The Parsonage Ghosts
The Port Arthur Church has been haunted since it went on fire in 1884. The bell tower rings randomly, and strange lights are seen emanating from the bell tower. During the church's construction, two convicts got into a fight and one of them fell to his death. When ivy began to grow on the wall, it did not grow on the spot where the man fell and died on.
Sightings of ghostly figures have been recorded in the medical officer's residence and in recent times people have reported hearing children's laughter coming from the upstairs rooms. Moaning and footsteps have also been heard in the commandant's residence for more than a century. It is said that the ghost of Commandant Charles O'Hara Booth stands at the window of his bedroom, looking out over the settlement as he weeps silently.
The Powder Magazine is topped by a guard tower that allowed the officers to see all the convicts below. Moans are heard from the tower, and apparitions of observing soldiers have been seen dressed in their uniforms. There is also the spirit of one soldier who walks the hallway and grabs visitors by the arm as they pass by. In the Tower Cottage, directly behind the watch tower there have been sightings of a soldier in red uniform.
Private Robert Young was drowned near the jetty in 1840. Some years ago, a guest at Jetty Cottage woke in fright to see a figure of a man with straight black hair and wearing a ruffled white shirt in her room. Other guests have seen the same figure sitting on the front steps of the cottage and on the jetty.
Some who were sent to Port Arthur were already insane; many more became insane after being confined in the punishment cells of the Model or Separate Prison. The screams of a young boy, confined in the condemned cell for two weeks while awaiting execution, are said to echo round the walls of the prison. Another convict, William Carter, handed himself in his cell, using the straps of his hammock. Tourists often feel anxious and depressed when visiting this cell, even when they are unaware of the story of Carter's suicide.
Another strange phenomenon occurs in one of the dark cells where prisoners were confined for long periods in total darkness and silence. It seems a remarkable coincidence that light bulbs blow when visitors enter one of these cells.
Read More: Next
Port Arthur PenitentiaryPort Arthur The Parsonage
Port Arthur The Parsonage Part 2
Port Arthur Ghosts
Port Arthur Island Of The Dead
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