Ghost sightings Melbourne: Luna Park, Hosier Lane, home to phantom spirits
A phantom fisherman casts his line from Flinders Street Station’s platform 10. A short stroll away, a man once suspected of being Jack the Ripper haunts Hosier Lane. These are two of the ghosts haunting Melbourne. You just need to know where to look.
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Melbourne is known for its little laneways brimming with must-see street art and delicious cuisine — and coffee.
But the nooks and crannies dotted throughout the cultural and sporting capital of Australia are also home to several things that go bump in the night.
From side alley spectres to phantom fishermen, here are some of the ghosts lurking throughout the city and the places they haunt.
FLINDERS STREET STATION
By day it’s a major transport hub with all the grime, hustle and bustle you’d expect at an inner-city train station. By night it’s home to the ghost of a fisherman who casts his line from platform 10.
Train station staff and travellers alike have spotted the ghostly figure — nicknamed George — clutching his fishing rod as he gazes out across the Yarra River.
There’s a theory George drowned in the Yarra, once a popular fishing spot, but who he is, how he died and why he spends his afterlife loitering around a train station remains a mystery.
Whatever the story, keep an eye out for George the next time you take a train to Williamstown, Werribee or Flemington Racecourse at night.
HOSIER LANE
Arguably the most famous of Melbourne’s meandering laneways, Hosier Lane draws street art lovers from all over.
But despite its liveliness and colour, the alley is also said to be haunted by a man once believed to be Jack the Ripper.
Frederick Bailey Deeming — who was known by many aliases — murdered his first wife and four children in the UK in 1891 before moving to Melbourne and murdering his second wife on Christmas Day and burying her under the fireplace of their rented Windsor home.
In March 1892, the landlord was showing a prospective tenant through the Andrew St house when they were overcome by a terrible smell.
They moved the stone at the bottom of the fireplace and made the gruesome discovery — the body of Deeming’s second wife, Emily, “oozing and with the scalp detached”.
With help from authorities in England, police learnt the same fate had befallen Deeming’s first wife and four children, whose bodies were also found stashed under the fireplace.
The media jumped on the story and it wasn’t long before suspicions arose that Deeming could be Jack the Ripper.
Deeming was eventually captured in Western Australia and brought back to Victoria to stand trial for Emily’s murder.
The trial lasted three days and he was found guilty and was hanged on May 24, 1892 at Old Melbourne Gaol.
While in jail, Deeming wrote a book confessing to being the infamous Whitechapel serial killer but it was never proven.
Several people — mainly men — passing through Hosier Lane at night are reported to have felt clammy hands at their neck.
THE PRINCESS THEATRE
The longest-running continuous entertainment venue in the country has its very own phantom of the opera.
British opera singer Frederick Baker (who performed under the name Frederick Federici) was performing in the 1888 production of Faust when he suffered a heart attack while being lowered into a trapdoor on the stage.
By the time he got to the bottom, he was dead. However his castmates were reportedly unaware of his demise, claiming he continued to perform with them that night and even took his bow at the end.
There have been numerous reported sightings of Federici’s ghost over the years by performers and staff.
But rather than trying to exorcise him from the theatre, it has long been a tradition for the proprietors to save the bass-baritone a seat in the dress circle on opening night of each new production. It is said to be good luck if his ghost appears.
The cafe beside the Spring St theatre, Federici Bistro, had been named in honour of the friendly theatre ghost.
LUNA PARK
The story behind the “Joker Ghost” of Luna Park remains a mystery.
While you might expect him to haunt the ghost train, the male spectre prefers to ride the scenic railway or ferris wheel.
Word has it one of the men who helped construct the big dipper — a roller coaster now demolished — saw a pair of eyes peering over a roof, but when he investigated, there was no one there.
The mischievous prankster ghost has often been seen standing on the scenic railway as the car approached, or surprised unwary visitors by appearing beside them on the ferris wheel.
There are a few theories as to who the ghost may be — a snake charmer killed by his own snake in 1913, a man killed by a fall from the scenic railway in the 1920s — but whoever he is, the apparition has been known to provided an added thrill to the St Kilda park.
The next time you’re lining up for a hot jam doughnut and feel a cool breeze on the back of your neck, don’t be so quick to think it’s just the wind …
It’s not surprising the Queen Victoria Market has its share of ghouls. The site was once home to the Old Melbourne Cemetery where up to 10,000 early residents of the city were laid to rest.
When the new necropolis was opened at the Melbourne General Cemetery in Carlton North, about 100 bodies were relocated to other cemeteries but many remains, dating to 1837, remain under the market grounds.
Many of the long-term stall holders have told of paranormal experiences at the market and some visitors have reported hearing “unsettling noises” and being bumped into by unseen objects.
CINEMA GHOSTS
Many of Melbourne’s finest movie houses are said to be haunted by the dearly departed.
The ghost of a young girl has been known to haunt cinema four at Carlton’s Cinema Nova, often seen running down the aisle.
The Jam Factory cinema is also believed to be haunted, with reported sightings of the ghosts of a cigar-smoking older gentleman and a giggly young girl.
There have also been reports of a ghost a man haunting row P of cinema one at the Rivoli cinema in Hawthorn East.
And John Pinkney’s 2005 book, Haunted: The Book of Australias Ghosts, details a rainy night in 1999 where technical manager of the Classic Cinemas in Elsternwick Jeff Jacklin slipped some paperwork under the door of his boss’ empty office on his way out one evening, only to have someone on the other side violently pull the papers through.
It appears cinema ghosts are common and paranormal experts believe they are attracted to movie houses because of the amount of electrical equipment because they don’t have energy fields of their own.
