A List of Offences and Punishments Extracted from the Port Arthur “Punishment Book”

 

A List of Offences and Punishments Extracted from the Port Arthur “Punishment Book”

July 1, 1840 – Having a spoon in possession contrary to orders. Twenty-four hours’ solitary confinement on bread and water.

December 26, 1840 – Absent without leave. Five days’ solitary confinement on bread and water.

January 13, 1841 – Absent without leave. Twenty stripes on the breech.

January 21, 1841 – Absent without leave. Ten days’ solitary confinement on bread and water.

February 12, 1841 – Absent without leave. Twenty stripes on the breech.

April 14, 1841 – Disorderly conduct on the chain. Five days’ solitary confinement on bread and water.

June 1, 1841 – Misconduct un using improper language to the overseer. Four days’ solitary confinement on bread and water.

June 23, 1841, Repeated disorderly conduct. Forty-eight hours’ solitary confinement.

December 31, 1841 - Absent without leave. Twenty-five stripes on the breech.

January 28, 1842 – Absent without leave. Two months’ labour in chains.

March 3, 1842 – Disorderly conduct. Five days’ solitary confinement on bread and water.

May 27, 1842 – Absent without leave. Ten days’ solitary confinement.

November 7, 1842 – Absent without leave. Twenty-five stripes on the breech.

November 9, 1842 – Insolence to the Superintendent. Ten days’ solitary confinement.

December 19, 1842 – Misconduct in sleeping out of his berth, and further, with breaking up the flooring of his silent apartment. Fourteen days’ solitary confinement.

January 7, 1843 – Misconduct in having a quantity of potatoes improperly in his possession. Five days’ solitary confinement.

 

Extracted from the book “Convicts of Van Diemen’s Land”, p. xi for educational purposes.

Allen Tiller 2023

 

 Richmond Congregational Cemetery - Tasmania

 

In her 2007 book, ‘Tasmanian Tales of the Supernatural,' Margaret Giordano writes of the apparition of a man seen wandering the Richmond Congregational Cemetery on Torrens Street. The old cemetery is now a reserve.

Reports indicate that the apparition is of a man seen as ‘hazy.’[1]

Currently, it is not known who he may be.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

---

[1] Margaret Giordano, Tasmanian Tales of the Supernatural, (Launceston, 2007), p. 74.

Hells Gates - A Tale of Sorrow - Cape Sorell - Tasmania

 

 Hells Gates - A Tale of Sorrow - 

Cape Sorell - Tasmania

Aerial view of Cape Sorell Lighthouse –  (Source: AMSA, 2014)

The Cape Sorell Lighthouse is located on the west coast of Tasmania, approximately 12 kilometres from Strahan. It was built in 1899 and is the second-tallest lighthouse in Australia. The lighthouse is named after Tasmanian Lieutenant-Governor (1817-1825), William Sorell.
Sarah Island was seen by convicts as ‘hell.’ It was a remote penal colony within Macquarie Harbor established in 1821.[1] Hells Gates was the name given to a narrow passage entry to Macquarie Harbour by convicts serving on Sarah Island.

In its early days, the lighthouse had a lighthouse keeper and two assistants. The last lighthouse keeper left in 1971. Originally the light was lit by vapourised kerosene. A solar-powered light was installed in 1998. Today the lighthouse today is fully automated.[2]

In 1908 Henry John Hooper was the assistant signalman at Cape Sorell Lighthouse. On a wild and stormy night, a small steamer called Kawitiri was voyaging through Hell’s Gate as best it could in the storm, using the light as a guide. Onboard was Hooper’s wife and his two sons, one aged 5, the other 7; they had gone with their mother to Hobart for a holiday.
The small vessel was caught in the storm and capsized. The crew and passengers were launched into lifeboats and attempted to make it to shore. Mrs Hooper and her boys' boat smashed into the rocks not far from the lighthouse where Hooper was on duty. From high upon the lighthouse balcony, Hooper heard his wife’s cries ‘John, Save Me!” – but there was nothing he could do, so he sent his mate to assist. He waited many hours for his mate to return, and when he did, Hooper had to suffer more when he learned his wife and sons had drowned.[3]

Cape Sorell - west coast of Tasmania

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2022

---

[1] ‘Sarah Island’, Tasmania, (2022), https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/things-to-do/heritage-and-history/sarahisland/

[2] Sinclair, Ian, ‘Old lighthouse goes automatic.’ (2012).

