The Mystery Of Hazel Maclean

The Mystery Of Hazel Maclean

By Paul McCann

Hazel was a hard working woman who owned and managed The Clean Plate Cafe , in Sydney City  .

She had establised the Café in 1924 with her brother ,   William , who passed away in 1944 , leaving Hazel to run  the Café on her own  .

In 1964 when Hazel was 60 years old she found it hard to cook and clean the café so for the first time she advertised for help .’

The first person she interviewed was a young boy just out of school . His name was Jim and she took to him immediately and offered the job to him .

Jim’s had left his parents home in the outback to find a job in the city . He had no experience working in a kitchen before but Hazel was soon showing  him the ropes .

After a few months Jim’s innocence and sweet charm was beginning to win Hazels heart . She had always wanted a child but running the café took all her life and she never had time to have a steady relationship with a  man .

She started to have feelings for Jim and they were more  than maternal , in fact they were romantic and true .

She began to lavish him with gifts and then spoke to him about starting a business partnership .

Even though there was forty years difference in their age it never bothered Hazel .

She hired extra staff so as she could have more quality time with Jim who was touched by her generosity .

At first Jim though that Hazel was just a nice old lady but after a while he realised that Hazel was in love with him .

Some days she would ask Jim to go for a walk with her by the Harbour . Then one day out of the blue she proposed to him ,

Jim didn’t know what to say but he knew that if he married her he would become a very wealthy young man amd so without hesitation he said yes to her proposal

of marriage .

The wedding was of considerable local interest at a Sydney Church of England building  .

On the night of June 21 1966 , Hazel , (the only daughter of Mr and Mrs Maclean ) and Jim Armstrong  (second son of the Mr and Mrs Armstrong ) of a small farm in far North Queensland were wed .

The church  was decorated by some of Hazels business friends and she was escorted by the bank manager who had handled her account for many years .

Hazel walked up the aisle of the church dressed in a  beautiful gown of silken fitted bodice with a heart-shape neckline with a full skirt and full-length train.

John Barnes (a family friend of the groom’s father  ) attended as best man.

During the signing of the register, a hired female soprano  rendered her solo , "You’ll Never Walk Alone "

A hired organist for the day accompanied her on the keys .

Next day a wedding breakfast was held at The Clean Plate Cafe and afterwards the newly weds cut the  wedding cake that held pride of place on a table in the middle of the café . Some toasts were made in honour of the couple and then the two left for their honeymoon on a three week cruise .

Hazel never returned after the cruise and Jim had to explain how she had accidently fallen overboard one night after she had one too many drinks .

Her body was never recovered and in 1968 Jim inherited Hazels fortune as well as collecting a large amount of money from the life insurance policy Hazel had and Jim was the only benefactor .

In 1970 Jim sold the Clean Plate Café for a six figure amount and set up a wholesale supermarket chain selling goods to small business owners .

In 1972 Hazels body had strangely resurfaced 4 miles out from Sydney harbour without any sign of decomposition . Jim was told that her body would be placed into a special  a glass case for further observation and investigation .

When told of the news he went into a state of shock and retreated in seclusion to his North Shore mansion  .

Local people had mentioned that they had heard strange noises coming from the large mansion where Jim had lived alone . There were reports of a ghostly woman wearing a white wedding dress walking around the grounds at night . Most importantly before Jim had committed suicide he had left all of his wealth to a girls private school where his wife Hazel had been educated as a young girl .

The school had no idea why this very generous donation had come their way but they were very grateful of the monies received .

No one understood why Jims body looked so old when he was found hanging from the flagpole in the garden and no one could explain why Hazels body started to decompose after Jims death .

In June 1984 a young lady by the name of Hazel Maclean made the headlines after she married a very wealthy Sydney business man . There was forty years difference in their age but no one seemed to care about that .

They lived together happily for many years until he died leaving his entire estate to Hazel .

It was strange how over the years Hazel never seemed to show any signs of ageing in her face . Some said it was all her money and plastic surgery that kept her young looking . Others said it must have been her secret daughter who kept a low profile but in any case Hazel remained youthful and was  rarely was seen in public . Sydney’s best known recluse who ran a large chain of restaurants on her own  .

She is still regarded as a mystery woman and an inspiration for others who want to be in the world but never seen  .

The End

By Paul McCann