The Haunted House at Roma.
I am not going to curdle your blood or harrow your feelings. I certainly have to tell about an apparition – the apparition of a woman – but she has proved herself a gentle spectre, and has as yet done no worse harm than to pull the blankets off a sleeping man. The facts of this narrative have been brought under the notice of His Honor Judge Paul, who intends to obtain the sworn affidavit of each witness, and to publish the evidence thus obtained, with his own conclusions respecting it, in some scientific journal of good repute. For the purposes of Figaro, I do not place the witnesses on oath, neither do I take down their ipissima verba, but conveniently run it into narrative form; nevertheless, every statement placed here is so placed on the utterances of the persons to whom the experiences actually occurred.
I imagine, then, a very ordinary 4-roomed house, with adjuncts, near the hospital, Roma, owned by Mr Bradheau, and who lived in it himself for about six months, some 14 years ago. There was a front sitting-room, and a front bedroom (hereafter called Bed-room No. 1); two back bedrooms (No. 2, just behind No. 1; and No.3 behind the sitting room); a hall between the two back bedrooms; a pantry attached to Bed-room No. 3; and a kitchen detached from the whole building. There were two tanks at the side of the house, outside the sitting-room. Such was Mr Bradheau’s house, in which he lived for some 6 months, and which he became anxious to let some 14 years ago. The house was a wooden one.
Mr Bradheau succeeded in finding a tenant in a Mr White, who lived alone in this house for about a month, after which he was joined by his wife and family. The first night of Mr White’s lonely occupancy he slept in Bedroom No. 1. Before going to bed, he was engaged in that apartment reading. About 12 o’clock midnight, he saw through the open door of bedroom No. 1, beyond which door there was no light, a woman standing. She was dressed in dark clothes, and her black hair was done up in loops. She was leaning forward and looking straight at Mr White. He started and she vanished immediately.
On the second night, Mr White saw the same woman in the same place and posture, but earlier in the night, it being about 11 o’clock. A few moments previous to seeing her, he had looked in the direction she chose for her manifestation, but had seen nothing. She vanished directly he looked at her.
Mr White several times saw the same apparition in the same place and in the same posture, during the month in which he resided alone at the house. There was always sufficient light to have seen a real person had a real person been standing where the apparition was. The figure of the woman stood out in and seemed to fill space and displace air, as if it were the figure of a physical body.
After a month of Mr White’s residence there, he was joined by his wife and six children, and a servant girl. These arrived at the house in the daytime. Mr White said nothing to them or to anyone about the spectral appearances. That very evening he went into Roma, and did not return home until between 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock p.m. No sooner had he entered the house and sat down than Mrs White asked – “Have you seen anything since you have been here?” He replied, “Why, what have you seen?” “I have saw the figure of a woman while I was sitting in the sitting-room,” she said. Asked what the figure was like, Mrs White gave a description of the apparition which her husband had several times seen. Mr White did not himself see it on that night.
Nothing strange was seen or heard in the house until about a fortnight afterwards. Then, one night, between 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock, as Mr and Mrs White were sitting in the sitting-room, the children being in bed, they heard a noise outside th ehouse, as if water were running from the taps of the tanks. Mr White, thinking the tank-taps had somehow got turned “on”, went outside and examined them, but found nothing the matter. This phenomenon of the noise of ‘escaping water’ from the tanks was afterwards heard many times by Mr White during his tenancy of the house, which covered a period of two years; and it was also heard by many other persons who at such times were always in the sitting-room. No water ever actually escaped from the taps on these occasions.
There were several other mysterious noises in the house at times. Locked doors, though they never moved, would be heard as if swinging open and banging to. Sometimes would be heard noises on the roof, as of the scrambling of birds; or the sounds made by parrots and cockatoos. Mr White often rushed out to look at the roof, but could never see anything there. Mr White frequently heard the noise as of a chain being dragged underneath the house, which was built on blocks. He aso saw the apparition many times, but always from the bedroom and in the position described as that of its first appearance. Mrs White also saw the spectre several times; but the husband and wife never saw it at one and the same time. Perhaps that is because they never happened to be looking at the exact favourite spot at the same time.
The servant girl also stated that she saw the ghost, but Mr White is not certain where the girl said she saw it. The girl, however, had to permitted to sleep away from the house, as she refused to sleep there any more.
One night, in Mr White’s absence, a Mrs Rohan, who visited Mrs White, saw the ghost.
