The Grey Lady of Stoney Beach

An Inlet at Stoney Beach, Granville, Nova Scotia

One of the most famous ghost stories in the area is the story of the Grey Lady of Stoney Beach. She was so named because of the drab grey cloak she wears. This was the last piece of clothing she had on before she was murdered.

Long ago Annapolis Royal was a busy sea port with large schooners transporting goods from there to all over the globe. It’s shores were lined with wharves and the Annapolis River full of foreign and local vessels.

One such vessel was a locally owned schooner whose captain transported merchandise to several foreign ports. He was a married man and he left his wife and family at home in Annapolis Royal during his long voyages.

But it seems he got lonely being away from home for so long so he used to have several mistresses in the ports he landed in. One such mistress was a nice young lady who he fell infatuated with. He decided to bring her on ship with him to fill his long lonely nights on the seas.

Everything was fine until he was sailing through the Digby Gut and still had his mistress on board. He panicked on what to do with her; he had to be rid of her before they made port in Annapolis Royal where his wife would be sure to be on the wharf to greet him.

Witnesses say they saw the ship anchor off in the river and they seen him lower a dory and get in with the young lady. He rowed to shore by Stoney Beach and when he returned he was alone in the dory. It is believed that he be-headed her on shore and hid the body.

Ever since then many people have witnessed the Grey Lady ghost in the area. She is mainly seen in the Stoney Beach area but has been known to be spotted as far down as Victoria Beach. Some people claim she is headless while others say she has her head attached, but she is always wearing the same grey cloak.

It is said that the Grey Lady wants to tell her story and if you are brave enough to ask her in the name of the Lord she will tell you including the name of her murderer.

There are several stories concerning the Grey Lady of Stoney Beach. One of them concerns a Rev. Mr. Gretorex who moved to Granville Ferry with his family.

It was a beautiful day and he decided to take his wife and a friend for a drive in the horse & carriage to see the area. While driving by Stoney Beach they noticed a lady dressed in grey gliding along beside them. They said she kept just in front and to the side of them and her feet did not seem to touch the ground at all.

He urged the horse along faster because they were curious to see her face, but she kept her place. As he pushed the horse on faster then she just disappeared. Both his wife and he had seen her but the friend said he had not seen her.

When they mentioned the strange lady to their neighbors in Granville Ferry they were told the story of the Grey Lady. Mr. Gretorex felt sorry for this young lady and wanted to give her a Christian burial. He made several trips past the area trying to find her again but he never seen her again.

However he always thought his horse had seen her because at times it would shy away and had to be led off the road at times in this area. Unfortunately he could never pin point the exact spot enough to say this is where her bones are.

Dr. Robinson, a well known physician in Annapolis Royal also had an experience with the Grey Lady.

It was a dark stormy night and he was called to a home in Victoria Beach for a sick child. It was late when he was on his way home and the rain was pelting down and the wind was blowing hard.

He approached an elbow in the road where there was a small bridge that crossed a brook on the other end. The alders were growing very close to the road here. As he drew near to the bridge his horse stopped. He tried to urge it on but the horse only snorted and stamped it’s feet. Dr. Robinson finally had to get out of his old fashioned rig and go to the horse’s head to try to urge it along. But when he got there he saw the Grey Lady standing in front of the horse trying to stop him.

It was raining hard and at first he did not realize what he was seeing, but then as he got closer he said there was no denying it, it was the Grey Lady. Right after he reached his horses head she disappeared.

The horse was so worked up by this time he had to grab the bridle and try to lead it along. When he got to the bridge he noticed that it had been washed away in the storm. He soon realized that if the Grey Lady had not stopped his horse he would not have noticed the bridge out in time and he would surely have had a very bad accident. It was then that he recalled other people talking about seeing the Grey Lady by this bridge and her appearance was usually a warning of some kind.

Dr. Robinson recalled seeing another Grey Lady one day. Or it may have been this same one but she had travelled farther than normal. It sounds like the same lady, but this would be the only account of her being this far away from Stoney Beach.

He was driving between Digby and Weymouth with the school Principal Mr. Logan when they noticed a lady wearing a long grey cloak and bonnet in front of them. She seemed not to walk but rather trot along just to the front and beside them.

Several times they tried to pass her so they could see her face but she always sped up and kept her place. This kept up for quite a distance but then she finally disappeared into the bushes and they never found a reason for her to be there.

A Mr. Mills from Upper Granville had a very different story about the Grey Lady. His story was neither pleasurable of helpful.

According to him he was on the marsh one day when she appeared in front of him. She was in very poor shape and transparent enough he could almost see right through her. He said she did not look very friendly and it scared him so bad he turned right away and ran.

Mr. Roy Condon said he also had a scary experience concerning the Grey Lady. He was working on a wood boat and he had to walk along the shore to get to it from his house.

It was 2 a.m. and as he walked he noticed a lady in grey coming towards him. He walked toward her and greeted her as he walked by but he did not get any response.

This bothered him a bit and he started to wonder why a lady would be out here at this time of the night so he turned to ask her, but there was nobody there. At this point he recalled the stories about the Grey Lady and became very frightened and ran all the way to his boat.

There are two separate stories I have heard about the end of the Grey Lady appearances. One is much more popular but there could be truth to both of them. I will start with the more known story.

Years ago, before TVs and radios people entertained themselves by story telling. Therefore everyone knew well the stories about the Grey Lady, even the children. Not all of them handled ghost stories well; some grew up with an exaggerated fear of the dark.

Also very popular at this time were picnics both family picnics and community picnics. On this particular day the young people of Granville were having an old fashioned hay ride and picnic. One young fellow who did not go on the picnic thought it would be funny to scare the ones who had. He waited hiding in the bushes beside the road until after dark when the young people were returning home. As they rode by he jumped the stone wall dressed in grey and ran toward the hay wagon screaming.

Unfortunately one boy on the wagon had brought along his revolver probably for target practice during the picnic. He was so startled by the idea of the Grey Lady running toward them that he raise his revolver and shot at her. His aim was good as he hit the impersonator and killed him. After this it was forbidden to talk about the Grey Lady and no one reported seeing her again.

As I mentioned it is still possible for this to have happened and also for the other story I heard about her ending. In this last one it was said that people were forbidden to talk about her, but that did not necessary mean that no one ever seen her again. In the second ending I was told that someone else did see her at least once again.

It was told to me that a certain judge living in Bridgetown had been in the Stoney Beach area one day when he encountered the Grey Lady. As mentioned above, if asked her story in the name of the Lord she would tell you, and he apparently did ask her. She told him the whole story of meeting up with the captain and sailing on the ship with him and how he had brought her ashore as they drew close to Annapolis Royal and then how he had killed her.

But one thing that was not mentioned before was that once she told you her story you were sworn to secrecy about it or you would die three days after telling the story.

The judge did keep the secret for years, never even telling his wife. But after so many years went by he finally took a chance and told his story about the Grey Lady to a close friend. The judge had been getting up in his years but he had been in perfect health. It was a real shock to everyone when three days after telling the story he was found dead, especially when they could find no apparent cause of death.

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