CANBERRA ‘GHOST’

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 12820, 15 August 1939, Page 2

CANBERRA ‘GHOST’

Yarralumla House, which is to be the Canberra home of the Duke of Kent, has a ghost. It has never been seen, but half a century ago there were tales of a shadow —the spirit of a murdered aborigine—which used to flit uneasily about the countryside on dark nights. In the dusty archives at Canberra an old letter purports to give' the history of the ghost^ Unsigned and dated 18 81, it was discovered when the Commonwealth Government took over the old house in 19 26 for use as Government House. It told an interesting but probably entirely romantic tale of the theft of a valuable diamond, bushrangers, loyalty of a faithful blackfellow, and the burial of the gem beneath a giant deodar in the gardens of Yarralumla. “Swallowed” Diamond In 1826, a convict stole a large diamond from James Cobbity on an obscure cattle station in Queensland. Captured in 185 8, the convict refused, despite floggings, to reveal the hiding-place of the stone. He had given it to a groom, who passed it to his son; fearing to try to dispose of it during his lifetime. With a trusted aborigine,, the son eventually left Cooma, about 60 miles south of Canberra to take the diamond to Sydney. They were attacked by ’ bushrangers, and the black was captured. Angered when they could not find the diamond which the black had swallowed, they shot him and left the body in the bush, where it was found by a wandering tribe. The old manuscript says. “He was buried in a piece of land belonging to Colonel Gibbes, ’and later Mr Campbell. I believe the diamond to be among his bones. It is of great value. Believe, and receive a fortune. Scoff, and leave the jewel in its hiding place.” Colonel Gibbes built a homestead 1 near the site of the present Government House and Mr. Frederick Campbell- built tire central, threestoried portion of the present Yarrahas to get money to bet.”