-By L.Perrier-
By daylight, Maryborough’s heritage streets and grand old buildings are reminders of its prosperous river-port past. But behind that history are darker tales, strange encounters and mysteries that have survived for generations.
And one extraordinary story from 1876 reads almost as though it were written for Halloween.
Sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction — and this ghost story even made the newspapers.
The Ghost Who Named Her Killer
In March 1876, Annie Gordon Rixon died only days after marrying Alexander Rixon.
An initial inquiry attributed her death to natural causes.
The matter might have ended there.
But an extraordinary story soon appeared in the newspapers.
A man named Adamson claimed he was crossing a reserve when he noticed what looked like a heap of black earth.
As he approached, he thought it was a large black dog.
Then the shape changed.
Before him stood an apparition — and Adamson recognised the face as Annie Rixon.
According to the 1876 account, the apparition spoke: “I am the murdered wife of Rixon!”
The figure placed one hand over its mouth and the other against its throat. Then it disappeared.
Adamson reported the encounter to police the following morning.
Then came another disturbing development. Lydia Quipps told police that Rixon had said to her, “I have been and done for my wife,” before gripping her by the throat and demonstrating how he claimed to have done it.
Annie’s body was exhumed and examined again. Dr Little said the findings were more consistent with suffocation than apoplexy, but he could not determine the cause of death with certainty.
On 10–11 April 1876, Alexander Rixon stood before Judge Lutwyche at the Maryborough Assizes, charged with murdering his wife.
Despite the testimony presented against him, the jury found Alexander Rixon not guilty.
Did Adamson truly encounter Annie Rixon’s ghost that night?
History cannot answer that.
But the fact that this extraordinary apparition story spread to newspapers across five Australian colonies while the case itself was still unfolding makes it one of Maryborough’s most fascinating dark tales.
And perhaps one question still lingers almost 150 years later:
Could Annie’s spirit still be restless, searching for the justice she never received?
Annie Rixon’s is far from the only strange tale hiding behind Maryborough’s historic streets.
For those curious enough to uncover more, Lantern Shadow Tours’ “Ghosts of Old Maryborough” self-guided walking tour reveals the darker history, local legends and ghost stories connected to the places you pass every day.
With your phone and headphones, follow your cinematic guide through Maryborough’s historic streets, discovering stories in the very places where they unfolded.
Go at your own pace, after dark if you dare.
No groups. No bookings. Start anytime.
Simply download the Lantern Shadow Tours app, choose “Ghosts of Old Maryborough.
