Jack and Francis Tree had lived in Coolgardie since 1970 and fifteen of those years had been in Warden Finnerty’s House in McKenzie Street, Coolgardie. The six bedroom mansion was built by the Bunning Brothers soon after they arrived from Scotland in 1895 and before they established their hardware business which we all know of today.
The Residency – Coolgardie
The Wardens house, the Residency, which is now under the care of the National Trust, is now open to the public. It was to be the turn of the century (1900) home of Warden John Michael Finnerty, his wife Bertha and their three children. Eighty two years later, in 1977, Jack and Francis Tree moved in to restore the shell of the old house. Jack used to complain about something grabbing his ankles when he walked down the hallway. One day they decided to pull up the old floorboards (where Jack had the trouble) and found a perfectly mummified body of a cat. It was about three feet long and flat as a pancake. It must have been there since the house was built said Jack, I threw the body into the garden and was never bothered again. The Trees have often felt a strange presence in the house and both have woken to human shapes at the end of their bed. In particular a grey haired woman holding a child by the hand. Francis has a story about Jack’s love of lying in the bath. One day Jack heard ‘Hurry up Jack’, so he got up only to find his wife in the garden who said hadn’t called him. They can only think that ‘Jack’ was also the name of the Finnerty’s son.
There is one room in the house which would send shivers down some visitors. Sometimes, a person, usually a woman, will freeze outside the door and can’t enter. Mrs Tree said it was the room of the Finnerty’s two daughters who disliked each other intensely, a feeling which was to last all their lives. The bedroom must have been the scene of some dreadful fights.
One thing the Trees did agree on is that ‘The Residency’ is a very cold house, it has no feeling of warmth, as if it had been lived in. Jack said that it has an unhappy feeling about it and puts it down to the hard life the Finnerty’s would have had in Coolgardie’s early days.
Warden Finnerty
Finnerty, as warden, had all the responsibilities of governing the busy mining town. He was also appointed as a magistrate in 1900. After the death of his wife at the young age of 38 years of pneumonia in the Coolgardie Hospital, he resigned. He was to argue bitterly with his son Jack who then returned to England and was badly injured in WW1.
The Evening Star 17th Nov 1911
Moya Sharp
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Such an interesting story. Do you get many enquiries about houses because of ghost type experiences?
Hi Not really enquiries but I have been told of lots of peoples personal experiences around town. We have our very own ghost in our house. It is of a five year old girl called Betsy Wade, I have even met her mother (real life mother) that is. (:
What an interesting story! A few stories of the house I have not heard before. How sad for the sisters to dislike each other.
My name is also Moya and I lived in Coolgardie as a child (most of it at the Convent)
Hi Moya There are not may of us around, I have only met a few. Di you by any chance know Carmel Gilmore who was also at the convent?
I’m not surprised about strange goings on. My great aunt disappeared around that area mid 1930s.
Good heavens, did they not ever find out what happened to her?
Never. She was English but there is no record of her leaving to go back under married or maiden name. When her husband died in 1947 he was classed as “married” but none of the notices mentioned her. She has never appeared in census or death registers. She was last heard of by the family when she attended her sister’s funeral in 1935 and was on the electoral roll in 1936. I think she must be at the bottom of a mine shaft. I’d love to know what happened.
Can you give me her name so I can have a look in my records, you never know?
Her name was Marguerite McHugh, formerly Harrod. She arrived in WA 25 Jan 1927, married Ambrose McHugh I believe in Boulder 1936. Last heard of by the family in 1935 (as far as we know) was listed in the Electoral Roll in 1937 as living at 15 Broad Arrow Road, Brown Hill, Kalgoorlie. Ambrose died in 1947 and there was no mention of her in any notices. I’d love to know what happened to her but I guess it’s very unlikely. Thank you for offering to check.