[3] 'Tasmania's Tragic Lighthouse Keeper', Smith's Weekly, (2 January 1926), p. 9., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234435469.

 

 Oatlands Gaol - Tasmania

The largest building remaining in the former Oatlands Military Precinct, the Oatlands Gaol opened in 1837.[1] The gaol was built to hold 300 inmates and was the ‘only regional gaol in the colony where executions were commonplace.’[2] Oatlands Gaol was designed by Colonial Architect, John Lee Archer and was erected between 1834 and 1836.[3]

The gaol held female and male prisoners and was the largest gaol complex outside of Hobart and Launceston.[4] It was the only regional gaol in Tasmania to have its own Supreme Court House attached.[5]

The Oatlands Gaol operated for 26 years, being decommissioned in 1863. It then became a municipal gaol.




18 men were hung at Oatlands Gaol between 1844 and 1860.

• Alexander Reid - 24 April 1844 – Hanged at Oatlands for shooting and wounding Constable Murray.[6]
  
  
•  Thomas Marshall – 24 April 1844 – Hanged at Oatlands for the murder of Ben Smith.[7]
  
  
• Richard Jackson - 1 May 1845 - Hanged at Oatlands for the rape of Elizabeth Davis.[8]
  
  
• John Phillips – 4 February 1846 – Hanged at Oatlands for setting fire to the magistrate's oat stacks following a conviction for sly grog selling.[9]
  
  
•  James Sullivan – 9 May 1848 – Hanged at Oatlands for the attempted murder of Constable James Kelly at Swanston, near Andover.[10]
  
  
• Patrick Shea – 9 May 1848 – Hanged at Oatlands for the attempted murder of Constable James Kelly at Swanston.[11]
  
  
• James McGough – 9 May 1848 – Hanged at Oatlands for the attempted murder of Constable James Kelly at Swanston.[12]
  
  
• John Shale – 9 May 1848 - Hanged at Oatlands for wounding John Connell with intent to murder.[13]
  
  
• Thomas Smith – 4 August 1848 – Hanged at Oatlands for stabbing with intent to murder Constable Clough at Jericho.[14]
  
  
• Jeremiah Maher – 4 August 1848 – Hanged at Oatlands for stabbing with intent to murder Constable Clough at Jericho.[15]
  
  
• William Henry Stevens - 25 April 1851 - Convict. Hanged at Oatlands for Assaulting James Moore, being armed with a gun on the high road between Antill Ponds
• and Tunbridge.[16]
  
  
• George Mackie – 21 July 1851 – Hanged at Oatlands for the murder of Thomas Gilbert at Waters Meeting, near Cranbrook.[17]
  
  
•  John Crisp – 27 October 1851 – Hanged at Oatlands for Wounding with Intent Constable William Donohoo at Swansea.[18]
  
  
• William Henry Stephens – 25 April 1851 – Hanged at Oatlands for the attempted murder of Thomas Moore at Antill Ponds.
  
  
• Patrick McMahon – 28 October 1852 – Hanged at Oatlands for rape of a child.
  
  
• Michael Casey – 5 August 1856 – Hanged at Oatlands for the attempted murder of John Hewitt at Falmouth.
  
  
• Abraham Munday – 27 October 1857 – Hanged at Oatlands for attempted murder by poison of George White at Courland Bay.
  
  
•  Richard "Long Mick" Ennis – 27 October 1857 – Hanged at Oatlands for the murder of George Sturgeon at Kitty's Corner, near Antill Ponds.
  
