Morpeth Ghosts

The village of Morpeth, just two hours north of Sydney, five minutes from Maitland and twenty minutes from Newcastle, Australia, is well known for its many ghosts.

The pretty and touristy village of Morpeth has over fifty coffee shops, antique stores, galleries, specialist stores, and probably even more spirits. I drove there several times for research, but the information was conflicting. To make matters more difficult, one of the former ghost tour operators (and there have been several) told me that if I mentioned his name, he would sue me. I was surprised as some people had told me he was charming. Others, however, told me he was only charming to paying customers. That tainted an otherwise enjoyable experience. One popular ghost tour run by a gentleman who did magic acts for school children before delving into history books to run the "ghost and history tour" had decided to shut down in part because a local church whose grounds were an important part of the tour requested that he take out (or confirm that he had) the standard public liability insurance.

One store owner told me that a little girl by the name of Alice drowned in the well behind Campbell's Store. Campbell’s Store is a two story stone and brick building built in 1835 by James Campbell. This store had been highly popular in its heyday, with people travelling for many miles to shop there. James Campbell even had his own coins minted in South Africa when coins in Australia became scarce. Today, Campbell’s Store is again a wonderful shopping destination with a wonderful cafe, craft shops, galleries and possibly, attendant ghosts.

Another gentleman told me that the child who drowned in the well was in fact a ten year boy named Stephen Cantwell who drowned in 1868. He escaped the notice of his mother Eliza (the wife of the publican, Pierce Cantwell) and went outside in a bad storm and fell in the well. The same gentleman told me that Eliza Cantwell has been seen looking out of the window of her nearby cottage, waiting for her son to return. However, another source told me that this was not in fact Eliza. The ghost of lady has been seen at the window, and does not look anything like the alleged photo of Eliza at the window (taken in broad daylight). Several people have reported that they had felt a child tugging at their clothes around the vicinity of the well. (Pic of well now covered with rocks  above and at right.) On the balcony of Campbell's Store (see below right pic) which opens onto some specialty shops, the ghost of a lady has been seen walking. I was told by several people that a former ghost tour operator had said that she is Elizabeth Campbell. I had difficulty tracking down Elizabeth Campbell. James Campbell's wife was Eliza, born Eliza Jane Nunn, and Eliza and James did live on the first floor of Campbell's Store. James Campbell and his wife moved to Sydney in 1858. James passed away in September, 1879, and Eliza (referred to in nearly everything I read simply as "Campbell's wife") passed away six months later. They are both buried in Waverley Cemetery in Sydney. I am not sure then it is likely that the ghost is Eliza Campbell, given that she died in Sydney and is not seen with her son, who died at birth.

I did find an Elizabeth Campbell in an advertisement in The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser of Saturday 24 July, 1886, thanking, in her capacity as Treasurer of the Maitland Benevolent Society, several people for their donations.

James' will left Campbell's Store to his two nephews, Thomas (married to Amelia Beatrice Emmaline Keen) and David. Twenty six years later, David's affairs were put into the hands of the Master of Lunacy, someone who was responsible for administering the estates of, according to the Act, "lunatics, minors and fools."

There are plenty more ghosts in Morpeth. On regular basis, a woman and a child have been seen in a clothing store, a boy moves shoes in an upstairs store, a woman appears in a store window, footsteps have been heard walking up stairs, and apparitions have been sighted in the vicinity of St James Church.

It's not surprising that Morpeth would be a hotbed of spirit activity, as it was one of the important ports in the early days of the colonies, being at the navigable head of the Hunter River. Until the late 1800s, Morpeth boasted eighteen inns, five railways stations and eight wharves, not to mention an iron foundry and flour mill, and two steamship companies.

The famous Australian companies who had their start in Morpeth include Arnott's Biscuits, the major transport company Brambles Limited, and the Soul Pattinson pharmaceutical chain.

The below photo is a portrait of Lieutenant Edward Charles Close, the founding father of Morpeth.

Lieutenant Close served in the Napoleonic Wars, and in 1811 during the battle of Albuera, he made a vow that to God that if he spared him, he would build a church in his honour. His diary records:

"In 1811 when Sergeant Meulen was wounded I went to take the colour. When I arrived at the centre a shell fell. We lay down till it burst. My head was between the legs of a soldier, and a soldier was on my right and left side, close against me.

"The shell burst, the man whose legs my head was protected by had half his head carried off; the other two were dreadfully mangled; the body of one was laid bare from his loins to his breast and both the legs of the other was carried off near the knee."

In 1837 Lieutenant Close erected St James Anglican Church at Morpeth to honour his vow. 
Left: memorial stone to Lieutenant Close.
Right: St James Church

 Below: the main street and the bridge over the Hunter River