HAUNTED SYDNEY
DISCLAIMER: The stories and incidents related here have been collected over the years by the editors of this website from a variety of sources. We have experienced a few of these personally, but the majority have not been checked out for accuracy, and are repeated here for the information of readers only.
The Street With No Name, Annandale
 An area which gives access to the arches of a railway viaduct near Jubilee Park, Annandale has developed quite an evil reputation. Dubbed The Street With No Name, locals claim there is something inexplicably evil about the viaduct and surrounding park, particularly at night. Some say an eerie presence can be felt, others tell tales of bizarre behaviour displayed by small children and dogs that visiting the area.
In the late 1960's, the body of an elderly man was found the day after he had been seen walking around the railway viaduct. A railway worker named Jock who had gone to the rescue of an injured possum was killed by a train in the foggy darkness the day before the line was closed permanently to rail traffic in January 1966 (it has since been re-opened for light rail). Locals report that on some nights they can still hear Jock walking along the railway tracks searching for animals in need of help. Two years after the incident, the mutilated body of a three-year-old boy was found dumped not far from the railway viaduct. This murder remains unsolved.
The body of a twelve-year-old boy was found along the railway embankment in 1974. The boy had died of extensive head injuries inflicted with a large rock. Seven months later and only 50 metres away, the body of another boy the same age was found. He had suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest, stomach and leg. In 1977, a man was arrested, tried and found guilty of the murders of the latter two boys. A girl's body is reported to have been dumped in the car park in late 1976. Police investigations indicate she may have been the victim of Sydney's first Satanic murder. In 2000, a homeless man, Reg Malvin, ignored warnings not to sleep there and was found bludgeoned to death in the grandstand of nearby Jubilee Park. Two years later the body of an Asian man was found floating in nearby Rozelle Bay. Both murders remain unsolved.
The storage rooms that have been created by bricking in the arches have been dubbed The Tomb by one of the people who leases one. Night visitors to them have reported feeling anxious and queasy and sudden temperature changes and the smell of fresh paint when at times when no painting has been done. Ghostly footsteps have been heard coming from the exact spot that the body of the first murdered twelve-year-old boy was found. Paranormal Investigations
UBD Map 12 Ref A 9
Picton Railway Tunnel, Picton
The disused 180 m long Old Main Railway Tunnel between Picton Junction and Thirlmere was opened in February 1867 and was the first railway tunnel to be used by the NSW Railways. It was closed to rail traffic in 1919 when the new deviation line opened. During World War II it was one of a number of disused railway tunnels in the Sydney area in which ammunition and other military supplies were stored. After the RAAF moved out in 1950, it was used for commercial mushroom growing.
The tunnel would have long been forgotten were it not for ongoing occurrences of paranormal activity which have made it quite well known. The tunnel has a history of suicides and at least one railway accident, that of a woman named Emily, who these days is looked upon as the tunnel's resident ghost. Local records show that Emily Bollard was struck and killed by a train in 1916. She died at the centre of the tunnel where the apparition of Emily is always seen. On occasions black shadows have been viewed moving rapidly along the entire length of the tunnel. People have reported seeing white lights hovering above them, figures appearing in front and behind in the blackness, ghostly children and strange electrical appearances travelling down the tunnel. Rapid drops in temperature and sudden breezes like those caused by an approaching train have also been felt.
The owner of the property on which the tunnel has been built, Liz Vincent, runs a variety of different ghost tours around the Picton area as well as the Tunnel. As the tunnel is on private property, entry to the property unless by prior authority or arrangement is prohibited.
Paranormal experiences
Haunted Buildings In and Around Picton
Wollondilly Shire Hall: according to members of the local theatre group who themselves have many ghostly tales, there are supposedly three ghosts haunting the hall. The old part of the Hall where the school was has an unusual feel to it. A bearded man wearing a hat and suit, who stands a the back of the hall and often appears as a black silhouette, in the furthermost corner of the back of the stage is known as Ted. Another ghost inside the Shire Hall is said to be that of a young girl. On a number of occasions her crying has been heard coming from underneath the stage. A small boy is also reported to be haunting the Hall.