  
•  John Vigors – 31 January 1860 – Hanged at Oatlands for Shooting with Intent at John Baker at Ellerslie.[19]

For more information on Oatlands please visit Southern Midlands Council's website here: https://www.southernmidlands.tas.gov.au/oatlands-gaol/

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2022

[1] Brad Williams, ‘Oatlands Gaol Historical Study and Archaeological Survey’, Southern Midlands Council, (2004), p. 9, https://www.southernmidlands.tas.gov.au/assets/southernmidlands_williams_arch_survey_2004.pdf.

[2] Ibid., p. 2.

[3] Barry and Eleanor Bjorksten, ‘Oatlands Gaol Remedial Works Report.’, Southern Midlands Council, (2004), p. 11, https://www.southernmidlands.tas.gov.au/assets/southernmidlands_bjorksten_2004.pdf.

[4] Williams, ‘Oatlands Gaol Historical Study and Archaeological Survey’, p. 9.

[5] Brad Williams, ‘Oatlands Gaol Interpretation Plan.’, Southern Midlands Council, (2011), p. 4, https://www.southernmidlands.tas.gov.au/assets/southernmidlands_gaol_interps_plan.pdf.

[6] 'Execution at Oatlands.’, The Courier, (26 April 1844), p. 3., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2951132.

[7] Ibid.

[8] 'Oatlands Assizes.', The Courier, (8 April 1845), p. 3., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2948998.

[9] 'Oatlands Assizes.', The Courier, (17 January 1846), p. 2., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2946459.

[10] 'Domestic Intelligence.', Colonial Times, (12 May 1848), p. 3., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8762811.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] 'Domestic Intelligence.', Colonial Times, (8 August 1848), p. 3., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8763241.

[15] Ibid.

[16] 'Oatlands.', The Courier, (30 April 1851), p. 2., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article296097.

[17] 'Execution at Oatlands.', The Cornwall Chronicle, (26 July 1851), p. 468., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65574090.

[18] 'Executions.', The Tasmanian Colonist, (27 October 1851), p. 2., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226525096.

[19] 'Execution and Confession of Vigors at Oatlands.', Launceston Examiner, (2 February 1860), p. 3. (AFTERNOON), http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38999069.

 

A Haunting at the Bush Inn – New Norfolk - Tasmania

The Bush Inn November 2022
© Allen Tiller

Constructed in 1815, and first licensed as an Inn in 1825, the Bush Inn holds the record for the longest continuously licensed pub in Australia. The name ‘Bush’ comes from DW Bush, the clerk of Reverend Bobby Knopwood who was the first Chaplain in the Tasmanian colony.


The first licensee of the Inn was Ann Bridger, a 54-year-old widow, who arrived in Hobart in 1823 with two daughters and her son Henry. Ann came with ($1,000) in cash and £200 ($400) in ‘various merchandise for investing in agricultural pursuits, and a desire to succeed.[1]

There is a tunnel underneath the Inn that is believed to have been used to transport patients from the Royal Derwent Hospital (the original name of the New Norfolk Insane Hospital) to the Derwent River. The basement is mostly original and still contains a skittle alley.[2]

The hotel was the meeting place for locals and was at one time used as a Methodist Church, with a baptismal font still on display in the Inn. In 1837, Lady Franklin visited the hotel and planted a pear tree. Irish composer, William Vincent Wallace is believed to have written the theme song to his most famous Opera, ‘Maritana’ while staying at the Hotel.
Dame Nellie Melba is another famous visitor, who when finding out ‘Maritana’ was written here, sang the song for hotel guests.

Ghosts

The Bush Inn is alleged to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl. For reasons unknown, she is most often seen and felt in Room 6 of the Inn. It is alleged, but yet unproven, that she either fell or was pushed, down the staircase.[3] The little girl is also one of several ghosts seen walking the hallways of the building.[4]
It is also alleged that guests often hear disembodied footsteps walking through the halls of the building. Others have seen apparitions walk past them in ‘period clothing.' These spirits are seen in rooms, hallways, and the main bar, with reports of them being residual hauntings. Others claim the lady’s downstairs toilet to be haunted, with women reporting paranoia, being touched and seeing an apparition of a woman in the mirror.

