Entally & Its People

1796 - 1842

Thomas II was born in 1796 on the family farm at Reibycroft on the Hawkesbury River, Sydney, to parents Thomas and Mary Reibey. Today, Thomas II is overshadowed by his now famous mother, Mary Reibey.

From age fourteen, following in his father’s footsteps, he was sent to sea on his mother’s ship, John Palmer, which traded between Van Diemen’s Land and Sydney. For many years, the small settlement in New South Wales was hemmed in by the Blue Mountains, limiting the development of agriculture and animal husbandry until the crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1815. Mary capitalised on this situation and set up a trade route between Van Diemen’s Land and Sydney. By 1815, Thomas II had become captain of the John Palmer. After his marriage to Richarda Allen on 28 May 1817, he finally decided to make their permanent home in Van Diemen’s Land (now called Tasmania).

For a time they were living at 6 William Street, Launceston, while they were waiting for Entally House to be built on a 300 acre land grant that had previously been granted to his uncle, Charles Foster. Building of Entally House began in 1819, by a loan gang of one hundred convicts which were housed in an underground cellar at night to prevent them escaping into the bush. There were only seven hundred people living in and around Launceston at this time. In the same year, the 1819 Cornwall Landholders Muster showed that Thomas II, together with his mother Mary, had 5 horses, 92 cattle and 600 sheep on property with 2,430 acres of pasture and 200 acres of wheat.

Thomas II had named his property Entally after his family home in Sydney- a property that Mary had leased to the Bank of New South Wales (now called Westpac) in 1817. Entally is in a suburb in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) where his father, Thomas I, was shipwrecked.

Entally is also the name given to a type of palm that is native to Kolkata - the Hinally Tree.

As Launceston had no banks, when the family moved into the house their money was probably kept in a chest. Thomas worked to establish the Cornwell Bank in Launceston in 1828, which was absorbed by the Bank of Australasia in 1835. He was one of its first company directors.

Thomas II formally announced his partnership with his brother, James Reibey, in 1820 in the Hobart Gazette, as traders trading under the name Thomas Reibey & Co, General Agents & Commission Agents in Launceston. By 1823, the Reibey brothers built one of Launceston’s first wharves. Their company owned half the land upon which Boag’s Brewery now stands.

As well as trading, Thomas II was selling produce from his Entally property locally, beginning with supplying meat to the Government at Port Dalrymple (now known as Launceston) from 1820. By 1829, his breed of Devon Cattle (bred both for their milk and meat), had become the largest dairy herd in Van Diemen’s Land.

Following in his mother’s footsteps for the development of education and his growing family, Thomas II looked to Van Diemen’s Land’s future, becoming a founding member of the Cornwell Collegiate Association, who aimed to establish secondary education in the north of the state in 1826.

Thomas II unfortunately died suddenly, on 3 October 1842 at Entally, and is buried in the Christ Church Cemetery at Longford, together with eight other family members in a family crypt. His obituary notes that he was one of the community’s ‘brightest ornaments, a most liberal and warm hearted leader whose princely fortune was expended with a munificent and unsparing hand for the promotion of public good’.

The probate of Thomas Reibey II stated that his assets ‘did not exceed in value the sum of twelve thousand, four hundred pounds’. In his will he leaves his wife, Richarda, an annuity of £300, and to his children, Mary, Thomas III and James upon reaching the age of twenty-one, that his property

1821 - 1912

Thomas III was born in Launceston to Thomas II & Richarda Reibey (nee Allen), as grandson of Mary Reibey, on 24 September 1821. Thomas III was baptised at St John’s Anglican Church in Launceston by the Reverend John Youl. Thomas III was one of four children born to Thomas II and Richarda Reibey.

Initially, Thomas III, together with his brother James and his sister Mary, were home schooled by their mother, Richarda. But even from an early age, he preferred to go off and play with the aboriginal Pawlonia People on the hill behind Entally House. Richarda was well qualified to teach her children as, prior to her marriage, Richarda and her step-sister, Mary Sheldon Collicott, opened a school called The Academy in Pitt Street, Sydney. Thomas III and his brother James were sent off to the Norfolk Plains Academy (which changed its name to the Longford Hall Academy in 1836) at a cost of £10 per annum, run by Mr Ellison.