 Wendover House: this beautiful Georgian mansion was built in 1880 by John Wright McQuiggin, the first mayor of Picton. Now a block of flats, the building has a history of strange phenomena. One former resident claims to have been visited several times by the ghost of McQuiggin, who he recognised from an old photograph.
 Razorback Inn: now part of the The Woolaway Woolshed, the inn is the subject of many spooky stories and the home of a very noisy ghost. Ex-convict Oliver Whiting completed the construction of Razorback Inn in 1850. Originally established as a tannery and vineyard, it has also been used as a guesthouse, residence and restaurant over the years.
Old Government House, Parramatta
Old Government House in Parramatta Park is Australia's oldest surviving public building. Located in the heart of historic Parramatta at the gates to the park it is approximately 1 hour's drive from Central Sydney. This beautiful Old homestead was first built by Governors Hunter and Macquarie between 1799 and 1816. A highly popular ghost tour was begun in the early 1990's. The tour still runs today on Friday nights.
One of the first reported ghost sightings in the house was by a workman who was along in a semi darkened room. He was installing a chandelier when he was confronted by a disembodied face at one of the windows, he looked in the window to the left of this one and saw the same face. The centre of all the ghostly activity seems to revolve around the "Blue Room" located at the top of the original wooden staircase. The Blue Room is a bedroom painted blue (of course) and every haunted house seems to have one, along with the standard "blue lady". Of course the Blue Lady of Government House has been seen in and around the blue room. One answer to who the "Blue Lady" is could be a young girl named Mary Bligh. There is a small picture of her on the wall near the blue room. Staff have reported seeing her ghost walking the short hallway outside the "Blue Room" with her dog in her arms, just as depicted in the painting outside the room.
Listed here are a few of the other sightings reported by both the staff of Government house and the visitors:
A guardian on duty in the old dining room met a ghostly servant girl called Mary Bligh standing by the dining table. The ghostly figure dressed in costume appeared quite content to chat. No one knows what the two said to each other the guardian is now deceased and can no longer tell the full story. One of the managers of Government House often heard voices coming from the old dining room. The voices always stopped as soon as she entered the room. On a ghost tour one night a group with a guide were gathered in a room when a wraith circled around the outside of the group and exited out the doorway into the long dark hallway. A guide was letting a couple out one of the back doors, as he was saying good bye he could see a ghostly figure of a man standing in the hallway just near him.
Government House is also the site of the first reported UFO sighting in Australia. In the early 1800's one of the workers was out in the field just near Old Government House - he reported of seeing an "ark" in the sky. He said he was abducted by this "ark" taken up into it and later woke up back in the field. This was before planes were invented.
Organised by the NSW National Trust , Ghost Tours run every Friday night between 8.00 pm to 10:30 pm. Bookings are essential (02) 9635-8149. UBD Map 211 Ref A 2
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Old Quarantine Station, North Head
The Quarantine Station at Manly is a city in itself, boasting its own post office, power supply, water reservoir, hospital, morgue, telephone exchange and paved streets lined with various styles and types of buildings.
While used as a Quarantine Station, the atmosphere of the Station was sombre at best, as most of those quarantined had been forced to endure long voyages from the other side of the world on diseased ridden ships. As in the case of the typhus ridden Lady McNaughton which arrived in Sydney Harbour in 1837 after losing fifty four passengers en route, however the Quarantine Station proved no sanctuary. Thirteen more died after arrival in what were then described as "truly appalling conditions with a sense of misery, wretchedness and disease present everywhere."
Three hour ghost tours are regularly conducted after sunset, where visitors are lead by tour guides through the winding unlit streets and buildings that constitute the Station. Visitors have reported seeing ghosts, feeling cold spots and being tapped on the shoulder when no one was anywhere near them. Stories of haunting phenomena date back more than a century, when nurses on night shift reported seeing ghostly Chinamen with long ponytails wandering through the wards and across verandas. Park Rangers living in the Station regularly report seeing ghostly figures and lights in unoccupied hospital wards, but upon investigation find no one present and nothing amiss.
