ghost groups & organisations in Australia seem to lack the basic ability to research their target sites prior to running off blindly in pursuit of ghosts (N.B. A very small few are exceptionally good in their research & investigative techniques, however) - it seems that most groups' investigations are based on a single newspaper clipping, a short TV segment, a rumour from a brother's friend's aunty...in no way do these reflect extensive research.  This week, without utilising my personal history library or usual Court/Police/Coroner's/Land's Office files, I'll walk you through an examination of the above haunting using nothing more than an internet connection & a laptop - any of you at home with these two resources, & a little time & effort, can carry out basic historic research to narrow down the possibility of a haunting at your target site, just like we will in this article.

Ok...so first off, let's start with the known ghost story of Petrie Mansions in Brisbane - during the week, I sent a teaser out on our Facebook page in an attempt to discern who'd either heard of this haunting or was up to the challenge of locating information on it - Tylene, one of our fans, clearly won the challenge when she scoured the internet to locate what she could on the Petrie Mansions haunting, however a few of the details were missing - the whole story, as it is regularly told, goes thus: many years ago, a tragedy occurred at the site.  A young girl named Hannah had been riding her tricycle on the upper veranda, & being curious as she was, decided to get a better look at the happenings in the busy street below.  Pulling the tricycle over to the railing, Hannah stood up on the seat...before she could be stopped, the tricycle moved under her weight, tipping her off balance & toppling her over the railing to the landing some distance below...she died.  Many years later, part of the building was converted into a restaurant & function centre - it wasn't long before Hannah made her presence known.  Cutlery was frequently moved on set tables when the restaurant was shut, the security system was constantly tripped when the building was empty after hours, & a small silhouette was regularly seen moving behind frosted glass doors & curtains throughout the centre.

So, directly from the internet, what do we know about the building?  From the teaser link posted on the Haunts of Brisbane Facebook page this week, we know that, "The Petrie Estate land sale began in 1883 and the majority of the terraces along Petrie Terrace were completed just before the Undue Subdivision of Land Prevention Act 1885 came into full effect, this row was originally known as “Illawarra”."  From this, we know that the building was built in the mid-1880's, & was originally known as "Illawarra."  This piece of information should provide a good starting point...

We're going to heavily utilise the National Library of Australia's website for much of our research - primarily from the historic newspaper archive.  Knowing what we do about the supposed haunting, using the search string "fell" & "Petrie Terrace" & "died" from 1880 until 1954 across the The Brisbane Courier & The Courier Mail, over 700 articles are located - we will need to go through each of these to evaluate their content (time consuming I know, but 100% necessary).  In doing so, we find that no article exists regarding a young girl toppling over a balcony & dying, so our story of Hannah is looking very shaky...however what we do find is very interesting, & possibly gives us an idea of how the story of Hannah evolved.  On the 17th of December 1900, on page 4 of the The Brisbane Courier, we find an article concerning a fatal accident on Petrie Terrace.  According to the article, an infant boy, being nursed by his young sister on their balcony, accidentally toppled over the rail & fell to the stone landing below - after being rushed to the hospital, little could be done to save the boy & he subsequently passed away shortly after.  A week later on the 25th of December, on page 4 of The Brisbane Courier, we find details of the Magisterial Inquiry into the young boy's death.

From these two articles, we now know that the boy's name was Joseph Giffen Stewart & he died on the 16th of December 1900 - if we use this information in an historic records search on the Queensland Births, Deaths & Marriages website, we discover that Joseph's parents were Joseph Robert & Elizabeth Stewart.  We also discover in a BDM search that Joseph had an older brother, David Alexander (aged 8), & two older sisters, Ethel Elizabeth (aged 9) & Jannie Dixon (aged 6).  A little further digging in the newspaper archives also gives us Joseph's funeral notice, on the 17th of December on page 2 of The Brisbane Courier:

From this, we now know that little Joseph was buried at Toowong Cemetery on the 17th of December 1900, a detail we can confirm by running the details through the Brisbane City Council's Grave Location Search.  Of greatest importance are the address details given for the mother's residence, on Petrie Terrace near Musgrave Road.  As we know, Petrie Mansions is located very close to the corner of Petrie Terrace & Musgrave Road, just before the Normanby Five-ways...not only have we now located an actual historic event that closely matches the ghost story, but we've also confirmed that this event occurred in very close proximity to (or possibly at) Petrie Mansions.  So, what more can we glean about the family from the information we've already located?

In the article regarding the accident, it is noted that Joseph's father was in South Africa at the time of the incident.  This is very interesting from an historical perspective, as contingents from all Australian States were sent to South Africa to serve in the Boer War, between 1899 & 1902 - however, on checking the nominal rolls for the Boer War on the Australian War Memorial website, there is no indication that Joseph's father served during this conflict.  So, we return to the historic newspaper archive at the National Library of Australia to see what we can locate the father Joseph - keeping in mind that we also know from the funeral notice, that Joseph Snr was a Produce Merchant trading on Roma Street.   Another search provides two articles in The Brisbane Courier, on the 21st of August & 6th of September 1900, showing that only months prior to young Joseph's death, his father had been declared insolvent & creditors had been called in to liquidate his assets.  The articles also indicate that Joseph Snr is living at Enoggera at this stage.  Using that piece of information, an additional search uncovers that a Joseph Robert Stewart, living in Enoggera, had served as a Councillor in the Ithaca Shire Council throughout the 1890's - are our two Joseph Robert Stewart's the same person??  They may very well be...something we need to add to our notes, which can be validated during a trip to the State Library & State Archives in Brisbane for further research.

So...after carrying out some searches based solely on what is available on the internet, we've uncovered quite a bit of information that we can now utilise for higher-level research.  We've virtually dispelled the local folklore of Hannah, but have located a remarkably similar event in time that likely gave rise to the legend...we've positioned this event in time to a location that closely corresponds with the Petrie Mansions...we've uncovered some back-history about the family in general, brought into question the father's movements when he was apparently in South Africa, & have raised further questions as to why the mother was living on Petrie Terrace with the children, when the father seemed to be living in Enoggera a few months previously before going bankrupt.  All of these questions will find their respective answers at the State repositories on further research, but it's surprising how much we've already uncovered simply by sitting on the lounge at home with a laptop, right??

Knowing that, I cannot encourage amateur ghost hunters & curious ghost fans enough to constantly & consistently question, question, & question again...especially when it comes to Brisbane's ghostly history.  Throughout this article, I have given you a number of links to online databases & archives that will help you to critically evaluate ghost stories that you've heard, or research potential hauntings you're curious about in Brisbane - most of these stories are based on no more than hearsay & oral legend, but memories are not infallible, even a month after the event...always endeavour to locate & verify the truth from multiple documentary sources, & question once again!  There is absolutely no doubt that the Petrie Mansions has a resident ghost, however Hannah appears to be a myth & young Joseph at 20 months old seems too young to be at the core of the haunting - in a future article, we plan to get to the bottom of this one!