During the nineteen century, wealthy Australian landowners believed that their sons should be sent to England to further their education, to train them for their future careers as adults. Girls were expected to marry well.

With their daughter now married to Charles Arthur, the nephew of Governor Arthur, in 1838, Thomas III’s parents took their sons to England. Initially, the young Thomas III & James were placed at a school in London. As this expensive school catered for much younger boys, upon advice from his son-in-law Charles Arthur (whose family lived in Devon), Thomas II then placed them with Reverend Barnes where they received tuition with four other boys, at a cost of one hundred and twenty guineas each, per annum. Thomas III & James then studied at Trinity College, Oxford, where they matriculated on 30 May 1840. In 1841, both boys continued their studies at university level at Trinity to train as ministers. Thomas never gained his university degree.

On 28 October 1842 at Plymouth, Thomas III married his ‘little Kate’, a Catherine Macdonald Kyle. At the time of their marriage Catherine’s father had become Mayor of Inveresk. Thomas III and his new bride returned to Entally in 1843, and took it over upon his father’s death. In the same year, he completed his father’s project of building a bridge across the South Esk River where he charged a toll for its use to repay his debt. However, he continued to charge the toll long after the debt was repaid.

Although Thomas III had not gained a Ministerial Degree, he still wished to work as a minister. He approached Bishop Nixon with this request, stating that he did not require a salary for his services as the Entally Estate could amply support his needs. In 1844, Thomas III was too young to be ordained into the Church of England. Bishop Nixon granted him a special licence to practice as a minister.

Thomas III began his ministry in Carrick and Hadspen. There was no church in Carrick at this time, so Thomas III held services in a blacksmith’s shop. The following year, he moved his church services to a brick school-house on Reibey land at Carrick. Thomas III had the school house renovated into a church at a personal cost of several hundred pounds. A castellated bell tower was later added to the Carrick Church, and Thomas ordered a peal of bells from England for Carrick Church at his own expense of £300.

Thomas III’s wife, Catherine, supported her husband’s ministry by playing the organ during services. Her little dog Toby used to hide under her skirts while she played the organ. Thomas III was formally ordained by Bishop Nixon on Tuesday 28 October 1845 at the Holy Trinity Church in Launceston. He was the first Tasmanian-born parson to be ordained into the Church of England.

In his entire ministerial career from 1844 to 1870, Thomas III drew no stipend for his work. He was a very popular cleric and, during his ministry at Holy Trinity in Launceston, the congregation increased. A local newspaper quotes ‘That the pastoral and generally useful talents of Mr Reibey should have produced an over-flowing Church is no more than was to be expected’.

Thomas took two years away from his ministry in 1853, honouring a promise that he had made to his wife to return to England after ten years of marriage. Whilst in England, he received an honorary MA Lambeth Degree from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In May 1856, Thomas III was appointed Archdeacon of Launceston, and held this position for thirteen years. In his role as Arch-deacon, Thomas III hosted the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to Northern Tasmania. On 17 January 1868, the Duke and Thomas III attended a luncheon at Woolmers Estate, Longford.

Thomas III’s love of the traditional English fox hunt that began as a distraction from his ministerial studies, continued throughout his life - a love of this sport that he shared with his friend, Sir Richard Dry of Quamby Estate. Needing hunting dogs for this sport, Thomas III in 1851, imported a brace of prize setters from the late Sir Eardley Wilmbt’s kennel. In 1856, Governor Charles du Cane gave him the ‘slut’ of the litter - an Irish Setter valued at £70. This setter was from setters imported by Sir Richard Dry and considered of a very pure pedigree. They used their dogs to hunt deer and kangaroo. Thomas III also had a wily pet deer that he would use to lay a scent trail for the hounds to follow.

Thomas III’s sporting interests often conflicted with the Anglican doctrine. One day, Bishop Nixon arrived at Entally when Thomas III was dressed for the hunt. Hiding in his bed, he instructed his servant to tell the bishop that he couldn’t see him as he had developed scarlet fever.