 The hospital section consists of two wards, the first one being the wooden ward which contains two long rooms separated by a wall and some small rooms in the middle. The most common sightings in the hospital wards are of people on the beds, old people, young people, people who are transparent and when looked at twice have gone the second time. A Matron supposedly walks the wards and does not take kindly to any comments about the bathrooms. This shower block (above left) is called the "evil" part of the Quarantine Station. It is thought some sort of sexual abuse took place in one of the corners of this eerie place that involved a small child, hence the "evil" title for the building. A common occurrence on the ghost tours is for one of the bulbs in the shower block to explode.
Two women who lived at the Station during the 1920's and 30's stated that they often saw a sailor at the window of the mortuary. The Morgue had such a habit of opening it's doors all the time, the Station were forced to install locks on the doors to stop the doors opening overnight. A small child with thick plaits is known as the resident ghost. It is not uncommon for her to join a tour and grab someone's hand or tug at their sleeve.
From the wharves ghostly noises of people disembarking from ships are quite often heard. The Wharf has mysteriously been burnt down 3 times. A ghostly man of Asian appearance complete with a long plait down his back appears quite regularly in the Asiatic quarters. Locked doors quite often cannot be unlocked or opened. When tried again by another person the doors open with ease. Lights are seen in some of the buildings that contain no electricity and have no one in them. Floating white figures are spotted around the verandas and compound. Both tourists and staff members have reported witnessing smoky or white apparitions floating across the front of their cars at night when driving home down the road that leads out of the Station.
UBD Map 218 Ref C 1
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James Busby High School, Busby
 The school was built in the 1960s as a temporary high school, but due to the area's population rapidly increasing, it has been made a permanent high school that still remains today. Reports surface from time to time of class room lights flashing of a night and of a ghost-like dog that chases people who take a short cut through the grounds of the school late at night. There is no record of anyone ever having met a tragic death at the school.
Xerts Restaurant, Darling Harbour
This restaurant is now closed, but not long after it had opened, a little boy died a few days after having his birthday party there. It was said that his ghost haunted the restaurant. Staff who worked there reported seeing a little boy riding a tricycle around the restaurant and staff that work nightshifts reported feeling a strange presence. The space-themed restaurant held rides and whoever wanted to get off had to put up their hand. Once a staff member saw someone put up their hand but no one was there. The ghost was said to be harmless and rarely seen by clients.
The Abbey, Annandale
This iconic 50-room gothic mansion, at 272 Johnston Street, Annaldale, is one of suburban Sydney's most famous homes. It is also said to be haunted by a lady in white who haunts the tower. Doors are said to open and windows close on their own, visitors catch glimpses of dark shadowy figures, and the Lady in White roams the halls.
This Victorian revivalist manor has been shrouded in secrecy since Freemason John Young spared no expense in building it to impress his wife in 1881. They never lived in the house, and the grand design of gables, arches, lions, gargoyles, chimneys, turrets, decorative Freemason symbols and gothic intricacies sat vacant, occupied only by housekeepers, while the ballroom and stables were a superior boarding house to private Sydney schools from 1887.
The house was subdivided and turned into flats in 1924. The grand old dame was rescued by Sydney surgeon Geoffrey Lancelot Davis, who paid £4500 cash for the house in 1959. Dr Davis leased out the flats to folksy artists while he began a lifetime of work to restore the creation. During the 1970s, ghost hunters would brave the night with ectoplasmic machines.
Studley Park House, Camden
Studley Park House, the centrepiece of Camden Golf Course, has long been regarded as one of Camden's most haunted buildings. The stories were spawned by several tragedies that occurred on the site, such as the drowning of a 14-year-old boy in the dam in 1909 and the death from appendicitis in 1939 of the son of then owner, Arthur Gregory, a sales manager for Twentieth Century Fox Australia, in the house's theatrette.
