The very peculiar experiences of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Oliver Lodge, and other notabilities, in their psychical research activities, prompt me to write of a remarkable incident that occurred nearer home, and which I am sure will prove of interest to readers of this journal.
The experience befell Mr. Frank Christie, a well known resident of Lower Portland, and a man (as his acquaintances will readily testify) by no means given to romancing or the inventing of hair-raising ghost yarns. Also, it may here be noted, he has never at any time interested himself in the smallest degree in psychical research or spiritualistic phenomena, having an open or neutral mind on those and kindred subjects.
Briefly, the incident is as follows: -
One night last September, Mr. Christie, being short of tobacco and matches, decided to walk down to the mouth of the Colo River (distant a mile or a little over from his residence) and procure stock from the Wiseman's Ferry trading boat on her way up the Colo. The night was dark, the sky being overcast with black clouds.
When within a few yards of the wharf at the mouth of the Colo, where the river steamers berth, Mr. Christie noticed, lying by the side of the Government road leading to the wharf, a large, black sort of an object with a patch of white material on either side of it, which he took to be a couple of sheets of loose newspaper.
Not stopping to examine the object closely, he passed on to the trading boat - as he thought - but, as it happened, the boat did not reach Colo on this particular night. Thereupon Mr. Christie retraced his steps, when he noticed the black object between the patches of white material still by the roadside. He looked at it casually, passed on, and, curiosity getting the better of him, returned for a closer view.
The black object was indistinct in the dark, but, from what he could see of it, it resembled a human being lying prostrate, with its head between its arm. The two white patches had a glossy and shining appearance in the dark, and it was easy to see they were not sheets of paper as he had at first proposed.
Mr. Christie stooped over to make a closer examination, at the same time giving a short, sharp whistle.
Commotion followed. The two white objects bowled away in the dark with a loud, humming sound; this was followed by a struggling sort of noise, as though someone was making violent efforts to rise. The black object vanished, and the next thing the startled Mr. Christie realised was that the figure of a woman was standing alongside him in the gloom.
There was a peculiar radiance about her form, and Mr. Christie says he could fairly count the stitches in her dress, which appeared to be a grey sort of costume. Her face and features, however, were not so easily discernible, but, from what he could see, it appeared to be the spirit of quite a young woman.
Nonplussed (sic) for the moment, he soon collected his thoughts, and, as the spirit walked a couple of paces towards a gate on the roadside, he started to walk for home. To his consternation, however, she turned and followed him, walking by his side for a dozen yards or more.
Having no desire for such ghostly company on his road home, Mr. Christie halted and let the supernatural visitor go on ahead. She went on several yards further, and disappeared in the gloom with the same peculiar struggling sort of noise.
The incident happened between 8 and 9 o'clock, and, it may be added, the apparition disappeared in close proximity to some ancient graves, where the remains of some members of one of the old pioneer families lie. There is no trace of the graves to be seen now, but their locality is known to old hands.
One other matter may be mentioned. When going the same road, either before or since the incident above related, Mr. Christie has been accompanied by a dog. On this particular night, the canine went part of the way only. The thought suggests itself, is it possible the dog scented something uncanny about to happen, and, with the dread on the supernatural, held back? Be that as it may, the incident is related exactly as it happened, and the writer does not pretend to offer any explanation of this remarkable occurrence.
(Windsor and Richmond Gazette - 25th June, 1920)
On June 25 last the "Gazette" published, under the heading "The Woman in Grey", a ghost story from Lower Portland, from the pen of a versatile writer in that locality. The same story was served in a recent edition of the "Sunday Times" under the above headings, and in a very interesting style. We give it below : -
There is a lady ghost at Lower Portland, a little township on the Hawkesbury River, a few miles from Windsor. The ghost hasn't been captured yet, and up to the time this edition went to press she hadn't made any remarks worth recording. But she has been seen; she walked and she made a "struggling sort of noise".
"It is useless", says Bernard Shaw, "to mince matters in dealing with ghost stories - the existence of a liar is more probable than the existence of a ghost." But it was never the Shawian way to spoil a good saying for the sake of being merciful, or merely even accurate.
The person who sees, or thinks he sees, a ghost, and says afterwards that he has seen one, is not necessarily a liar. There are such things as subliminal indications of thought or tendency or attitude. Dr. Joseph Jastrow , Professor of Psychology at Wisconsin University, describes in this way what he terms "the most conspicuous, the most telling, of the classes of evidence which have made recent converts to spiritualism among the educated and critically minded."
***************
Completely unrelated to the above articles, as can be seen from the dates, are the following items of correspondence to the editor of the Windsor and Richmond Gazette.
Sir, - ...The ghost of Lower Portland, by the way, has been captured. This will be a great relief to the young men who have been so scared. To the great surprise of all, the ghost turned out to be an overgrown monkey, and he is now consigned to a well-known agent in Sydney. Yours, &c., A River Resident. (4th May, 1895) Sir, - ...It seems strange to me that "A River Resident" appears to be the only person who appears to know about it being captured and consigned to a Sydney Agent. ...I shall take no notice of any further correspondence from "A River Resident." -
Yours, &c., A Lower Portland Correspondent. (11th May, 1895)
The Lower Portland ghost story published in the "Gazette" has been widely discussed, and a number of similar yarns have reached us. Here is one taken from the "Tamworth Observer" ten years ago, the clipping being handed to us by Mr. A. Castle, of Ebenezer ; -
The fact that a murder was committed near Gurley Point on the Namoi River some time ago, has a terrifying effect upon residents of the locality. Many people are suffering from hallucinations, and declare that at nightfall all animals leave the place. A well known resident of Narrabri, who, unknowingly, camped near the scene of the tragedy asserts that his horse became exceedingly restless and eventually broke away. He was unable to sleep, and was at a loss to account for his remarkable experiences. On a subsequent occasion his horses absolutely refused to be driven to the spot. Two other settlers prepared for a day's fishing on the river, and, although their horses carried them safely to the camping ground, the animals became terror-stricken at dusk, and after causing a great deal of damage, decamped. The fact that the ground is still quite bare while grass is growing luxuriantly all over the surrounding country, is also causing a good deal of uneasiness among the credulous. Not a blade of grass, it is asserted, has grown on the spot since the day of the tragedy. Dozens of strangers to the district, who were unaware of the history of the place, have declared that they passed through distressing and disturbing experiences at night without apparent cause, and in each the campers moved their quarters.
Quite recently a man and his wife camped near the spot, and during the night the woman raved, asserting that she was struggling in a sea of blood. Assistance was summoned, and it was not until the arrival of a settler that the couple learned that a tragedy had occurred there some months previously. After leaving the place, the woman gradually recovered her reason, but the horses had made off . Another resident of Narrabri, who states that he did not know the scene of the murder, camped for one night near the place, and on his return to the township declared that his experiences had been terrifying. All night long he said some unseen power was pulling at the bed clothes, the river itself was in an angry mood, near the spot where the murdered man's body was discovered.
(Windsor and Richmond Gazette - 22nd October, 1920)
[ Back to Hawkesbury Historical Society's Home Page ]