Scandal was common in the 1860’s, and Thomas III was no exception to this. He was accused of ‘diverting a lady’s affection’ in 1868, and unsuccessfully sued his accuser, Mr Bloomfield, for libel in 1870. With the ensuing scandal he resigned from the Anglican ministry and retired to private life at Entally. In his defence, an anonymous writer wrote to the Mercury stating, ‘..those who have known Archdeacon Reibey the longest…cannot bring themselves to credit the evil things laid to his charge….from his early manhood to his mature age, he has been a benefactor, and a self-denying faithful servant of the church to an extent unequaled by any other man in Tasmania, or probably in any other of the Colonies; and we have already seen that during the same time he has been a kind and respected landlord, a good and honoured master, a trusted and faithful friend’. Due to the erupting scandal, Thomas III withdrew his financial support for the building the Anglican Church at Hadspen. The church became known as ‘the Reibey Ruin’, and was left unfinished for over 100 years.

Thomas III’s friends persuaded him to return to public life by entering politics. A vacancy had occurred in the constituency of Westbury with the retirement of John Milliar in 1874. Thomas III won the election with a resounding victory, and thus, his political career was born. Thomas III was the sitting member for the constituency of Westbury from 1874 until his retirement from politics in 1903. During his entire political career, only two candidates ever stood against him in the State Elections. During Thomas III’s time in politics, he had a progressive public works policy, including the purchase of the privately-owned railways.

Thomas III was Premier of Tasmania for a year from July 1876 - August 1877. In December 1878, he was both the leader of the opposition and Colonial Secretary in the W.L. Crowther ministry until October 1879. In 1887 - 1891, Thomas III was elected Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. At this time it was said: ‘Few prominent public men are more widely known and respected than the Honorable Thomas Reibey, the “Squire of Entally”, who, after a long political career, now wears the role of Speaker of the House of Assembly’.

Thomas had, on several occasions, been offered a knighthood but had refused this honour.

Following Thomas III’s retirement from politics in 1903, he confined his interests to country pursuits for the remainder of his life. On 24 October of that year, Thomas III was made a Justice of the Peace at an Executive Council Meeting in Hobart. In addition, as President of the Northern Agricultural Society, he worked to improve agriculture in Northern Tasmania.

On the 10 February 1912, Thomas III died at Entally. His body lay in the Entally Chapel until the burial, where he was buried beside his wife Catherine, behind the half-finished Anglican Church in Hadspen. There were no children of the marriage. Thomas III left Entally Estate to his nephew, Thomas Reibey Arthur.

His death removed one of the oldest and most interesting personages in Australian clerical, political and sporting circles. The Mercury wrote: ‘Personally, Mr Reibey was always highly popular. He was ever courteous, and possessed of a kindly spirit, and invariably strove to make the wheels of life run smoothly’. The Examiner stated: ‘Mr Reibey was endeared to a large circle of friends and held in high respect by all who knew him. Liberal in his views - affable in his demeanour - bountiful in his contribution for the promotion of good, there are few whose loss could be more extensively felt or more sincerely deplored’.

1843 - 1919

Thomas was born on 29 January 1843 at Longford, Tasmania to Charles and Mary Allen Arthur (nee Reibey). Thomas Reibey Arthur was one of nine children, and was the Arthur’s second son.

During his life, Thomas was a Justice of the Peace, a banker with the Bank of New South Wales, pastoralist of Goodlands in Longford, and leaseholder of part of Woolmers Estate. He was a member of the Longford Municipal Council, Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Tasmania and Coroner, Secretary of the Northern Coursing Club & the Northern Agricultural Society.

For most of his life, Thomas lived at Longford, where he regularly attended Christ Church. On 13 May 1876, Thomas Reibey Arthur married Louisa Susan Archer, of Woolmers Estate, at Christ Church in Longford. Louisa Arthur died on 18 May 1903, and is interred at the Christ Church cemetery.