 
Owners in 2015, Don and Peter Smith reported to local media about the haunting,

“One time I was here working behind the bar -- there was no one else here -- and the bell up near the kitchen where you order your meal, it rang for no reason at all. I looked up there, and there was no one there.”[5]

It is also claimed the basement is haunted, with reports of shadow people, disembodied voices and other bizarre, otherworldly noises reported.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2022

[1] Geoff Ritchie, The Bush Inn, New Norfolk, On the Convict Trail, (2014), http://ontheconvicttrail.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-bush-inn-new-norfolk.html.

[2] Mick Roberts, The Bush Inn, Tasmania, Time Gents, (2014), https://timegents.com/2014/11/30/the-bush-inn-tasmania/.

[3] Leah McLennan, The terrifying story behind this haunted hotel, Travel – News.com.au, (18 Oct 2015), https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/travel-stories/the-terrifying-story-behind-this-haunted-hotel/news-story/6c68647bfa43d83f763770559bd8ccf4

[4] Andrea Beattie, ‘Brothers Raise a Glass to Pub's Ghostly Residents’, Huff Post, (23 Oct 2015), https://www.huffpost.com/archive/au/entry/ghost-hotel-business_n_8344186

[5] Andrea Beattie, ‘Brothers Raise a Glass to Pub's Ghostly Residents’, Huff Post, (23 Oct 2015), https://www.huffpost.com/archive/au/entry/ghost-hotel-business_n_8344186

 

A Haunting at 6 Henry Street Richmond– Former Richmond Hotel - Tasmania

 

This hotel was erected in 1838 using convict labour, with Lawrence Cotham as the first publican. After it closed, it became a guest house. And is now a private home.

 In 1857, Mr Fenner of Orielton was staying at the Richmond Hotel while he served jury duty at the Richmond Quarter Sessions. Taking a break from court, Mr Fenner was eating at the hotel when some food became stuck in his throat. Dr Coverdale was called, but Fenner choked to death in the hotel.[1]

 In December 1872 50-year-old bullock driver, Edward Palmer knocked off work, received his pay from his boss, Askin Morrison and went to the Richmond Arms to have a drink and wind down. He had a few drinks and decided to stay for dinner. He sat down to eat and suddenly died. An inquest found he died of a heart attack.[2]

In March 1987, the old pub was for sale. The Mercury Newspaper featured the headline “like to own an old pub with a resident ghost – one which is said to turn the lights out each night?” [3]

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2022

[1] 1857 'LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.', Colonial Times (Hobart, Tas. : 1828 - 1857), 23 July, p. 2. , viewed 17 Jul 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8783628


[2] 1872 'MISCELLANEA.', The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. : 1835 - 1880), 30 December, p. 2. (SUPPLEMENT TO THE Cornwall Chronicle.), viewed 17 Jul 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66028755


[3] March 1987, Mercury newspaper

Eaglehawke Neck and Pirates Bay Lookout - Tasmania

 

 Eaglehawke Neck and Pirates Bay Lookout

 - Tasmania

 Eaglehawk Neck is a 100-meter sandbar connecting the Tasman Peninsula to the Forestier Peninsula this area was home to the infamous Dog Line, which stretched from Pirates Bay across the Isthmus and into Eaglehawk Bay.

Eaglehawk Neck Bay had its own officers’ quarters and at its busiest had an officer, sergeant and 25 soldiers stationed. There was a customs hut, sentries tower, storehouses, guardhouses, and barracks. All that remains today is the Officers’ Quarters.

The Officer's Quarters were eventually turned into a private home. It is the oldest wooden military building still standing in Australia dating back to 1832.

 People have reported the sounds of phantom dogs growling here. There have also been reports of odd noises in the building and lights turning on and off of their own volition.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2023

  

A Shot of Spirits: Ep 16: Oak Lodge Tasmania

Oak Lodge was built between 1831 and 1842 by Henry Buscombe.
Oak Lodge has a plethora of ghosts. Volunteers and visitors have witnessed full-bodied, and partial-bodied apparitions. The spirit of a young lady has been witnessed climbing the stairs.

