Sarah’s Grave: Urban Legend or a tale of Ghostly Revenge???
- Jo Greaves
- Sep 19
- 4 min read
There is a legend about a haunted gravesite in Western Sydney known as ‘Sarah’s Grave’.
People who have visited speak of a white lady walking among the graves and surrounding bush, screams are heard and a ghostly figure is said to haunt the young men who visit her grave, seeking revenge for her untimely death. There are numerous YouTube videos of people visiting her grave and trying get proof of Sarah’s haunting.
Sarah's grave is located in Castlereagh, near Penrith and the beautiful Blue Mountains, in a small, old bush cemetery. The cemetery is the resting place of some of the pioneering residents of the Nepean district. Castlereagh is one of the most historic colonial townships in Australia, and was named as one of five Macquarie Towns by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1810.
Who is Sarah?
The legend of Sarah’s grave refers to that of Sarah Marshall, who was transported to Australia from Britain in 1818 on the convict ship ‘Friendship’. She had been convicted of stealing clothing.
Upon arrival in Australia, Sarah was sent to the Female Factory in Parramatta to serve her sentence. While there, she and fellow convict John Simpson gave birth to their first child in November 1818, a mere 10 months after her arrival. Sarah and John never married but stayed together and were referred to as ‘husband and wife’. In 1822 the family was sent west to Emu Plains Convict Farm. By this time, the couple had 3 children.
Sarah had a blemish free record, and obtained her Certificate of Freedom in July 1823. John continued as a convict for a bit longer, but by March 1824 the young family were free. They remained living in the Castlereagh/Penrith area and by 1830 the family had grown to include eight children.
Sarah's death
Sarah died in 1838 at age 42.
There is not much more known about how Sarah lived, but there is some conflicting evidence of how she died. An article in the Penrith paper ‘The Western Weekender’, published in 2015 and again in 2019, claims that she was attacked by a group of young men and murdered, her remains being left near her home. The article credits this information to a freelance journalist, but to date I have been unable to find any other article that includes this. If anyone is able to track down the original source material regarding this claim, I would be genuinely interested in reading it!
The other piece of evidence that talks about Sarah’s cause of death is a bit more legitimate - it is a report of a Coroner’s Inquest which was held just after her death. It reads:
“An inquest was held a few days ago by Mr Coroner Sims, at the residence of the Chief Constable, on the body of Sarah Simpson, a free married woman, who it appeared died from the effects of enfluenza (sic), having been eleven days previously ill, at the house of the said Chief Constable, and finally burst a blood vessel from the severity of the cough. Verdict, died by the visitation from God.”
This notice, and Sarah's story, has been detailed in extensive historical research by Leonie Fretwell in 2019. And even though she is called Sarah Simpson in the inquest notice (and, interestingly, on the grave stone), there is no evidence of a marriage between her and John.
Sarah's grave today
I visited Sarah’s grave recently. The cemetery is fenced and locked at night to prevent vandalism, but it is open to the public from 8am until 6pm each day. It is a small plot of bushland surrounded by residential streets and buildings. There is no car park, so I parked on the verge.
As you approach the cemetery, you are met with a danger sign warning you of snakes – makes sense, it is a bush cemetery after all - and as you enter there is a sign telling you the history of the cemetery, providing some insight into the Castlereagh area at the time.
The grounds are certainly eerie. Even though it is broad daylight and there is no one around, you feel as though you are being watched – and maybe you are. The property next door has multiple surveillance cameras. Or is it something – or someone – else? There is no evidence of other visitors in the cemetery while I am there, but then it is a weekday.
The dates on the graves begin from 1814, but it is said that there are others older than that which don’t have any headstones. In fact, the first burial on the cemetery registry is listed as 1811. The graves of many First Fleeters are there, such as Elizabeth Pulley, Anthony Rope and Third Fleeter Eleanor Russell, as well as some prominent members of the Castlereagh district, including Rev Henry Fulton, John MacHenry, and John Tindale.
Sarah's grave lies toward the back of the cemetery, and is unique among the others as it has a footstone. The inscription on the headstone is difficult to read, but sources have reported it as:
And am I born to die
To lay this body down
And must my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown
A land of deepest shade
Unpierc'd by human thought
The dreary regions of the dead
Where all things are forgot
While visiting the cemetery I did do some recordings in an attempt to catch some EVPs, but unfortunately had no luck That's not to say others haven't been successful, but for me, there was nothing. I also photographed the entire cemetery, but there were no unexplained orbs or ghostly figures lurking in the photos.
So is Sarah a restless spirit, wandering the cemetery to get revenge for a gruesome death? I couldn't find any evidence of it. And certainly while any death is tragic, it doesn't seem she was a victim of murder as reported in 2015.
Has anyone been to Sarah's grave and had any paranormal experiences? Let me know in the comments.
Spooky travels everyone, until next time!
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