In 1912, he inherited Entally House when Thomas III passed away. Thomas Arthur lived at Entally until his death in 1919. Whilst at Entally, he employed four gardeners to maintain its extensive gardens. Thomas died at Entally, and is buried beside his wife in the family grave at Christ Church, Longford. His funeral was ‘the largest funeral seen in Longford for many years’. There were no children of the marriage, so upon his death, Entally was sold. Four cases of his personal property were taken from Entally and divided between his nieces and nephew. In 2019, his writing desk remains at Entally on the lower ground floor of the Governor’s Wing.

The Reibey family loved their pets, especially dogs. Catherine Reibey had a pug dog whom she called Toby. Toby liked to hide under her vast crinoline skirts when she played the organ in the Entally Chapel whilst her husband, Thomas III, was conducting a service. Another dog that the Reibey’s owned was called Sam.

Thomas III was a huge fan of hunting and also kept several hunting dogs, with the majority of them being purebred setters. There were many cats on the Estate, to keep the mouse and rat populations under control - a cat hole can be found in the stable door of the Entally Coachhouse, to allow easy access for the felines to hunt the mice who liked to live in the straw.

More recently, Entally has had two cats on the Estate. Tally, a black and white cat was introduced to Entally to keep a mouse plague under control. Unfortunately, after only living onsite for a year, Tally was killed on the roads on 28 July 2009. Some paranormal investigators stayed overnight at Entally shortly after Tally’s demise and were said to hear voices calling, ‘Puss, Puss! Where’s the cat?’. An animal shelter hearing about Entally’s loss of Tally, contacted the Estate, saying that they had a five year old ginger tom cat who was left behind at Cressy when its owners moved. Ginger, Ginge for short, thus became the Entally cat.

Six years ago, on Australia Day, Ginge disturbed some would be thieves. Ginge had accidentally been locked in the house overnight when he heard someone at the door. Thinking it was a staff member bringing his breakfast, Ginge raced downstairs setting off the alarms.

Today he welcomes visitors to the house, accompanying them as they explore its expansive grounds.

Ginge ignores the signs ‘Do not sit on the antique furniture’, and will listen as house guides relate the house history to visitors. If he thinks the guide has too much to say, he will interrupt with a loud meow and demand a pat from visitors.

He loves the wedding that are held at Entally and has been known to accompany the bride down the aisle and then sit at her feet for the wedding ceremony.

Tradesmen to Entally be alert - Ginger has a habit of sleeping in their cars!

Unfortunately, Ginger passed away of natural causes on 28th July 2019. He will be sorely missed by all that have visited the Estate.

The term ‘convict’ described people who had committed a crime that were transported from England to its colonies, as well as criminals that were convicted locally. Over 75,000 convicts served time in Van Diemen’s Land, with male convicts outnumbering female convicts in a ratio of 10:2. The Calcutta carried the first convicts from NSW in 1803 and the St Vincent disembarked the final convicts to Tasmania at Hobart in 1853.

From 1803 - 1839 under the Assignment System, land owners were required to take on at least one convict for every one hundred acres. These private settlers, such as Thomas Reibey II, were responsible for the food, clothing & housing of their convicts. Convicts worked a 5 ½ day week, stopping work at noon on a Saturday to allow them time to wash and repair their clothing. On Sundays the convicts, as part of their moral well-being, were required to attend an Anglican Church Service. These assigned servants could not leave their master’s property without a written pass.

After June 1840 the assignment system of assigning convicts to private settlers changed - no convict was to be assigned to private service until after periods of ‘punishment’ on public works. Probation was to enforce a system beginning with hard labour before the staged progression towards freedom.

Stage 1 Temporary incarceration in an English Gaol with some hard labour.

Stage 2 Transportation to Tasmania with hard labour in a Probation gang.

Stage 3 Potential to earn Probation, or partly to work for oneself.

Stage 4 Earn a Ticket-of-Leave or self sufficiency before getting a pardon.

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Thomas Reibey II had a bell that used to hang in the stable yard. This was rung to wake the convicts, to send them to work, and to bring them back from work. The bell had TR 1824 stamped on it, and was donated to the Church of the Good Shepherd in Hadspen in 1957.

