gardens

Rumors of a ghost at Ascot House in Queensland, Australia, have been circulating as far back as the 1890s. It wasn’t until some one hundred years later, that the ghost could finally be put to rest. Ascot House was built for wealthy businessman and politician, Frederick Holberton, in 1876, and was originally named ‘Tor’. Situated in Newtown, a suburb of Toowoomba, it once stood on 13ha (32 acres) of land. It eventually changed hands, and the new owner renamed it Ascot House and undertook numerous renovations. Ascot House contained a gothic tower, sweeping staircase, and large high-ceilinged rooms. Many years later, the house would fall into a state of disrepair. During the 1940s, flats had been added, which housed people looking for cheap accommodation. It was not until the 1980s that the house was sold to a successful renovator, who proceeded to bring the house back to its former glory. No sooner had the new owner moved into Ascot House, that she would hear footsteps walking down the hallway at night but see no-one. Once, during the early hours of the morning, she felt fingertips brush her shoulders. One warm evening, she leaned against a wall where the surface was icy cold. The cold patch lasted for months and defied explanation. There have been numerous eye-witness accounts, including one man who saw the apparition of a young woman that looked as if her neck was broken. It had been rumored that a young servant girl had hung herself within the house. After many years of searching, the owner identified the young woman as Maggie Hume, who had worked at Ascot House as a housemaid under the employ of the original owner, Frederick Holberton. At 23 years of age, she committed suicide, not by hanging, but by taking strychnine. According to the police reports, it was believed she suicided after learning she was pregnant. At the inquest, a couple of male staff members confessed to having ‘connections’ with her. As a single woman committing suicide, Maggie was buried in an unmarked grave. Now, a headstone has been placed at the site, giving her the sympathy she never received in life. Source: debbie-johansson.com/2021/09/29/the-ghost-of-ascot-house/

Maryborough Base Hospital is a heritage-listed hospital at Walker Street, Maryborough, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Queensland Colonial Architect John James Clark and built in 1887 by Robert Taylor. It is also known as Maryborough General Hospital. The current site of the Maryborough Hospital, which is the fourth hospital site, was established in 1887 when a complex of brick buildings was constructed to the design of Queensland Colonial Architect John James Clark. The hospital site has experienced many phases of development, most obviously in the late 1920s, the late 1930s, and in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Many of the individual buildings, dating from both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, are of cultural heritage significance. In 1854 a hospital had been established in Maryborough in Fort Street, and prior to this the sick and invalids were treated at home by a few medical practitioners who lived in the town. By 1859 a Committee of Management had established another hospital, near the new center of the town, at the corner of Ferry and Albert Streets, but was moved in 1863 to a site on the corner of Lennox and Walker Streets. In 1864 the hospital moved to its first purpose-built building on Lennox Street, near the corner of Sussex Street. A substantial two-storeyed brick building was constructed and a wing was added to this in 1865. In 1876 further additions were made to this site. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryborough_Base_Hospital#:~:text=M...

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Still there, the gate appears to lead nowhere

C. 1903 www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/15701...

"sadly falling into disrepair" according to Archiseek - www.archiseek.com/2016/ramsfort-gorey-co-wexford/

Flickr sometimes goes trespassing! In 2010 via evil ninja imaging

The NLI is ALWAYS amazing! In 1990/91 - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000355408

Sir George Errington (1839–1920) bought the place in 1900 - perhaps he is responsible for the dubious new gate to nowhere.
"... About 1900 he purchased a house, Ramsfort, and 500 acres at Gorey, Co. Wexford, where he mainly lived in retirement. He was high sheriff of Co. Tipperary (1888) and Co. Wexford (1901) and a knight of Malta (1901). ...
From - www.dib.ie/biography/errington-sir-george-a2942

He visited Australia in 1906 - trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/119937683?searchTerm=R...

And looked like this in 1882 when he was the "unofficial agent of the British government at the Vatican" - via The City College of New York

I care.