 

A Shot of Spirits: Ep 19 - Kelly’s Steps - Tasmania

Kelly’s Steps at Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania are steeped in history…and ghosts!

                                              

 

A Haunting at Oak Lodge - Richmond, Tasmania

18 Bridge Street 

Oak Lodge was built in 1831 by Henry Buscombe, the younger brother of James Buscombe.[1] The property was sold in 1843 to Captain James Richard Booth. A highly regarded Royal Navy Captain who commanded the H.M.S. Tricuno. Booth’s brother, Charles O’Hara Booth was the former commandant of Port Arthur. In his time at Richmond, James Booth was a magistrate and Churchwarden at St Luke’s Anglican Church.[2]

Oak Lodge was sold to Reverend David Galer in 1855. It was sold again in 1880 to William Stevens and his sister, widow Mary Bedgood. Mary stayed in the house until 1909 when it was sold to Arthur Oglivy. Oglivy rented the property to an American doctor, Dr William Goodwin Chadbourne Clark. Clark used the Lodge for his medical practice until retiring in 1947. 

In 1962, Oak Lodge became the property of the Horsfall sisters. In 1998, Muriel Horsfall donated the property to the National Trust to be a museum. In 2002 it opened as Oak Lodge Museum. Miss Horsfall died in 2008 aged 102. 

Ghosts:

Oak Lodge is alleged to contain a plethora of ghosts. Volunteers and visitors have claimed to witness full-bodied, and partial-bodied apparitions. It has been alleged that the spirit of a young lady was witnessed ascending the stairs. There are claims that one spirit likes to grab people on the arm, and the same spirit may be responsible for a ghostly hand that slides up the inside of people’s thighs.

Some people have claimed to be pushed or pulled as they walked through the building, and yet others claim a spirit has played with their hair! There are also claims of disembodied voices, often calling out swear words.




© 2023 Allen Tiller

[1] Peter MacFie, A Social History of Richmond, (2017), p. 25.

[2] ‘Oak Lodge … and the incredible stories it can tell …’, Tasmanian Times, (2013), https://tasmaniantimes.com/2013/10/oak-lodge-richmond-linzo/, accessed 16 May 2022.

The Haunting of Kelly's Steps - Battery Point - Tasmania

 

The Haunting of Kelly's Steps - Battery Point -

Tasmania

Kelly's Steps - Salamanca Place
Photo Allen Tiller 2022

Constructed in 1840 by the adventurer James Kelly, these steps were carved from the cliff face to allow workers to get to Salamanca Place and the wharf faster. [1]

 Captain Kelly circumnavigated Tasmania (then Van Diemen’s Land) in a whaleboat and discovered Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour. He was a well-respected whaler in Tasmania and became incredibly wealthy through his whaling activities. By 1842, Kelly was bankrupt, his wife and seven of his 10 children were dead.  He later was employed by Tasmanian Port Authorities. He died aged 67 in 1859. Ironically, Kelly's eldest son was killed by a whale![2]

Kelly’s Steps were notorious for assaults and other nefarious activities, hidden away from prying eyes. Jan Scott who grew up on Kelly Street in the 1950s stated,

“Kelly’s Steps were spooky to us at nighttime. We would go down in the dark. We would run up there and shout “Let’s go!”. There was always blood there – a lot got assaulted there.… You had to learn to run fast if you were going up there…that’s how we learnt to run I think – Kelly’s Steps and St David’s Park!” (– Jan Scott talking about her childhood in the 1950s and 60s)

 

On 31 October 1863, labourer, John Dunn fell down the steps and died ten days later in the local hospital.[3]  In 1926 Hannah Mollross, aged 41, who lived at 35 Kelly Street, allegedly had an accident on Kelly’s Steps that led to her having a miscarriage. She was taken to hospital and had surgery but died the following day.[4]
 It was discovered during her autopsy that she had had an illegal abortion and that the accident on the steps was a cover-up to hide the crime. The abortion had been botched, and Mollross died from blood poisoning.

