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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
She now does a lot of work down in Geelong.<\/p>\n
Mr Painter, who worked for the company, said he found out he was a medium when visited by his uncle\u2019s spirit at age seven, and has done many investigations of Bendigo sites.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can certainly say, as far as every place I\u2019ve investigated in the Bendigo area, that would have to be the most active hotel,\u201d said Mr Painter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHotels 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Robinson also said she believed Gold Mines to be one of Bendigo\u2019s haunted hotspots and said both investigators and visitors have seen the old servant bells ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey haven\u2019t been connected in a very, very long time, but they still ring, you can actually still see them move,\u201d said Ms Robinson.<\/p>\n
A ghost called Catherine, whose connection to the hotel is unclear, has also been seen, said Ms Robinson.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen 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,\u201d said Ms Robinson, who also talked about other visual\/audio apparitions.<\/p>\n
One of Ms Robinson\u2019s jobs as a historian is to research a building\u2019s past to find out who lived there and if anything interesting is documented.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite often you\u2019ll find that there is historical record as to what they\u2019re seeing and what they\u2019re experiencing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t actually tell my staff before we go, they get to find out afterwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably the most haunted building in Bendigo would have to be Fortuna Villa. There\u2019s a lot of documented history of hauntings [there].<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge Lansell himself apparently has been seen in the mansion around the stables.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a little boy in a sailor suit and apparently, if you smell roses, it\u2019s supposed to be George\u2019s first wife Bedelia.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently if you hear screaming, it\u2019s Bedelia catching George\u2019s second wife Edith.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
When the police came, he said they found some blood and a few teeth, and he was never seen again.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not all gory though, Mr Painter said he had another, \u201cwonderful\u201d, experience at the park.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were in the middle of the bridge standing quite close together and they\u2019re talking, and then he gets down on one knee and proposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe leans forwards, says yes, and she puts the ring on her finger, and then, for me, it just kept repeating… and then faded out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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\u2019t solid.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had that whole \u2018if you don\u2019t live the good Christian life and be a perfect Christian you\u2019re going to Hell\u2019 and all that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people died, they didn\u2019t want to cross over because \u2018I didn\u2019t live a perfect life, I don\u2019t want punishment\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Therefore, he thinks \u201cone hundred per cent\u201d that a lot of these supposed ghosts are sticking around to redeem themselves, perhaps by helping family members, for example.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my uncle took on that role with me when he passed,\u201d said Mr Painter.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done private work in houses that are five or 10 years old,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beauty of Bendigo is [that] the house hasn\u2019t been here that long, but people have been living on that site for 170 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpirit will be attached to the land, rather than the building.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ghosts are one of those things Western society does not consider real at this time, although Ms Robinson believes \u201cit does really come down to personal beliefs.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n