On another evening, when Mr White was absent, a Mr Hewitt, a dentist, was using the sitting-room. When Mr White returned, Mr Hewitt said – “You’ve got some funny companions in the house,” and told Mr White he had seen an apparition, describing the woman whose figure was becoming familiar by that time. Mr White acknowledged to Mr Hewitt that he had seen the woman so described several times.
The Smith family – squatters living at Stuart’s Creek, near Roma – also saw the spirit. They had not been told of the previous appearances. Mrs Eliza Smith was with Mrs White when she saw and described the apparition accurately enough for identification. On the same night, Alfred Smith was walking home with Mr White, when a startling experience befell both men. When about 40 yards or 50 yards from the house, both men suddenly found themselves enveloped in smoke and fire which spread upwards from the ground just under and in front of their feet. There was no smell, no sound, no heat, and the apparent flames and smoke disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. In reply to Judge Paul, Mr White declares that there was no “diffused light” in connection with this phenomenon. Mr White mentioned the occurrence directly he and Mr Alfred Smith got into the house. Mr Alfred Smith recollects the incident clearly.
Hawtrey White, son of Mr White, and then about 8 years or 9 years old, saw the form of the woman in the usual place and posture, but he was himself in the sitting-room. He had not heard of the appearances before.
None of Mr White’s children were told by the parents of the mysterious sights; yet they all saw the apparition. Once, one of the children saw the form of a woman in Bedroom No. 1, and rushed out of the room in alarm.
Not a green thing, not a blade of grass would grow within a radius of 30 or 40 yards of the house, although the soil appeared to be perfectly good.
Mr White left the house about the year 1877, and was succeeded in its tenancy by Mrs Cartwright, to whom the house was let by Mr Gaynor, an employee in the Government service. Some time after, Mr White had vacated the house, Mr Gaynor asked him if he had ever heard any strange noises in it. “Why?” asked White. “Mrs Cartwright says it is haunted,” exclaimed Gaynor, “and will not live in it.”
“What did she hear?” enquired White. “Her husband and herself went to bed, after having locked up the house,” pursued Mr Gaynor, “and were wakened out of their sleep by hearing doors slammed. Mr Cartwright got up but found all the doors locked.”
After this, the house very naturally acquired an evil reputation, and bore the name of being haunted. Mr White left Roma several years ago, and heard nothing more about the house until a couple of months ago – April, 1889.
In April last, Hawtrey White, the son, was in Roma. Curiosity prompted him to go out to the old spot in order to view his past home. He found that the house had been pulled down, but some fencing served to indicate its former site. Hawtrey White came across a young man there, with a swag, and the two talked as meeting bushmen will. Then the young man told young White a strange story.
“I have been sleeping in a tent pitched on the site of this house you say you lived in, but I wouldn’t sleep there again for £5 a night. The very first night, I suddenly woke up, shivering with cold. My blankets were off me, and I pulled them over me again. Nothing further happened that night. On the second night, I was again awakened with the cold feeling, and found the blankets were once more off me. I pulled the blankets on to the bunk again, and fastened them with wire to the bunk to keep them secure. I was just dozing off again, when I felt the blankets being gently moved. I opened my eyes and saw the figure of a woman standing at the foot of my bed and holding the bedclothes. There was no light in the tent, but the fire at its entrance was glowing, and by its light I could see the woman distinctly. She was an elderly-looking, old-fashioned-looking woman. Her hair was done over her ears. I was frightened and put my hands to my eyes. As I did so the woman disappeared.
“Before going to my tent on the third night, I told my two nights’ previous experiences to a friend in Roma, and this friend agreed to come and stay in the tent with me during the night. The arrangement was that my friend was to sit in a corner of the tent and watch. Both of us tried to keep awake. I fell asleep, however, and was again awakened by a feeling of cold, and found the blankets once more off the bed. My friend was fast asleep, and I awoke him, showing him the blankets off the bed. My friend told me to go to sleep again and he would watch. I did so. Later on, I was awakened by my friend and the blankets were again off. My friend told me that, as I lay asleep, he saw a woman come to my bed and pull off the clothes. He was so frightened that he could not speak, but watched the woman closely. As soon as the clothes were off, she vanished. Then he was able to awake me.”
Another witness to whom I am referred as being likely to give evidence regarding this female ghost is Mrs Hogan.
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Such is the tale told of apparitions seen near Roma by several witnesses now living. What do you think of it? A spiritualist would probably say that here is an unquiet, disembodied spirit trying very hard to run across a good medium, in order to communicate some important intelligence to the material world. A romancist would weave a tragedy possibly around this female wraith, who, however, does not seem to have any more serious earthly materialisation to do than to remove the bedclothes from the sleeping form of a young swagman. Certainly there are the mysterious noises from the tanks and on the roof to work on, but the tragedy would lack horrors unless, indeed, an artist hand worked up the fire and smoke phenomenon, and gave some demoniacal reason for the refusal of vegetation to grow on the “blasted heath” around the dwelling.
