Bishop Exorcises Ghost

 

The Canberra Times reported in September 1952 that the Assistant Bishop of Perth, the Right Reverend C.E.S. Muschamp visited a house in Claremont, west of Perth, to ‘lay a ghost’ that had been harassing a family. Rev. Muschamp was assisted by the Rector of St Andrews Church of England, the Rev. A.F. Blain. The two men blessed the house while saying prayers and sprinkling holy water.

A female occupant of the house awoke one night to find the apparition of a lady standing next to her bed. The following night, the same apparition appeared. When the woman described the apparition to neighbours, they recognized it as a former owner. The former owner was a woman who died in hospital just after World War II. Her body was returned to the home, and a wake was held before her funeral.  Since her death, three other families had lived in the home, without incident.

The ghost reportedly was dressed normally and had grey hair and China blue eyes. The ghost was troubling one of the young children in the home, which led to the appeal to the church for an exorcism.[1]

Despite knowing who the lady was when alive, the Christian ministers claimed the lady was an ‘evil spirit’, and at ‘unrest.’ How horrendous for living relatives![2]

 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2024

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[1] 'Claremont Service to Exorcise 'Ghost'', The West Australian, (11 September 1952), p. 1. 

[2] 'Bishop Exorcises Ghost In Perth Home', The Canberra Times, (11 September 1952), p. 1.

Paranormal Investigators: Past & Present: Nelly Barr

Nelly Barr

W.A.P.E.

Hailing from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, today we introduce Nelly Barr of West Australian Paranormal Enthusiasts or WAPE for short.
Western Australia has a growing scene of paranormal investigation as we have seen through previous interviews in this series with other Western Australian teams.

Taken at Swanbourne Mental Asylum by Mandi

this photo has baffled the team for

sometime.

Nelly tells me she has always had an interest in the paranormal, and unlike many of the people I have interviewed, doesn’t have a story of a spirit manifesting that prompted her to follow a path of paranormal investigation, instead, Nelly tells me, it was always an interest in her life, for as long as she can remember.
Nelly also tells me of seeing 5 cent pieces anywhere and everywhere, which she believes is a sign from above.
 I have often been told that finding random coins (usually gold) in odd places and at random times is a sign of Angel's connecting with you. Nelly also as times hears voices and is at time's empathic, feeling emotions in certain locations.

This was taken at Fairbridge also, and that's my friend who could feel someone above her the whole time we were all in that building, the Bunbury Psychic said someone had hung themselves in that building and my friend felt it and in the pitch black called out to me to take the photo, and that's what I got.

Nelly officially declared her interested in 2011 becoming an investigator but has always visited spooky locations searching for answers of the unknown.


WAPE consists of three team members who are on an equal basis, with no-one an individual team leader. Andy, who is the team sceptic, likes to keep the other two members, Mandi & Nelly grounded.
The team have visited some fantastic locations, but Nelly lists Azelia Ley Homestead as her favourite location to investigate as there the team encountered shadow people, and Nelly had her hair pulled by an entity!

Taken by Mandi at

Maddington farmhouse

. Can you see the

little boys face?

Other locations the team were impressed with, include Fairbridge in Pinjarra, a sad feeling location, Fremantle Power Station, a place Nelly says feels awful, and a place she won't go back too, even in daylight and Greenough, a location that Nelly says “ has an awful vibe about it too, even driving through the town gives me the creeps and I feel unwell and have been overcome by negative emotions, its strange.”

Nelly went on to tell me a little about an investigation at Greenough:
“I was walking through Greenough Cemetery with my friend who suddenly jumped and said "You little bugger" I, of course, was like “what?”, She said "The little bugger pushed me off his grave" and sure enough when we read the stone it was a boy of about 8 years old”

WAPE often use their Spirit Box on investigations, and are often told to “Get out!” or “Run!”, which of course pushed one's adrenaline into overdrive, Nelly and the team also love when they get a name that they can then go and research and find facts on, which gives them a buzz and sense of satisfaction when they find the history matches what they are told.

WAPE has a collection of photos in their “photo vault” that of apparitions they have caught on camera, but Nelly says the scariest one they have was a daylight photo taken by Mandi whilst on holiday in Bendigo.
Although WAPE doesn't run any tours, they often invite people from their facebook group out on trips with them and have also held sleep overnights in Fairbridge. Plans are also in the works for Fremantle Gaol and a sleepover at Woodmans Point Quarantine Station

This is a team not searching for any limelights, just enjoying what they are enthusiastic about, they haven’t done any media, as they are not looking to be famous, they are just looking to be who they are, and enjoy what they do, which is very refreshing in this community where so many are trying to famous for the sake of being famous, without actually investigating the afterlife..

I took this at Fairbridge Village which is an old orphanage for children from the UK from the early 1900s I can see a little curly-haired boy with his arm up to his face in the window pane directly right of the flash, he is as plain as day to me but not to everyone. Matrixing?? not sure but his appearance did fit with what the well known Bunbury Psychic was seeing and feeling at the time. - Nelly

© 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.

Some photos 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 Haunting of the Cornwall Hotel – Boulder - Western Australia

The Cornwall Hotel – Boulder

Built in 1898 in the town of Boulder (which in 1989 became the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.) The Cornwall Hotel has a long and dark history, with links to riots, police murders and prostitution.

