The Demise of Thomas Pengilley – Old Geelong Gaol

The Demise of Thomas Pengilley – Old Geelong Gaol

 

Main Street Birregurra 1907 - Royal Mail Hotel

 Thomas Pengilley had been a successful prospector in Victoria. In 1855 he established the firm of Pengilley and Childs, general storekeepers in Mercer Street, Geelong. He later had business’ at Morrison and Stieglitz gold diggings, before buying a hotel at Sebastopol near Ballarat

In 1880, Thomas Pengilley was the publican at the Royal Mail Hotel, Birregurra, in which he lived with his wife and young family. The 47-year-old publican had become unhinged, and over a four-year period had begun to attack his wife making her feel unsafe in her own home.

 
 Mrs Pengilley, afraid for her children contacted the local police and had Thomas detained. He was sent to the Kew Lunatic Asylum. Pengilley spent time in and out of Kew over a span of a few years. His erratic and unpredictable behaviour caused problems for the hotel’s income. Often Pengilley would become unfriendly and hostile toward patrons, causing his wife to shut the doors.

 Eventually, Mrs Pengilley had enough and being abused by her husband and had him arrested. He was taken to the Birregurra Police Court where he was charged to keep the peace with his wife for six months. Pengilley could not meet the requirements of the securities of his sentence and was instead sent to Geelong Gaol to serve a short term.

Pengilley was placed in a cell away from other inmates. He arranged to have his meals provided by an outside source.
 On the night of his death, a warder brought him a glass of water around 6pm. The Warder noticed that Pengilley was morose and slightly unhinged. He left him be and returned at 9pm. The warder pushed the cell door open and discovered Pengilley had hung himself by tying a valise strap around his neck and attaching it to a gas bracket above the door, hanging himself.

 It is believed that Pengilley became addicted to hard liquor, which eventually led to him physically and mentally abusing his wife and family. That alcoholism also led to his insanity and eventual suicide.

Yarra Ben Asylum - Victoria

 The tragedy of the Pengilleys does not end there. Thomas's oldest son, Thomas junior was accused in 1889 of not paying maintenance of a child he had had out of wedlock. In the same year, Thomas, like his father before him, found himself admitted to Kew Lunatic Asylum.
 In 1890, Thomas Jr. Was formally charged with deserting his child. The child’s mother, Phillis Labatt stated in court that Pengilley had fled to Broken Hill, she also stated that he was a frequent resident of the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum. Pengilley died at the age of 38 in 1899.

Victoria Police Gazette - May 21 1890

Researched and written by Allen Tiller ©2019

Bibliography:

'BIRREGURRA NEWS.', Geelong Advertiser, (2 September 1889), p. 3.

'BIRREGURRA.',The Colac Herald, (11 July 1882), p. 3.

'Family Notices', The Argus, (9 October 1899), p. 1.

'Family Notices', Geelong Advertiser, (6 February 1880), p. 2.

'GEELONG.', The Age, (5 February 1880), p. 3.

'POLICE COURT.', Geelong Advertiser, (9 November 1889), p. 4.

'SUICIDE IN THE GEELONG GAOL.', The Ballarat Courier, (6 February 1880), p. 3.

'TOWN TALK.', Geelong Advertiser, (23 May 1890), p. 2.

Victoria, Australia, Police Gazettes, 1855, 1864-1924 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Original data: Victoria Police Gazette Indexes. CD-ROM. Ridgehaven, South Australia: Gould Genealogy and History, 2009.

A Haunting at Fremantle Arts Centre

Fremantle Arts Centre

   Work first started on the site where the Fremantle Arts Centre now stands back in 1863, with convict labour used to clear the six acres of land. In 1964, the foundation stone was laid for what was to become the Convict Establishment Fremantle Lunatic Asylum and Invalid Depot.
  The Asylum operated much like a prison and was bound by the same State and National laws as local gaols. It was used to house many types of people afflicted with social disorders and other problems and housed alcoholics, prostitutes, the elderly, the infirm, and the insane.

  In 1900 the asylum housed 219 patients, often with 20 people in a single room. It was at this time that a scandal broke out when Mrs Clifford was violently killed by another patient. All eyes were on the Asylum, and its practices. Staff and patients came under government and political scrutiny.
The scandal saw the Government force the Asylum to take on a medical superintendent and a trained mental health nurse.

From 1909, the Asylum's role in the community changed, now housing women only. It went from Asylum status to what is colloquially known as a “poor house” and was known as The Women’s Home.
  One year later, after the onslaught of an epidemic in Western Australia, the Women’s Home also became the training centre for maternity nurses, which in 1916 would move to the King Edward Hospital for Women.

  From 1909 until 1941 the Asylum was home to poor, divorced, and elderly women. The home faced many problems in this era, including young women escaping and men digging holes through the limestone walls to see their ladies. There were young women admitted suffering severe venereal diseases, these young ladies were under lock and key on the top floor of the building.

 In 1941 protests about the conditions of the patients, and the condition of the buildings saw the government close the Women’s Home.

 In 1942, during World War II, American soldiers were given the old asylum and its grounds for lodging. Other soldiers were soon to find lodgings there, with 22 new buildings erected to cater for 139 enlisted men and 21 officers.
From 1946 the Asylum took on a new role, that of school, with the Fremantle Technical School opening. At this time it also saw students from Princess May Girls School and Fremantle Boys School attend lessons on its grounds in prefabricated classrooms, but by 1958, the old building had started to fall into a state of disrepair.
 Sir Frederick Samson, Mayor of Fremantle, stepped in when threats were made to demolish the old Asylum in 1958. He envisaged a museum and arts centre being housed in the buildings. In 1970, some 12 years later, the museum part of the building was completed, and in 1973, the Arts Centre was completed and opened and is still operating today.

So is it Haunted?

Reports of doors opening and closing by themselves are very common within the building, but these events alone do not amount to a ghostly presence, however, people also report “cold spots”, strange lights in the building and, most peculiarly, extra people noticed standing in photographs who weren't present when the photo was first taken, also, people report the feeling of physical phenomena such as being hugged or kissed by unseen people.
Another common report in the Arts Centre is that of the apparition of an old lady who walks the corridors searching for her abducted child. It is thought she is an ex-asylum patient who jumped from an upstairs window, killing herself from grief...


For more information on this possible haunted location please follow the links below:

http://www.fac.org.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremantle_Arts_Centre

© 2013 Allen Tiller 

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au