Bendigo’s haunted hotspots

AS we know, Bendigo became famous for its gold rush era, a time which brought many people to the area who constructed buildings still in use to this day.

This influx of activity and prosperity is the reason for a fair amount of supposed paranormal activity in the region, according to researcher Deb Robinson and paranormal investigator Geoffrey Painter.

Ms Robinson has been researching the history of old buildings reported to be haunted around Victoria and worked for Twisted History when it operated in Bendigo prior to the pandemic.

She now does a lot of work down in Geelong.

Mr Painter, who worked for the company, said he found out he was a medium when visited by his uncle’s spirit at age seven, and has done many investigations of Bendigo sites.

According to Mr Painter, Gold Mines Hotel in Bendigo is possibly the most haunted site in the area, where he believes its builder David Sterry hangs around to protect its reputation.

“I can certainly say, as far as every place I’ve investigated in the Bendigo area, that would have to be the most active hotel,” said Mr Painter.

“Hotels are awesome, because yes people went there to commiserate failures, but all people go to hotels to celebrate successes. So, a lot of the energy you get in hotels is positive.”

Ms Robinson also said she believed Gold Mines to be one of Bendigo’s haunted hotspots and said both investigators and visitors have seen the old servant bells ring.

“They haven’t been connected in a very, very long time, but they still ring, you can actually still see them move,” said Ms Robinson.

A ghost called Catherine, whose connection to the hotel is unclear, has also been seen, said Ms Robinson.

“When my investigators were driving past, she kind of took a shine to them. She would stand up on the front balcony and wave at the passersby,” said Ms Robinson, who also talked about other visual/audio apparitions.

One of Ms Robinson’s jobs as a historian is to research a building’s past to find out who lived there and if anything interesting is documented.

“Quite often you’ll find that there is historical record as to what they’re seeing and what they’re experiencing,” she said.

“I don’t actually tell my staff before we go, they get to find out afterwards.

“Probably the most haunted building in Bendigo would have to be Fortuna Villa. There’s a lot of documented history of hauntings [there].

“George Lansell himself apparently has been seen in the mansion around the stables.

“There’s a little boy in a sailor suit and apparently, if you smell roses, it’s supposed to be George’s first wife Bedelia.

“Apparently if you hear screaming, it’s Bedelia catching George’s second wife Edith.

“There’s lots and lots of funky stories all around, and a lot of them you find that you can actually tie back to historical records of things that have happened in that area.”

In the early 1900s, a lot of young men dressed up as ghosts to get a reaction of young ladies around town, said Mr Painter.

One day, he said a man tried to scare a woman in Rosalind Park. She had stones in her hand which she threw at him.

When the police came, he said they found some blood and a few teeth, and he was never seen again.

It’s not all gory though, Mr Painter said he had another, “wonderful”, experience at the park.

“I was walking across to Pall Mall to get lunch one day, and at the footbridge over the creek, on the fountain side of the post office, as I was walking up towards that, there was a couple appeared 1920s style,” he said.

“They were in the middle of the bridge standing quite close together and they’re talking, and then he gets down on one knee and proposed.

“She leans forwards, says yes, and she puts the ring on her finger, and then, for me, it just kept repeating… and then faded out.

“It was very clear that they were in spirit straight away, like I could see them very clearly, but it was sort like in the movies where you can see through them, so it wasn’t solid.”

Mr Painter thinks most of the ghosts are from around 150 years ago because back in those days a lot more people went to church.

“You had that whole ‘if you don’t live the good Christian life and be a perfect Christian you’re going to Hell’ and all that sort of stuff.

“When people died, they didn’t want to cross over because ‘I didn’t live a perfect life, I don’t want punishment’.”

Therefore, he thinks “one hundred per cent” that a lot of these supposed ghosts are sticking around to redeem themselves, perhaps by helping family members, for example.

“I think my uncle took on that role with me when he passed,” said Mr Painter.

Some other haunted spots in Bendigo include the post office under the visitor’s centre, the old courthouse, Manchester Arms Hotel in Long Gully, and Queen Arms Hotel in Quarry Hill, said Mr Painter.

“I’ve done private work in houses that are five or 10 years old,” he said.

“The beauty of Bendigo is [that] the house hasn’t been here that long, but people have been living on that site for 170 years.

“Spirit will be attached to the land, rather than the building.”

Ghosts are one of those things Western society does not consider real at this time, although Ms Robinson believes “it does really come down to personal beliefs.”