The Mystery of the Darling Building

A small excursion from gaming this time to delve into a current story that links back to Captain Darling...

Currently in Adelaide, South Australia after remaining derelict for almost 20 years the modest yet architecturally beautiful Darling Building in Franklin Street is being renovated. The exterior is being retained as well as the salient internal features but this fine old building is becoming a modern office block.

However there is some interest to us dear reader in this building, does it contain some secrets relating to Captain Edward Darling himself?

The Darling Building was constructed in 1916 as business premises by a prominent mercantile firm, John Darling and Son and was the brainchild of architect E.H McMichael. This is a very impressive edifice and looks timeless, it is truly a classic building of the period being architecturally well balanced and featuring a symmetry which catches the eye!

At this point we move to themes of more interest to us...

Can it be just coincidence that the Darling Building built by John Darling and Son is believed to also be the residence of their namesake Captain Edward Darling? It is known that Captain Darling returned to the Antipodes after fighting through the carnage of The Great War but his actual dwelling has never been identified and confirmed. It was believed by many that a secret suite of rooms were incorporated into the design of the building for the good Captain to occupy. Backing this up this during the 1920's he was oft spotted in Franklin Street and his propeller driven roadster was seen parked in the adjacent Bentham Street. Fascinatingly at the same time it has being described that many eligible ladies often of quite high social status frequented the Darling Building's offices for frivolous reasons with the sole intention of meeting and befriending Captain Darling who was not only still a bachelor of good standing but his youthful good looks continued to shine even as he aged!

Reported sightings of Darling in the vicinity of Franklin and Bentham Street continued to be made right up until the beginning of the Second World War. All of them still included descriptions of the Captain's youthful appearance and healthy demeanour.

Moving to the present a completely unofficial source from within the workforce engaged in the renovations of the Darling Building inadvertently let slip that a secret staircase and living quarters were discovered within the building while the inside was being gutted for the renovations...very interesting! More thought-provoking still is an aside from an equally unofficial source that observes the new office space in square yardage still do not equal the full footprint of the building on each floor! This person goes onto say the internal wall dimensions of the building are substantially less than those of the exterior walls, especially on the top story! 

Well what are we to make of this hearsay and supposition I'll leave that up to you dear reader perhaps it is not just the ghost of Captain Darling that haunts the Darling Building, Franklin Street Adelaide...

Below; a period picture of the Darling Building and one of it nearing the completion of it's current renovations, both of these were sourced from the new fangled internet...

Next Time...back to gaming STUFF!