Margaret Clement and her sister Jeannie were dubbed “The Old Ladies of the Swamp” by the popular press in the 1950’s. Their 14 room mansion in Tarwin Lower was falling down and the swamp had reclaimed the 2000 acres of prime farmland around the house. The women lived without running water, electricity or sewage. 


With no wood to light a fire, the sisters were living on cold tinned baked beans and bread. When Jeannie died in 1950 it became a massive job just to bring her body out for burial. Two years later, Margaret simply disappeared. It became a real life whodunnit that captured the attention of the world. Someone murdered Margaret but the question is who, and where is her body?


Margaret and Jeannie were the middle children of a father who went from bullock driver to one of the wealthiest men in Australia. Peter Scott Clement Snr. emigrated from Scotland with his siblings during the gold rush of the 1850’s. He worked as a bullock driver in and around Walhalla when, in payment for debts, he accepted shares in the Long Tunnel Gold Mine. Peter continued to purchase shares and reaped the benefits when the mine became one of the richest in Australia.

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