Who was the Macquarie Fields Train Station Ghost?

There's been a lot in the local press in the last week about the ghostly happenings at Macquarie Fields train station. If you haven't read anything about this, here is a link to the Macarthur Chronicle article: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/macarthur/teenage-ghost-girl-haunts-commuters-at-macquarie-fields-railway-station/news-story/6b2b9fb22747a927024aab552d6992c6

The article mentions a possible explanation for the spooky noises and the sightings of a 'young girl wearing dancing clothes, covered in what looked to be blood in her chest area'. The article describes how an Emily Hay Gengeson was reportedly hit by a train and killed along the railway line at Macquarie Fields.

I thought I would do a bit of investigating to find out more about the accident and Emily Hay Gengeson. My research yielded some fascinating results. The young girl was actually a 42 year old woman named Emily Hay Georgenson. She was killed on the Saturday afternoon of 7 July, 1906. Newspaper reports provide a gruesome description of what happened. The Cumberland Argus described how "an unknown woman was run over and killed near Macquarie Fields platform on Saturday afternoon by the train reaching Liverpool at 3.53pm. The line there is a straight down-grade from Ingleburn, and the train, which does not stop before it reaches Liverpool, was travelling with considerable speed. When near the platform, the driver noticed the woman attempt to cross in front of the engine, too near to avert the accident, and the woman was knocked down and run over and literally cut to pieces."

Before the accident, Emily had recently been a patient at a private hospital at Wahroonga. Before that, she had been living with her father, Gifford Georgenson at Darlinghurst. She had been in bad health for a number of months. The reports described how she had been suffering from sleeplessness and melancholia. Her insomnia was so bad that she had to be moved to the hospital or 'lunatic asylum' as some newspapers referred to it as.

On the Saturday, the day of her death, she went to Glenfield to visit some friends. A nurse was sent to be in charge of her and accompany her by rail to Glenfield. Emily required constant watching as she might do an injury to herself. She appeared normal on the train, but after they alighted at Glenfield and the train was taking off again, Emily jumped back on. Her nurse then drove to Ingleburn after her, but Emily had got off at Macquarie Fields. A driver of a train coming from Campbelltown that was approaching Macquarie Fields station saw a woman come out of a tool shed and walk towards the line and on to it. She threw herself down on her knees and the train passed over her.

The coroner ruled that it was not an accidental stumble and that Emily had committed suicide by throwing herself in front of the train.

Emily Hay Georgenson was born on 19 June, 1864 at Lewick, Shetland Islands in Scotland. Her parents were Jean and Gifford Duncan Georgenson. The family, including seven other siblings, came to Australia on 10 May, 1879 when Emily was 14. Gifford was a shipmaster and died at Mosman in 1912.

I'd like to do some more research on Emily. It would be interesting to know where she is buried and perhaps find a photograph of her. Stay tuned for further updates on this blog post.

I wonder, is it Emily's faint crying that can be heard on the breeze at Macquarie Fields station late at night? Perhaps they are cries of a tortured soul that will hopefully one day find everlasting peace....

Written by Andrew Allen

Update: Emily Georgenson was buried at Waverley Cemetery in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

The Joiner's Arms

I love the photograph above. The rambling old building is the Joiner's Arms Inn and was owned by Campbelltown pioneer Michael Byrne. He held the license from the 1830s to at least the 1860s. He's named as the licensee in an 1867 advertisement for the inn. The ad claimed that the Joiner's Arms is the oldest hotel in Campbelltown.

The Joiner's Arms was weatherboard and was surrounded by ten acres. At one stage it had five bedrooms, three parlours, detached laundry and kitchen, a bar and a taproom.

Where was it? An 1840 map marked the inn on the western side of Queen Street at the southern end of town. However another map drawn in 1842 showed the Joiner's Arms on the corner of the Old Menangle Road and Narellan Road. Emily Cottage occupied this position and it may have been one of the outbuildings on the ten acres around the inn. Further research supports the inn located where the car park for the Campbelltown Catholic Club is next to the grounds surrounding Emily Cottage.