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A shepherd named William Evans, who was assigned to Thomas II, was murdered by aboriginal peoples in retaliation for stealing a woman from their tribe. His body was found after he had been missing for several days on 13 July 1822. His entire flock of sheep had been left unharmed and were recovered by Thomas II, after his body was recovered. This is the only time in the history of Entally that the Reibey’s had a problem with local aboriginal tribes.

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Some convicts were quite happy to spend the rest of their life working at Entally. Such was the case of Edward Macklin, a farm labourer from Wilts in England, who received a life sentence for housebreaking in 1829. From the time of assignment to Thomas II in 1830, to his death in 1851, he worked at Entally for 21 years.

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Most of the female convicts who were assigned to the Reibey’s neglected their duties & were insolent to their master. An exception to this behaviour was Harriet Smith. Harriet had received a seven year sentence for stealing a watch and, prior to sentencing, had ‘lived on the town’ for five years. Initially, she was assigned to Corbett, where she disobeyed orders and was drunk, even going so far as threatening to poison her master. However by the time she was assigned to Thomas II, she seems to have settled down and worked hard, as the Musters of 1832, 1833 & 1835 indicate.

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Alice Painter was convicted of stealing a bag containing two sovereigns and two silver buckles from a William Coates in March 1822 at Surrey, and by September she was transported to Tasmania on the Lord Sidmouth. By 1828, she was assigned to Thomas II, having had a previous history of insolence & refusal to obey orders. However, when confronted by Thomas II, she refused to leave her master’s property as she had formed a relationship with another of his convict workers, John Taylor. John Taylor was sentenced to life in Stafford in March 1822 and was transported to Tasmania on the Caledonia. He gave his occupation as a nailer. Despite leaving behind a wife and one child in Aldridge, England, he described himself as a widower when he received permission to marry Alice Painter, marrying on 22 August 1831 at Longford.

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Thomas II rewarded his assigned servant, Hugh Glacken for his good behaviour of several years by assisting him to gain a Ticket of Leave in 1836. Unfortunately, Thomas II’s trust was misplaced. Hugh Glacken became a bushranger and was hanged in Launceston in November 1847, for robbery and assault of a Thomas Powell, the overseer of Sir Richard Dry of Quamby.

Hugh Glacken had been born in Calton, Glasgow in 1812. At age 18, whilst working as a farm labourer, he was tried in Edinburgh for theft of a silk gown. He had several prior convictions including receiving two promissory notes to the value of two pounds, monies and property of a Mr King. He received a sentence of seven years transportation to Tasmania in 1830, where he was assigned to Thomas II. After he left the service of Thomas II he was in continual strife, finally ending with his execution in 1847. Again the Reibey family tried to assist this unlucky fellow. It was Thomas’ son, the Rev. Thomas III who solicited the Lieutenant Governor for clemency for Hugh Glacken but was refused. There had been a number of bushranger attacks during this period and public outrage demanded his execution at a public hanging where females attended. Thomas III prayed with Glacken, up until his execution. Glacken was ‘prepared to die if it was the will of the Almighty’.

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James Henry ‘Golden’ Ashton was assigned to the Reibeys at Entally, where he worked as a servant from 1839 to 1842. He founded the Ashton Circus in 1850, having purchased it from a Thomas Mollar in Hobart. Ashton’s Circus (currently operating as Circus Joseph Ashton), is the longest surviving circus in Australia, pre-dating most other circuses in the English-speaking world. The circus operated as the Royal Amphitheatre or Royal Circus.

Ashton was born to Golving Ashton in 1819 at Baddow, Essex. Golden (as he was known) was the same age as Mary Reibey when he was convicted of stealing a donkey. He later stole a broach, and was sentenced to fourteen years transportation as a repeat offender. At the time of sentencing he had worked for two years as a sweep, tinman and brazier. His gaol report describes him as ‘bad’.