Kelly’s steps are alleged to be haunted by numerous ghosts, of which no one knows their identities. Shadow people have been seen here, and the ghosts of wharfies!

© 2022 Allen Tiller

[1] ‘Kelly’s Steps’, Battery Point Community Association Inc, (2021), https://www.batterypointwalk.com.au/locations/kelly-street/


[2] 'CAPTAIN KELLY', World, (1 November 1922), p. 6. , viewed 27 Sep 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190273194


[3] 'THE REGATTA.', The Mercury, (14 December 1863), p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8823154


[4] 'MARRIED WOMAN'S DEATH', The Mercury, (28 June 1926) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29449270

 The Oatlands Commissariat - Tasmania

Constructed in 1827, was built to securely house the provisions for the military and convict establishment at Oatlands. Learn more about the restoration project here: Oatlands Commissariat Restoration Project: https://www.facebook.com/oatlandscommissariat/

There is no evidence that this building is haunted, I am including it here as we visited in 2022 with Paranormal Holiday, and I wanted to place the photos somewhere :)

Photos: Allen Tiller © 2022

 The Pirate Bushrangers

The Pirate Bushrangers is a true story of murder, robbery, and bloodshed across three Australian States. Patrick O’Connor and Henry Bradley were convicts sent to Port Arthur in Tasmania. Both were noted for increasingly bad behaviour and sent to the notorious penal colony on Norfolk Island to be broken. After serving their time in the infamous Norfolk penal colony, they were transported back to Tasmania within weeks of each other. They met again as 'ticket of leave' men and began a murderous rampage in northern Tasmania as bushrangers. They stole a ship at Circular Head van Diemen’s Land becoming pirates, sailed to Cape Schanck, and returned to bushranging in Victoria, where they were eventually caught and hung. This is the story of the pirate bushrangers who for 40 days were two of the most brutal, bloodthirsty villains in southern Australia’s history.

Purchase Today!: https://www.amazon.com.au/Pirate-Bushrangers-Allen-Tiller/dp/B0C47YLYF4

P.I.: Past & Present - Simon Coleman

Simon Coleman

 Many things deemed paranormal have happened in the life of Simon Coleman, Founder of Wraith Paranormal Research and Investigation, in Launceston Tasmania.
Simon has always had an interest in paranormal subjects, starting out listening to stories about old haunted houses around the suburbs of where he lived as a child.

As a child, he had “hallucinations” in which he saw people in the family home that no-one else could see, from this his curiosity stemmed, which eventually led him to see some amazing and some sickening occurrences.
As a young man, Simon was involved in a seance, whilst nothing “paranormal” happened during the event, it was on his way home that Simon began to experience phenomena he couldn't explain. His climate controlled car was set for a comfortable 24 degrees, but suddenly, halfway home on his drive home, the temperature dropped dramatically, to the point where it was suddenly freezing cold within the car, a bone chill even turning the heater to maximum could not move on.
At the same time, a feeling of paranoia overtook Simon, who suddenly got a feeling someone else was in the car with him, in the back-seat. Out of concern, he pulled over to check the car, and at this point, the atmosphere of the car changed, the heater whirred into life filling the car with hot air.

Whatever was in the car with Simon, left, and so began Simon’s journey to become a paranormal investigator, it was this event that led him to find answers to the mystery that had just happened to him.



Simon is passionate about his team, his research, and the investigations they conduct, and although Simon is the senior member, he doesn’t make much ado about a team hierarchy, instead of employing a sensibility of 'one team, one purpose'.

Often, in a show of mutual respect and unity, Wraith joins forces with another local team, Launceston Paranormal, of whom Simon speaks very highly “They bring their wealth of experience. We hold the same values of integrity and unity.”
Also, Simon tells me that his team offers other teams a service of quality research on locations that sometimes other teams may not have the time or resources to fully research themselves.