Staff of the company that repaired the roof in 2010, say they had no doubt the house was haunted. They discovered a hangman's noose dangling from inside the house's steeple. There have been reports of hearing voices in the roof, and a lady looking out of the window at night at a time the building was vacant. At another time, when the fire brigade was called to investigate a report of lights being on, they checked the mains and found they were switched off.
Studley Park House was built by Narellan grazier William Payne in 1889 for his bride but he ran into debt and sold it to an architect.
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Darlinghurst Gaol
In the 1820's, colonial architect Francis Greenway was commissioned to design a gaol that would overlook Sydney as a constant reminder that Sydney was a convict town. The walls of the jail were built by convicts from 1822-1824, and their marks are still visible.
Greenway's plans were used for the walls, but because he was an ex-convict, he was taken off the job and his plans for the buildings were not used. Instead, the jail was built using the plans of a jail in Philadelphia. The Plan of the Gaol was like the spokes of a wheel, with wings radiating from a central point leaving narrow segments of space between. Work began on the jail in 1835 and it took 50 years to finish.
During its long life, Darlinghurst Gaol hosted public executions on a makeshift gallows outside the main gate in Forbes Street, as well as regular "private" executions on the permanent gallows just inside the main walls near the intersection of Darlinghurst Road and Burton Street. Over 70 people were executed here including the bushranger "Captain Moonlight" (aka Andrew George Scott), Jimmy Governor (known as Jimmy Blacksmith in more recent times), and the last woman to hang in NSW, Louisa Collins.
In 1912 a new "model prison" at Long Bay was complete and the Darlinghurst establishment was transferred to this site. The old gaol buildings were used as an internment camp during WWI. After consideration the site was transferred in 1921, to the department of Education which has adapted the building for the use of the East Sydney Technical College.
According to interviews and records, Darlinghurst Gaol's ghostly activities began with the restoration of the TAFE. There are three known haunted rooms in the old Gaol buildings; one of them is a classroom, the place where prisoners were kept prior to hanging. TAFE security guards claim they often experience ghostly activity when doing their rounds of the buildings.
According to one security guard, the lights would come one and the doors would close by themselves. He claimed that at such times, there was a smell so bad it was hard to stay in the room. He said that in that area there is a ghost of an Asian lady who is looking for her husband who was a prisoner.
Near the staircase outside it is claimed there are about five spirits, which can be heard in the blue room knocking on the blackboard. Teachers have also reported ghostly encounters. One teacher who studied Tai Chi claims he saw a ghost in a men's toilet. Another reported a spirit followed him home all the way to Glebe Island Bridge.
Female Orphan's School, Parramatta
Originally home to hundreds of orphaned girls, and later to the deranged inmates of a lunatic asylum, the historic buildings hold many secrets. The Female Orphan School is located in the middle of University of Western Sydney Parramatta Campus. The University & Historical Society is restoring sections of it. The building is historically significant, being the first 3rd storey building in Australia. It was erected by Governor Macquarie between the years of 1813 and 1919. He was disturbed by the street urchins in Parramatta and built this charitable institution to house female orphans.
The first shipment of female orphans were 70 girls who arrived by boat on the nearby Parramatta river in June 1818. By 1829 there were 152 girls in a building designed for 100. Numbers in the 1830's averaged 170. Some of the children were orphans with no parents but many of the girls came from single parent families. Most were the children of convict is still under sentence. The girls were instructed in sewing, weaving, religion, writing, cooking, laundry and other domestic work.
In 1850 the Female Orphan School became co-educational as boys were moved in from Bonnyrigg. It was then renamed the Protestant Orphan School. The place was not run all that badly, the children did not suffer abuse and were treated quite well. However there were instances of children being chained to logs as punishment for climbing trees. Some girls were locked in the dark cellars underneath the orphanage as punishment, various diseases went through the Orphanage and wiped out a great number of children. These diseases included Scarlet Fever, Small Pox, Cholera, Whopping Cough and Influenza.