1926 saw the murder of Detective-sergeant Alexander Pitman and Inspector John Walsh. The two officers had recently caught out the owner and bartender, the two men, and another man, had been found with gold ore on their possession stolen from a local mine, of which the men were then smelting themselves and selling, it is through this was the motive behind the killing of the officers.

Although the killings, of which were gruesome, did not occur at the Hotel, it is still sometimes thought that the officers are haunting there as a reminder to the three men – the two officers were found in a local mine shaft just outside town, brutally and savagely murdered and dismembered.

Treffene and Coulter were duly hung for their crimes in Fremantle Gaol, Clarke, who turned in his friends (and did not take part in the murders), spent a little time in Gaol, he was pardoned for his part in the crime and received a reward for information.

Northern Star (Lismore, NSW  1876 - 1954),
 Thursday 1 July 1926, page 5

In 1934 the hotel was extensively damaged during local race riots, unemployment was coming down hard on the workers of the goldfields, who were finding it hard to make ends meet, their anger was aimed towards the harder working Italian and Slavic community that had sprung up around the mines.

The townsfolk took over the local trams, and went to Boulder, where they began attacking anyone of “foreign” appearance, the unruly mob began to set fires in any buildings that foreigners used, including the Cornwall hotel – after three days the riots simmered down, but the damage was done

1934 after riot damage

The hotel was repaired and opened again until 1976 when it closed down entirely, only to reopen in 1987 and be fully restored to its former glory.

The hotel has long been rumoured to be haunted, with multiple deaths, some natural some murder, happening in-between its walls.....

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

All content on “Eidolon Paranormal & The Haunts of Adelaide” site, 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.

Some photos 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 Alkimos - A Cursed Wreck.

The Alkimos 

Lying off the coast of Western Australia, close to Yanchep, is the ruins of a merchant sea vessel that many believe is not only haunted but cursed as well.

The Alkimos was originally named the Viggo Hansteen and was used by the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission. It was built during World War 2 and saw active service, often transporting troops and cargo across the Mediterranean, for 18 months.

In August 1944, whilst docked at Naples, Canadian radio operator, Maude Steane was shot, and killed by another crew member, who then went on to commit suicide.

After the war, the ship was sold to a Greek company who then renamed it Alkimos, a Greek God who represents strength.

For the next 20 years, the Alkimos crossed the globe as a cargo vessel. In 1963 the vessel was in Australian waters, leaving Western Australia when it hit a reef off the coast. It was towed back to Fremantle for repairs.

It was then to be towed by an ocean-going tug from Hong Kong, but only a few hours from the port, the tow line snapped, and with the currents, the ship was driven into the shore. It couldn't be floated, so it was filled with water to make sure it didn’t move with the tides, and an on-board caretaker was installed to look after the ship and make sure no-one came to salvage its steel.

In January 1964 the ship was successfully re-floated and was ready to be pulled by tugboat to Manila when local authorities seized the Tugboat! - The Alkimos was left anchored where it sat, eventually the anchor broke and the ship, again held by the current, was moved along the shore, this time onto the Eglinton Rocks near Yanchep.

The damage this time was far too great for the ship to be re-floated, and it was abandoned where it sat. Salvage workers were invited to scrap the vessel, and began to do so – during this time the ship was owned by 8 different people, who it is said suffered a curse from the ship, with almost all dying inexplicably or suffering money problems, or illness – all their problems would seem to be cured or solved as since as the ship was sold on to the next person.

The workers hired to salvage the ship soon left the vessel after hearing ghostly noises and witnessing tools move on their own, some workers even reported tools disappearing before their eyes, only to return at a later time. Almost all the workers would not leave their cabins during the salvage at night, as they claimed ghostly footsteps would follow them down the hallways, there were also claims of seeing a spectre dressed in oilskins, and all crew would report the smell of food cooking in the galley, only to find upon investigation, no-one there.

Rumour also suggests that during the construction of the shipmen working on the hull had been welded inside the vessel and left there to die, only to come back to haunt and curse the ship.

Claims about the ships hauntings and curse do not end with just being on board, it is said horses will not pass the wreck when walking on the beach.

Cray fishermen have reported seeing the oil-skinned clothed ghost standing aboard the ship, and when investigated find no-one there.

Perhaps one of the strangest occurrences is that of Herbert Voight. Voight was a long-distance swimmer who, it is said as part of his training, would tow behind him a plastic baby bath full of Emu Export Beer. Inexplicably during one of his training sessions, he disappeared, thought drowned. Later his skull found, washed up inside the body of the Alkimos.

The ship is often cited as cursed, with many visitors to the wreckage reporting injuries, near-drownings, engines stopping and bad things happening to them after leaving the wreckage, could this be over-active imagination, or is there really something to curse and haunting of the Alkimos?

The Alkimos, after over 40 years of sitting on the Western Australian coastline is now nothing more than a rusted hulk of a ship that often disappears under the high tide, it still sits there, of the coastline of Western Australia, a cursed monument to a decaying ship of death.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkimos_(ship)

http://www.jackwongsue.com/ghost_of_the_alkimos.htm



© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

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