COMO HOUSE
The sprawling South Yarra estate, once home to the Armytage family, is a popular venue for weddings and lavish events.
But while people choose to celebrate their future lives there, ghosts of the past are said to linger.
One of those ghosts is said to be that of seven-year-old Ethel Armytage, who died in the home of diphtheria in 1872.
She has been spotted by wedding planners in the home’s morning room.
Her mother, Caroline, who had a heart attack and died in an upstairs room of the property in 1909 has also been seen.
Both are known to be friendly ghosts.
WILLSMERE MENTAL ASYLUM
Previously known as Kew Lunatic Asylum, the name was later changed to Willsmere.
It was one of the largest asylums in Australia and operated for more than 100 years — from 1871 to 1988.
The asylum had a chequered history and was the subject of several inquiries, including a Royal Commission. Overcrowding, mismanagement, poor sanitation were common criticisms.
Several former Australian test cricketers were among the patients to be housed at the asylum over the years, including Billy Midwinter who died there in 1890, Patrick McShane who died there in 1903, and Harry Trott.
Thomas Wentworth Wills, a cricketer and one of the founders of Australian rules football was also a patient there at one time.
After it’s decommission the former psychiatric hospital was turned into residential homes, but the original facade was retained.
Since its transformation there have been stories of strange goings on at the estate, including doors opening of their own will, and sounds of faint screams, running footsteps echoing through empty hallways and loud bangs coming from the roof space.
Several occupants have also reported being woken by a strange figure standing at the foot of their bed, gently tugging at their sheets.
LARUNDEL MENTAL ASYLUM
Larundel, in Bundoora, operated as a psychiatric hospital from 1953 to 1999.
As a 15-year-old, notorious serial killer Peter Dupas spent two weeks as an inpatient at the asylum in 1968.
After its closure, it was closed off to the public and the buildings became derelict.
But wire fences didn’t stop vandals, squatters and ghost hunters from entering the site.
People have reported hearing loud banging, crying and children laughing within the site.
There are thousands of videos on YouTube featuring amateur ghost sleuths seeking the truth behind the sordid rumours about the site.
Most of the original buildings have since been demolished as part of a $500 million retail and residential project by developer DealCorp, but some of the historic brick buildings have been restored.
MITRE TAVERN
One of Melbourne’s oldest pubs, the Mitre Tavern has layers of history.
Publicans there have pulled pints for countless politicians, deer hunters, artists and knockabouts throughout the decades.
Lore has it the pub was the birthplace of Mitre 10, after two of the hardware chain’s founding members were drinking at the Tavern when inspiration for the store struck.
But the pub was also the scene of a tragic death.
Connie Waugh once lived at the tavern as the mistress of local heavyweight Sir Rupert Clarke. It is said that Ms Waugh hanged herself at the Mitre after Sir Rupert returned to his wife (although others say she died of the flu).
Either way, her spectre has been seen over the Mitre Tavern’s balcony wearing a long white dress.
BUNDOORA HOMESTEAD
Of all Melbourne’s reported ghost stories, the tale of the phantom horse at Bundoora Homestead is perhaps the sweetest.
Built in 1900, the property has been used as a convalescent farm, mental repatriation hospital for returned soldiers, and a horse stud over the years.
The ghostly night mare, Lurline, is reported to have been the stable mate of champion racehorse Wallace, son of the legendary Carbine who won the Melbourne Cup in 1890.
Wallace himself went on to sire Cup winners Kingsburgh (1914) and Patrobas (1915), as well as the winners of six Victoria Derbies and four St Leger Stakes.
Lurline, who was accidentally shot dead at the property by rabbiters in the early 1900s, is said to visit the grave of Wallace each night.
People have reported hearing galloping hoofs approaching the resting place of the chestnut stallion.
There are also believed to be a few human ghosts at the site, including George, a World War I veteran who was a patient at the hospital and is known to close doors without warning.
ALTONA HOMESTEAD
Also known as Laverton Homestead, the property was originally owned by Alfred and Sarah Langhorne, who lived there in the mid-1800s.
Many say Sarah’s ghost haunts the home, following her death from Parkinson’s disease in 1871.
Her ghostly apparition has on several occasions been seen peering out of a window of the house at night.
It is believed at least 10 other ghosts have made their presence known around the property.
ABBOTSFORD CONVENT
Now a bustling place with gardens, farmers’ markets and artists’ studios, Abbotsford Convent was once a home for “fallen women”.
The institution was run by nuns from an obscure French order, the Sisters of the Order of the Good Shepherd, who believed social ills could spread like a virus from group to another through contact.
This belief meant many of the convent’s residents were quarantined from each other, treated almost as prisoners and forced to do unpaid physical labour in the commercial Magdalen laundry in return for the sanctuary offered by the nuns.
Today, people will tell you the corridors are haunted by the ghosts of many of these “wayward” women.
OLD MELBOURNE GAOL
Around 135 convicted criminals were hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol for their crimes, including bushranger Ned Kelly.
So it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that a few ghosts would haunt the Russell St building.
Staff and ghost hunters have reported seeing ghostly prisoners in old fashioned jail garb and beings with grotesque faces over the years.
Female visitors have reported spooky encounters in Cell 13, including necklaces being ripped from their necks.
PENTRIDGE PRISON
The former big house in Coburg was been home to some of Melbourne’s most notorious crooks, including members of the Kelly Gang and underworld identities Carl Williams and Mark ‘Chopper’ Read.
Cell doors closed in Pentridge for the last time in 1997 but history lives on with reports of apparitions roaming the former penitentiary.
Chopper died of liver cancer in 2013, but despite seeing out his days in another prison his spirit is said to haunt D Division of Pentridge.
His voice has reportedly been heard in the area.
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