Find me here:
  The Paranormal Guide
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Atlas
  • Glossary

Haunted by a Cursed Pearl

20/11/2012

Comments

 
Picture
When Gerard Trower, the first Anglican Bishop of North, Western Australia, moved into his residence 'the Bishops Palace', he was not expecting it to be already occupied. Many believe it was the ghost of Abraham de Vahl Davis, a pearl trader, who had died only a few years earlier.

Was Davis's death caused by a pearl he had purchased prior to his passing?
Was it yet another in the string of tragedies credited to the 'Roseate Pearl'?

The Haunted Bishop's Residence

PictureGraham de Vahl Davis and a painting of Abraham de Vahl Davis.
When the first Anglican Bishop of North, Western Australia, Gerard Trower, moved into his new residence the 'Bishops Palace', he was not expecting it to be already occupied. One night Bishop Trower awoke to find a ghostly figure illuminating his bedroom. Although Bishop Trower described the figure as dressed in the garments of a Rabbi, many others who have seen the spectre describe it as looking more like an affluent gentleman.

Who was the mysterious figure haunting the bishops residence?

The answer many give is that the ghost is of a man who used to live in the house. His name was Abraham de Vahl Davis and he died in Australia's worst civilian maritime disaster, only a few years beforehand.

Case settled?

Not quite, for the tale of Abraham Davis' death is one surrounded by mystery, murder, suicide and the curse of a pearl, that might not have even existed...

The Roseate Pearl

PictureA similar pearl to the Roseate.
The gem in question is the “Roseate Pearl”, known for its magnificent size and beauty. The early history of the pearl is a little hard to trace, but suffice to say that where treasure moves, tragedy follows!

The following is an excerpt from the book “Coast to Coast: The Great Australian Coastal Liners”:

'The pearl had been found by a white pearler, but stolen from him by another pearl diver. The pearl was stolen from him by 2 Chinese underworld figures who were later hanged for an unrelated murder. The pearl was then purchased by a man who died of a heart attack, while the next owner committed suicide after the pearl was stolen from him.'

After this early snippet of history, we can start to follow the Roseate Curse through the newspapers of the day.

In 1905, the body of a man was found face-down in the ocean near Chinatown, Broome. On investigation, it was found that he had died from blows to the head and subsequently drowned. He had a large sum of money on him, and was soon identified as Mark Liebglid - a well known pearl dealer. Before long three men, Hagens, Espada and Marquez, were arrested for the crime and the story of what had taken place that night came to light.

The men had lured Liebglid to a boat offshore under the pretence of selling him a valuable pearl. When Liebglid was aboard the vessel, one of the men struck him in the head with a slingshot and Liebglid went overboard. As he could not swim, Liebglid held to the side of the boat crying out “Help, Police they are murdering me. I am done!” The men in the boat endeavoured to drown Liebglid, one jumping over board to push him under while the other two battered him about the head to get him to let go. The three criminals were unable to drag the body into the boat, as people with lanterns appeared onshore. They left the body in the water and quickly made their getaway.

Picture
After the arrest and trial the three were sentenced to hang in Fremantle Gaol. The first to the Gallows was Hagen, who always maintained his innocence till the last. His final words lasted a quarter of an hour and stated his innocence before he went through the trap door. Hagens Death was instantaneous.

Marquez and Espada were hanged together. Their final words (which were difficult to understand, as they were in broken English) were taken as an apology and admission of guilt. When the hood was drawn over their heads Espada cried 'Oh, let me see' and the hood was raised. Espada and Marquez then proceeded to have sharp words and argue with one another. Marquez made a grab for the rope over his head, and in the confusion, the hangman began to cry like a child.

As all of this was happening, the Chief Warder stepped forward to try to stop Espada's struggles, but unfortunately this was the moment that the executioner chose to pull the lever, opening the trap door. The three men fell into the twelve foot deep pit, two stopping abruptly before the bottom by the noose around their necks and the Chief Warder, a man in his mid-fifties, hitting the floor head first.

No one is quite sure what happened to the pearl directly following the murder of Mark Liebglid. It was supposedly in the possession of a Philippine man who, living in an almost destitute state, sold it to man named Gomez. The Philippine used the money to travel home, but died as soon as he set foot on his native soil. Gomez soon had the pearl stolen from him and committed suicide out of despair.

The Curse Strikes One Last Time

PictureThe SS Koombana.
It is here that we finally arrive at Abraham de Vahl Davis, who purchased the Roseate Pearl for twenty thousand pounds, at Port Hedland Western Australia. Davis was set to travel aboard the SS Koombana, to make his way home to Broome.

On the morning of 20th March 1912 the Koombana, followed by SS Bullarra, set-off but soon had to change course due to a heavy North Easterly gale. The two ships became separated before 'A Howling Hurricane' tore through the ocean. The Bullarra made it back to Port Hedland after the cyclone had past directly over her, but she was not unscathed, losing her smokestack. Several other ships were beached and wrecked but the Koombana was never seen again. To this day, all that has ever been found of the SS Koombana is a piece of planking, a state room door, some air tanks and a few other pieces of panelling.

All 157 on board, including those labelled as 'a Japanese', 'a aboriginal' and 'Malay prisoners,' perished in what has been called 'Australia's Titanic'. It is the worst civilian maritime disaster in Australia's history. It is supposed that the pearl was lost to the depths, its curse unable to take another life.

There are those who say the Roseate Pearl never existed, and is just a fantastic urban legend. There may have been one way to find out; to ask the ghost of Abraham Davis who haunted the Bishops Palace! Unfortunately the building was demolished in 1980.

Ashley Hall 2012
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    The Paranormal Guide Articles

    Here you will find all of the articles written for The Paranormal Guide on all things paranormal, strange, dark, macabre, weird, strange and bizarre!

    All photos with the blog posts remain the property of their respectful owners. If one of your photos is featured here without attribution please leave a comment on the blog and full credit will be given.

    Categories

    All
    Bizarre Experiments
    Conspiracy
    Cryptozoology
    Cursed And Haunted Objects
    Curses Demons And Exorcisms
    Earth Mysteries
    Fakes Frauds And Hoaxes
    Ghosts And Hauntings
    Ghosts Ghouls And Demons
    Interesting And Inspiring People
    Investigations
    Miracles
    My Paranormal
    Paranormal Photos
    Paranormal Vocabulary
    Phobias And Philias
    Post Mortem Practices
    Psychics Predictions And Seers
    Questions And Discussions
    Reviews
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Strange And Macabre Places
    Strange And Tragic Deaths
    This Week In Dark History
    Tragedy
    True Crime And Punishment
    Ufos And Aliens
    Unsolved Mysteries
    Urban Legend Superstition And Folklore
    Weird Odd And Bizarre


    Ashley Hall -
    The Paranormal Guide

    Ashley Hall explores The Paranormal, True Crime, Strange Deaths, Dark History, The Weird, The Strange and The Bizarre! Fact or Fiction? You decide!

    Picture

    Contributors

    Picture
    Matty Sweeney
    Picture
    Peet Banks
    Picture
    Nic Hume

    Picture
    Check out The Paranormal Guide Podcast and join three paranormal investigators and researchers for honest and raw discussions on all things paranormal, strange, dark and macabre HERE!

    Archives

    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Please note that dates are from when the article was originally made.
    The Paranormal Guide does have posts all the way up to the current date.


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.