Seriously speaking – The witnesses are of good repute and truthful. The appearances actually shaped themselves to the visions of many witnesses. The noises were undoubtedly heard by several distinct parties. What theory is sufficient to satisfactorily account for all these phenomena?
Queensland Figaro and Punch, 22nd June 1889.
Roma ghost story resurrected.
Most country towns, in the course of their history, receive advertisement of varied character, and in this respect Roma has had quite its share of favourable and unfavourable publicity. Many residents of today can remember when the town and suburbs were celebrated for the number of goats roaming the streets and public offices, etc., and it seems that half a century ago the Queen City of the West was famous for its ghost. Neither has been in evidence in reent years, but an early ghost story, resurrected by J.J. Stewart, and published in February issue of the “Red Comb Bulletin,” may be of interest to readers. Some of our old identities may have recollections of this supernatural happening.
The outback has more than its share of ghost stories. There are tales in plenty of haunted billabongs and of ghostly stockmen who ride the plains at midnight. Here is a story with a difference, carrying with it a flavour of Barrie’s “Mary Rose.” Back in the seventies of last century on a hill just outside the West Queensland town of Roma, there was a four-roomed weatherboard cottage, occupied by a carpenter and his wife. Apparently they were a strange couple. Of him no account survives, but it is said she was a woman who attracted the attention of all who saw her. She was always dressed in an old-fashioned grey frock, a three-cornered shawl pulled tightly around her shoulders. They say she had a prim, foreign air and spoke to no-one.
In time the carpenter and his wife moved on to other parts unknown. Next to occupy the cottage was the family of Mr L.C. Johnson, a saddler, in business in Roma. They were never comfortable all the time they lived there. There was a peculiar atmosphere in the cottage on dark nights, as though there was a presence that moved about, silent and unseen. Sometimes, when the others were asleep, one of the family would awaken and hear the tank tap running. Anybody who has lived in the west will realise how important it is to conserve the tank water, and, naturally enough, whoever heard the running water would jump out of bed and turn off the tap. The tap was always found to be turned off and bone dry.
The eldest girl of the family, Tilly, fell ill and took to her bed. One morning she awakened in great excitement. During the night, she declared, she had found a little woman, dressed in an old fashioned grey frock, with a shawl around her shoulders, standing at the foot of the bed. This woman had spoken to her, urging her to remove her bandages if she wanted to be well again. “You will soon be well,” the woman had said, “You will soon be well.” That day Tilly lapsed into a coma, and in a few days she was dead.
Some time later, on a moonlit night, a young Roma chemist, who was courting one of the girls, went out to visit the family. He had said good bye and was walking away from the cottage, when he felt impelled to look back over his shoulder. Standing in the moonlight by the cottage, staring at him with inscrutable eyes, was the woman in grey. With a shriek, he turned and ran, cannoned into a barbed wire fence, scrambled to his feet, and ran on. In faster time than he had ever reached there with any of his prescriptions, the young chemist arrived at the hospital, where he immediately fell into a swoon.
Eventually, the cottage was pulled down and re-erected in the town. On the spot where it had stood a bare patch remained, and here, several months later, two swagmen decided to camp. They were strangers to the district, and knew nothing of the stories associated with this place. During the night one of them awakened as someone gently pulled down his blankets. Looking out of the tent, he saw a small woman dressed in a grey frock, just moving away. He wakened his mate, and they ran out of the tent. It was a bright moonlit night, and from where they stood on the top of the hill they could see the country for miles around. All was quiet and still, with not a soul in sight. His mate gave the seer a piece of his mind, and then they returned to the tent. The following night the other swagman was disturbed in a similar manner. Starting up, he saw the woman in grey peering at him through the open flaps of the tent. For the rest of the night neither of them slept a wink. At daybreak they rolled their swags and went into Roma, and at the hotel, where they had gone in search of company, they told their story.
That started a spate of stories about the cottage on the hill. Among the listeners was Judge Paul, of the Supreme Court of Queensland. He was sufficiently interested to investigate, and the result of his investigations he published in the Queensland “Figaro” of that time. Judge Paul had to confess that he could neither prove nor disprove that the ghost of a woman in grey had ever appeared at the cottage on the hill. But has anyone, anywhere, ever proved or disproved the existence of a ghost?
Western Star and Roma Advertiser, 8th March 1940.