Tag: Ghost Stories

Fiction

The Phantom Buggy

Jessica Barratt

Sergeant Hobson of the Western Australia Police Force started his shift at five in March 1917. As he rode his bicycle along Beaufort Street, the early morning light struggled to break through the heavy clouds.

Ka-lop, ka-lop, ka-lop, ka-lop. A fast-moving horse put him on alert. Ka-lop, ka-lop, ka-lop. Where was it coming from? Ka-lop, ka-lop. It was too early for a horse to be travelling that fast. He stopped cycling, placed his feet on the ground, and held onto the handlebars as he listened. The sound became louder as the horse approached.

He looked north. No horse. He looked south. No horse. Puzzled, he looked north again. A driverless horse and buggy flew past his line of sight, travelling on the wrong side of the road. “Bloody hell,” he swore as he scrambled back onto his bicycle.

A horse and buggy circa 1905. Courtesy of the State Library of Western Australia (Call Number: 006595PD).
Continue reading “The Phantom Buggy” →
Advertisement
Mysteries, WA History

The Padbury Street Ghost

Jessica Barratt

Let us tell the story of the Haunted House.

The Daily News (Perth, WA :1882 – 1950); 9 February 1914; Page 8; A Haunted House

Located behind the Brisbane Hotel and running diagonally from Beaufort Street to Bulwer Street, Padbury Street was a quiet street unknown to many people in Perth. In February 1914, that was all to change.

Along the short street were many two-story houses, lived in by various residents. Two of the houses were empty and available for lease. Of those two, one (number 66) had only recently become vacant. The reason the family gave for leaving: they believed it was haunted.

It was averred that the occupiers had for some time past been hearing weird sounds in various parts of the building, for which they could not account.

The Daily News (Perth, WA :1882 – 1950); 9 February 1914; Page 8; A Haunted House
Continue reading “The Padbury Street Ghost” →
Missing, Mysteries, WA History

Haunting of the Chitibin

Jessica Barratt

Thomas Dent was born in approximately 1826 in Baston, Lincolnshire, in England. The early years of his life are unknown, but as he grew older, he worked as a farm labourer. His troubles with the law began in his early 20s. On 20 December 1848, he was convicted of trespass and poaching. On 3 August 1849, he was convicted of assault. For both crimes, he served time at the House of Correction in Folkingham.

On 30 December 1850, Thomas, along with James Webber and John Dent, stole two gallons of rum and other articles from John Cole’s house in Baston. He was convicted of housebreaking and stealing and, due to his previous convictions, was sentenced to seven years’ transportation.

The order for transportation. Courtesy of the National Archives (UK).
Continue reading “Haunting of the Chitibin” →
Mysteries, WA History

The Ghost of Francis Street

Jessica Barratt

BA1657
Geraldton circa 1880s. Courtesy of the State Library of Western Australia.

Have you seen the ghost! is the latest query under the verandah. Dark rumors have been for some time circulated, of a mysterious apparition which at uncanny hours, haunts the solitudes of Francis street.

According to the Victorian Express, in 1882 numerous Geraldtonians had indeed seen the spectre, dressed in black and walking along Francis Street in the middle of the night. While the reporter was no doubt taking a little creative liberty, they stated that when it was approached it vanished “…into thin air, with a mocking laugh, a flare of blue light, and a smell of sulfur.“

Continue reading “The Ghost of Francis Street” →

Mysteries, Trove Tuesday, WA History

Pinjarra’s Ghost

Jessica Barratt

In the early 1870s a man by the name of Thomas Scott visited Western Australia and in particular Pinjarra. He was there for about three days when he mentioned that he had passed an elderly woman dressed in a light dress standing on the Pinjarra Bridge. He did not know it at the time but what he had seen was the Pinjarra ghost who was said to haunt the bridge over the Murray River.

Pinjarra Bridge
A sketch by Captain E Y W Henderson of the third Pinjarra Bridge in the 1850s. Courtesy of the Shire of Murray.

Continue reading “Pinjarra’s Ghost” →