Marlee-Bobin Ghost

In November 1903, several Marlee-Bobin residents reported contact with a supernatural being at Marlee Cemetery. The apparition was in leg-irons and they could hear the clatter of chains as the ghost crossed the road. The residents did not intercept but fled the scene as soon as possible.¹ Captivated by this account, I needed to investigate who was buried at Marlee Cemetery and if they had a reason to haunt.

I found one candidate – Richard Gaskins. Richard was a farm labourer in Gloucester, England when he was arrested for stealing a large amount of money. He was sentenced to death but this was commuted to life in Australia as a convict.²

Although Richard got his ticket of leave in 1842, he was gaoled again in Maitland and then moved to Hyde Park Barracks for being “dangerously mad, not brought on from intemperance” (not due to alcohol).³ Richard was released years later and moved to Wingham and then Bobin, where he bought a farm.

Richard eventually became too frail to work so he handed his farm over to another Bobin farmer with the understanding that he would provide Richard with food until his death. When Richard died in November 1900, no one mourned his death and no priest blessed the body, so a local policeman buried him in an unmarked grave in Marlee Cemetery.⁴ Was Richard responsible for the cemetery hauntings all those years ago?

Following Richard’s death, a neighbour wrote to the newspaper saying Richard was an eccentric, not an outlaw and deserved a Christian burial. Another resident responded by saying “Dick Gaskins was daft and had an aversion to women and that he would not have cared one whit if anyone attended his funeral!”⁵

Rest in peace Richard Gaskins.

Author: Janine Roberts