Simon currently lives in an old haunted house where, previously, he had been using old techniques to investigate his houses spirits, he recently used more modern equipment, often left unattended, only to find it nowhere near where he had left it, or turned off, which leads him to conclude his spirits do not like modern monitoring equipment very much!



Tasmania offers Simon and Co a wealth of interesting and accessible locations to investigate, but at the moment his team does not have permission to share a vast array of the paces they have investigated.
 
Simon does, however, favour one particular cemetery that his team uses as a proving ground for the equipment they purchase, much of which is Australian designed and made.
  The team are currently also working on a project involving a daylight haunting in a public place, gathering data, hoping to conclude that there is predominant activity while the sun shines.
Gibbet Hill, in Perth Tasmania, a place that gained international notoriety for events there in 1837, is another location that Wraith is currently working a case file on, which will hopefully be made available to the public.

Simon has had an interesting experience recently with an EM pump her purchased
Simon “I recently purchased an EM Pump and frankly I wasn't sure of its ability to do what its reputed for. After turning it on and sitting quietly with it for a bit nothing much seemed to happen. Then an investigator reported feeling really cold
We immediately checked the temperature of where they were standing at it had fallen by more than 20 degrees below the surrounding air temperature we then backed up that reading with a second device and maintained identical results.
Then further to that, we were able to have the temperature change by asking. A surprising result that had never occurred at this location before.”

Although many have become before Simon in the paranormal community, investigating, researching, and gathering data, Simon has shown a dedication and passion that many of those before him have not.
His enthusiasm and love for what he does washes off on those around him, and will surely lead him to great discoveries and conclusive evidence.
To end today's interview I think I'll leave you with a quote from Simon that sums up his enthusiasm and point of view, thank you Simon, and Wraith Paranormal Research and Investigation for being a part of our blog series.

Simon “I think it’s in my blood now and it isn't something that I will tire from. There is so much to discover and so much we still don't fully understand. I guess it’s a bit like being a scientist at the forefront of discovery.”

You can visit Simon and Wraith Paranormal Research and Investigation on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wraith-Paranormal-Research-and-Investigation/211919848941644?fref=ts

 or at:

http://www.wraithinvestigations.com/

http://launcestonparanormal.wordpress.com/

Wraith is also currently seeking new members, contact them to apply.

Since writing this blog Simon has now joined 
Tas Ghost Hunting Society 

https://www.facebook.com/TGHS.Brad?hc_location=stream

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

All content on “Eidolon Paranormal & The Haunts of Adelaide” sites, blog and corresponding media pages (eg Facebook, twitter etc) is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any means or process without the written permission of the author. © 2012, 2013

All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.

Somphotos's used here on this site are sourced from The State Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.

The Hanging of Two Innocent Aboriginal Men in Victoria.

Bob & Jack

In 1842 two Aboriginal men said to be from Tasmania, were found guilty of killing two white whalers in Cape Patterson, Victoria.

The two men, known as Bob and Jack, were not allowed to give evidence in their own defence, or to call forward Aboriginal witness's, they were consequently found guilty by the white settlers jury, and sentenced to be hung at Gallows Hill.

Gallows Hill, stood outside the Old Melbourne Gaol, the gallows were two large wooden poles buried in the ground with a plank between them, and two pieces of wood, attached to the poles with hinges, for the prisoners to stand on, under the other unhinged end of the planks stood a pile of rubble, which kicked over, would release the planks and hang the prisoners.

On this occasion, the rubble did not fall far enough, and the two men hung, choking until an onlooker realised the problem and kicked the rest of the rubble out of the way, allowing the men to die.

Bob and Jack were removed from the gallows and their bodies were taken to the Melbourne cemetery, they were not allowed proper Aboriginal Rites nor Burial. The two men were buried in the northernmost section of the cemetery.

Today, Queen Victoria Market sits atop the old cemetery where it is believed hundreds, possibly thousands of people had been buried, Bob and Jack have been seen upon occasion in the Market and also are known to cause all kinds of mischief, no doubt they are restless due to not receiving their proper burial rites and the possibility of a miscarriage of justice from the white men jury.

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au