I am unable to determine when the inn was demolished. The date provided for the photograph indicates that it was still standing around 1916.

The inn, like many of the day, was the location for a number of coronial inquests. One such inquest was for a 17 year old girl who must have lived very near the inn as the newspaper reports of the day give her address as the junction of Menangle (Old Menangle today) Road and Camden Road. In the winter of 1860 Catherine Hackett was burnt to death by her clothes catching fire. She was standing with her back to the fire and after turning suddenly, her clothes came in contact with the fire and instantly ignited. She ran to a neighbouring house where the flames were extinguished, but not before she was dreadfully burned from head to feet. She died about 13 hours later the next morning.

Despite the parents unimaginable grief, I was amazed to read what the coroner had to say about them. The coroner, on request of the jury, was asked to reprimand the father. He not only censured him on this occasion for his conduct but for the "dissolute and improper way in which both he and his wife have for years conducted themselves." The Sydney Morning Herald didn't hold back either by writing that the unfortunate girl was rescued from a life of shame. Certainly appears harsh considering the parents mourning but perhaps it was justified.

Written by Andrew Allen

A 'Stormy' Relationship

 

"The Green" Campbelltown where Father Therry first said Mass in 1822

September 1st, 1822, was a day of great excitement for the Roman Catholics of the Airds District, for Father Therry was to celebrate the first Roman Catholic Mass in Campbelltown. It was to be celebrated on "The Green", an area now known as Mawson Park. Unfortunately for Father Therry and his congregation, a sudden rainstorm forced a change of plans. The deluge meant that a quick alternative had to be found. The wet and uncomfortable gathering of mud-spattered settlers begged Father Therry not to abandon his Mass and convinced him that holding it in the shell of the newly built Anglican church was the best solution. At this time the Anglican church was roofed, but the interior unfinished.

The Reverend Thomas Reddall was appointed Clergyman of the area in May of 1821 and was the first incumbent at St Peters. The church was the first, and for many years the only, building within the township. It was completed in 1823 and still stands today.

Reverend Reddall was infuriated over Father Therry's actions. Reddall complained to the Governor who in turn reprimanded Father Therry. The unrepentant Irishman replied that his actions only bestowed honour on the new St Peter's church.

It seems relations between the two were not strained for too long. Not long after Christian charity prevailed and there was a donation by Reddall towards the building of a Catholic Church in the town. Perhaps Reverend Reddall had thought more about the situation and realized that they were simply taking shelter from a deluge and that he might've been forced to take the same actions.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

St John the Evangelist Parish Campbelltown- 150 years, 1984

LAWRENCE, Richard 1985
Why Campbelltown?

LISTON, Carol 1988
The Bicentennial History of Campbelltown

TIPPING, Reverend A.C. 1963
The Parish Church of St Peter, Campbelltown

Cemetery Walking Tours and Queen Street Display

Check out what the library's planning for the Heritage Festival this year! We will celebrate Campbelltown’s extraordinary past with walking tours of two local cemeteries and revisit historic Queen Street through a photographic display at HJ Daley Library, as part of the 2016 National Trust Heritage Festival, from 16 April to 29 May. 

 

Take a guided walk through St David’s Presbyterian Cemetery on 4 May or the Methodist Congregational Cemetery on 12 May, and be amazed as I recount fascinating facts and quirky stories about Campbelltown’s most famous former citizens. Both tours run from 11am to noon and are free, but bookings are essential on 4645 4436. 

Or re-live the past and take a nostalgic ‘stroll’ down the Queen Street of days gone by, as HJ Daley Library presents the history of Campbelltown’s main street in a photographic display, highlighting businesses from the town’s past. ‘Rediscover Queen Street’ will be on display at HJ Daley Library from 26 April to 26 May.