Ashton travelled to Tasmania on the Francis Charlotte, taking 134 days to reach Tasmania in 1837. After spending about a year in Port Puer in Tasmania he was assigned to the Reibeys. He sought permission to marry another convict, a Mary Bryan in 1846, who died of tuberculosis aged 27 at Maitland in 1852. In 1853 he married a Elizabeth Critchley at Hanging Rock, near Tamworth, and they had 14 children together. When Ashton passed away in 1889, his son Fred, then 22, inherited the circus. The circus continues to be handed down throughout the family, and today is run by the 6th generation of Ashtons - Michelle & Joseph with their sons Jordon & Merrick.

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A convict who became a prominent landowner/businessman & remained in the Hadspen area, was William Hadfield. In 1835 at age nineteen, together with his father Thomas, he received a life sentence in Lancaster for killing a man in a pub brawl. The Hadfields were said to be from Derbyshire, where William worked as a baker for two years. Thomas Hadfield was sent to NSW, whilst his son William, was sent to Tasmania. William arrived in Tasmania on the Norfolk and was assigned to the Oatlands/Campbell Town district.

For twelve years William was defiant of authority, serving his sentence the hard way - on the treadmill, chain gang & in solitary confinement with several floggings. A reassignment to Glenorchy saw a change in his behaviour and he was granted a conditional pardon in 1847.

At age 33, Hadfield was assigned to Entally as a gutterman - his new masters being Thomas III and the Rev. Charles Reibey Arthur. Given leave of absence, William Hadfield sailed to Victoria in 1852 and is believed to have made a small fortune on the goldfields. A year later he returned to Entally and married another former convict - Eliza Williams, a pastry cook living in Launceston.

William became a landlord in 1857 when he bought a house, shop and two acres of land opposite the Church of the Good Shepherd at Hadspen. Later, he bought more land & shops which he then leased. The penniless convict had now become one of the wealthiest in the township of Hadspen. Unable to read, or write he trusted Thomas III & Charles Arthur to draw up his will in 1870.

Having a fear of been buried underground, William Hadfield is interred in an above ground crypt in the Church of the Good Shepherd cemetery, diagonally opposite the house he formally owned.

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Samuel Botte was Thomas Reibey III’s gamekeeper from 1866, until his death at Entally in 1872. Samuel came out to Tasmania as a convict under the new probation scheme on the Barossa in 1844.

Samuel was born to parents, James & Sarah Bott (nee Mycock) in 1791, in Wetton, Staffordshire. Aged 18, Bott was apprenticed to the gamekeeper of the Duke of Portland, to learn how to train dogs for sport. Short working hours gave him lots of freedom, which coupled with his enjoyment of life, led to intimacy with more than one of the ‘rosy-cheeked’ servant girls of the Abbey. Bott was unemployed after this was discovered by his master.

Samuel was then employed by Britain’s former Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel at Drayton Manor, Tamworth - again under a gamekeeper. He remained for some time in his service before becoming gamekeeper to Lord Middleton in 1823. Being known for ‘being fond of cock-fighting’, he left to serve under Lord Derby’s gamekeeper at Knowpipy, where he got into bad company and started poaching. On 19 February 1844, aged 53, he was convicted of stealing iron components from a cart at Chester and sentenced to seven years transportation to Tasmania. He left behind his wife Sarah Bott (nee Hine), whom he had married in 1825, and his four children.

His Criminal Record describes his trade as a bailiff, labourer and gamekeeper. Bott was a tall man of nearly six feet, with a large head, brown hair, bushy eyebrows, hazel eyes, & a reddish beard. He also had several scars on his right leg & left shoulder from shot wounds.

Bott spent fifteen months on a Probation Gang, working mainly in Northern Tasmania. Areas worked included: Seven Mile Creek, Jerico, Eagle-Hawk, Fingal, Mersey, Deloraine & Westbury.

Thomas Reibey III first met Bott when he was assigned to Thomas William Field, a well-known horse breeder. Bott also trained dogs on his own account for sale. Thomas III and Sir Richard Dry frequently employed Bott to work his dogs for them. Bott was a valuable aid in a long days shooting, for which they paid him one guinea together with a good meal either at Entally or Quamby Estate (Dry’s home at Hagley).

