Shooting the ghost
After digging through some of Melbourne’s old newspaper records, I found two very real encounters with a 'ghost' that ended with a shooting!
Many cartoons, movies, television shows and drawings depicting ghosts all have one thing in common - a white sheet. At Halloween, if someone says they are dressing up as a ghost, it is likely you will see them wearing a white sheet with two holes cut out for the eyes. While we don't know for sure what a ghost is, many people tend to believe that it is related to the soul or energy of a person who was once living. When people spot apparitions or think they have seen a ghost, the description they give is usually of a normal-looking person in period clothing with no white sheet to be seen. So where did this white sheet concept come from?
For centuries, bodies have been wrapped in a white linen shroud when buried, so it is easy to see why there would be a connection here. Jesus was even said to be wrapped in a white shroud, so it gives you an indication of how far back this tradition goes. During the 17th century, people whose families were unable to pay for a funeral were given what was called a pauper's funeral which was paid for by the state. While it still honoured those who had died, it was done without a lot of the trimmings. The coffin was often a wooden box and instead of a special burial shroud, a bedsheet was used to wrap the body. It is here that people began to make a connection between a ghost and a white sheet.
Times were tough back then and Halloween costumes weren't available to buy at the local shop like they are today, so it became an easy thing to throw a sheet over someone and say they were dressed as a ghost. In the 17th century, it was one of the most common costumes (and still is centuries later). After digging through some of Melbourne’s old newspaper records, it seems this kind of behaviour was not exclusive to dressing up for Halloween!
The Bayne Street Ghost of Bendigo
Just under a 2-hour drive outside of Melbourne sits the rural town of Bendigo. It is cemented in history for being one of the biggest producers of gold in the World, which attracted tens of thousands of gold diggers during the gold rush era of the 1850’s. In 1898, Bendigo was famous for another reason. Residents found themselves under siege by a ghostly form in a white sheet! The spectre was often spotted leaping over a high brick wall that surrounded the hospital terrorizing women and children close by.
"For the past fortnight stories have been widely circulated of a 'ghostly' form, which flits down at night-time upon lonely females in the neighbourhood of the hospital, and having startled them into hysterics glides silently away," 27th August 1898 The Bendigo Advertiser
One of the strangest features of the spook was that when confronted, it would increase in size with descriptions from witnesses claiming it was up to 8ft tall. One Thursday night, the ghost appeared at the intersection of Frederick and Valentine Streets which were located at the back of the local Benevolent asylum. Local resident Miss Skillbeck spotted the ghost in white waving its arms up and down. She threw a stone which made contact. The ghost fought back striking her in the face and knocking her down. After hearing her screams locals came to her aid and found her bleeding from the mouth. One man made chase and saw the ghost jump a fence into a neighbouring house. The police were called where they searched to find our ghost had this time left footprints on the grass.
Eventually, the local men decided to do some ghost hunting of a different kind arriving one night shortly after 8 o’clock with a double-barrelled gun. They positioned themselves on the corner of Bayne Street and Stewart Street where it wasn’t long before they heard the piercing scream of witnesses spotting the spectre. They ran towards the commotion where they found a girl trembling with fear. She uttered the words “The ghost ….. The ghost”’. The men then turned the corner where they saw a white figure moving slowly under the illumination of the streetlights on the footpath. They fired a shot at the figure who was jumping a fence off into the night. The ghost must have had a fright of its own as it seemed to have accidentally dropped its costume during the excitement with the half a dozen yards of white muslin, they were wearing found on the floor complete with bullet marks.
In an odd twist to this story, local youth Eugene George Johnson whose mother had been frightened by the local spook came up with a plan. The ghost had a penchant for terrorising women, so his plan was to dress up as a woman to lure the ghost to finally reveal themselves. Unfortunately, Johnson’s dark dress and the iron bar he was carrying attracted attention with locals handing him over to the police. As he was held in custody, a large crowd formed outside the police station believing the ghost who had been terrorising the neighbourhood had finally been caught! He was charged with insulting behaviour (for dressing as a woman of all things) by the court and forced to place ten shillings in the poor box as punishment. There were no further reports in the local newspapers. It is unknown what happened to our spectre.
It is not the only time a ghost caused a shooting here in Australia. This time however, one of our ghost hunters became so frightened by the ghost they accidentally shot themselves in the arm!
The Victorian Titles Office Haunting (Victoria)
In 1925, it was thought that the Victorian Titles Office situated in the Melbourne CBD was haunted by ghosts. For years there had been reports of hearing what sounded like horses galloping down the corridors and the heavy door to the vault mysteriously opening on its own. Police maintained several vigils unable to explain the ghostly happenings. One constable who didn’t sign up to be a ghost hunter was so nervous he accidentally shot himself in the arm with his own pistol. The activity and reports ceased for a while before one fateful night when it started again.
Constable W.C. Lawson found the very heavy door from the street to the vault open where he then heard a mysterious rumbling and a crash. After much effort, he closed the door and ran to call the police station. When he returned, the door was open once again. It was at this point a large police presence surrounded and entered the building unable to find any living being inside. Mysteriously, the lights inside were all off due to an electrical failure during the search. The police always maintained it was not haunted and was it was someone who was familiar with the building trying to gain access as they knew how to operate the heavy door. The case remains unsolved.
So, the next time you think you see a ghost in a white sheet, don't shoot! There is a 99% chance there is a human underneath it!
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