When Thomas III was paying a visit to the Launceston Gaol, he found Bott in prison dress awaiting transit to Port Arthur for the offence of stealing a saddle. Thomas III believed Bott was innocent and wrote to Sir Richard Dry (who was then Premier) asking him to enquire into the case. Dry wrote back to Thomas III that if he was prepared to find a home for Bott, the Governor Sir Richard Gore-Brown would ‘remit’ his sentence. Thomas III replied that he ‘would see to Bott’s future’. Within ten days, Bott was brought back from Port Arthur. The Governor gave Bott a personal interview and five pounds. Sir Richard Dry gave Bott a good suit of clothes, lent him a further five pounds, and sent him by coach to Launceston, then onto Entally where Bott lived until he died in 1872.

Bott trained and bred beagles & white setters with lemon coloured ears, as well as pheasants for Thomas III.

Active to the end - the day before he died, he had spent the day shooting & hunting.

In the 200 years since Entally was built, unexplained things continue to occur. A writer once described Entally as a place where ‘morning mists envelop Entally House, near Launceston, where rumours of ghosts are commonplace’.

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Joan & Buck Emberg in their book, Ghostly Tales of Tasmania, suggest that more than one ghost haunts Entally House. They relate the story of a man, riding nearby, who fell from his horse and was badly injured. He was wheeled to the house in a wheelbarrow. Many, including a former inhabitant of the Lodge Cottage on the Estate, have claimed to have heard the sound of a wheelbarrow being wheeled across the cobblestones. A modern graveled driveway now covers these cobblestones.

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Vicki Selby was a resident hostess at Entally during the 1980’s. She stated that ‘rumours of ghosts are as common as tourists, and almost as old as the house itself’, adding ‘if I had to pick a haunted room, I’d say it’s the library. It’s the only one that gives me a funny feeling’.

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Jason, a child, often stayed at Entally when his grandparents managed the property for Parks & Wildlife. During this period, his grandparents lived in the Governor’s Wing of the house. His grandfather always wore his Parks uniform, whilst his grandmother dressed in period costume. Visitors often photographed his grandmother standing at Entally’s front door and, when the pictures were developed, a ghostly shadow appeared beside his grandmother. Jason also recalls seeing faces appearing at the window of the Governor’s Wing and at the top storey of the barn. Another ghostly figure was often seen between the chapel and the old laundry. However, none of these frequent ghostly appearances upset the family.

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The appearance of a turbaned Indian Seaman only appears to ladies and repeated sightings of him over the years have been reported. His apparition has been seen in both the nursemaid’s room and on the stairs leading to it. The nursemaid’s room, which is lined with pressed tin, often feels cold, even on a hot summer’s day. A guest, who knew nothing about the ghost, ended up in the New Norfolk asylum after sighting this turbaned spectre in the 1950’s. Perhaps the turbaned ghost may be linked to Thomas I’s trading with India?

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There is an interconnecting door, between the Drawing and Morning Rooms. This door is always kept open during the day. On one particular day, no matter how often it was opened, the door between the two rooms continued to slam shut. There were no draughts to cause it to close.

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On the day new curtains were hung in the Drawing Room, a cabinet door suddenly swung open and an inner drawer flung outwards. The mark where the cabinet door slammed into the wall can still be seen. Staff jokingly remarked that Thomas III was showing his objection to the new curtains.

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Thomas III, towards the end of his life, was troubled with gout, and so he moved his bedroom from the upper Governor’s Wing into the Morning Room. He passed away in this room. A doorway, connecting this room to the passageway has been covered over. However, late in the afternoon, staff have seen a figure walk through the wall going into his former dressing-room.

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Volunteers to the house use the old Armoury Room as their staff room. On one occasion, the door leading into the passage locked. Fortunately, the volunteer, could get out of the room through another door. Her husband checked the lock on the door later in the day. It opened freely.

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Many people, including Jane who worked for Parks & Wildlife, and Margaret, who is a current volunteer at Entally House, express feelings of unease whenever they go to the upstairs parts of the house. Incidences, such as those described have occurred over 200 years of occupation. They add to the mystery and charm of this lovely old home.