There are many reports of ghosts and ghostly happenings inside the old building. Many people touring it have reported hearing children's voices, seeing children and also having strange and unusual feelings when entering a room. The Matron's Bedroom seems to cause some problem with the occasional person not being able to enter or even walk near the place. Security guards have reported a "Whistler" ghost inside the building. The ghost apparently carries a happy whistling tune. It is believed he may be the ghost of the mortuary assistant who worked next door at the morgue. Security guards have also seen floating black figures outside the building that appear to float down the gravel road - along with a strange mist like substance that at times hangs over the Morgue in the early hours of the morning. Ghost Tours are conducted.
UBD Map 190 Ref L 15
Windsor Town
Macquarie Arms Hotel, Windsor
Picton, the colonial village of Windsor has plenty of localities that are reportedly haunted by the ghosts of past residents. The old convict graveyard, the Macquarie Arms Hotel, The Doctors House in Thompsons Square, The Old Bakery Shop and the Cellar Tavern Restaurant are all said to be haunted. At the Macquarie Arms the ghost is believed to be that of Reg Grimes, a convict who worked at The Arms. The doctors house is said to be haunted by four ghosts. One of these, called Veronica, is a tall lady wearing a green dress with hair almost down to her knees. She is said to be a mischievous spirit in the main house, where little insignificant things go missing. There is also said to be a presence in what used to be the surgery.
A ghost named Sarah is said to haunt in the cellar Restaurant. There is supposed to be another ghost in the bakery next door, that of a child, in a back room once used by convict children for labour, and abuse.
UBD Map 86 Ref G 9
Ghosts, Myths and Legends of the Hawkesbury
Prince Henry Hospital, Little Bay
 Established in 1881 The Prince Henry Hospital, originally called The Coast Hospital and changed to commemorate the visit in 1934 of HRH Henry, Duke of Gloucester, has a long and distinguished history. It was purposely built a considerable distance from the city of Sydney due to its founding mission to treat people with contagious disease, sitting as it does on 202 ha of sand dunes and rugged bushland by the ocean a short distance from Botany Bay.
Patients suffering from typhoid, leprosy, small pox and other communicable diseases suffered and died there in large numbers. Veterans of both world wars recuperated there from wounds and illness, nurses tending them were famous for their dedication. As the years passed and the threat of contagious disease receded with advancements in medicine, the hospital was upgraded and turned into a modern general hospital. It has its own cemetery, abandoned and overgrown it contains well over 1000 people, many patients who died in the hospital in the early days are buried there.
Coastal Cemetery in the grounds of Prince Henry Hospital where many who died here are buried
The ghost of a matron called Gracie is said to haunt the hospital, in life she was a neurotic woman who would immediately wash herself after being touched or bumping into someone. She is said to have died in B Block under mysterious circumstances, believed to have fallen down a disused lift well. Her ghost is regularly seen in B Block, now called the Delaney Ward.
Patients report being tendered to by a mysterious nurse with an old fashioned white veil, she tops up glasses of water - adjusts blankets on cold nights and has placed bed pans under patients and removed them after use. Although the patients don't know she is a ghost, nurses do and some are terrified of her, even though Gracie isn't considered an evil presence she projects an aura of authority which nurses instinctively respond to with subordinate fear. Often when Gracie's ghost is seen the clocks in the area stop functioning, their hands pointing to 2 o'clock.
The ghost of an aboriginal boy mischievously haunts the stairs of B Block, tripping nurses and others who use them. Sometimes seen sitting at the foot of the stairs giggling, his cheeky presence causes unease to many using them. An unidentified man is said to walk the corridors at night. Described a sinister presence, his apparition has never been seen but its shadow has, accompanied by heavy footsteps it drifts across the walls.
UBD Map 297 Ref D 11
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Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
 Built between 1817 and 1819, the Hyde Park Barracks, Macquarie Street, Sydney once housed 900 convicts before becoming an Immigration Depot and an Asylum. From housing mental asylum patients to somewhere convicts could call home, so its fitting that its home to more than one spectre. Now a museum, the barracks is reputed to have quite a few resident ghosts, including a faceless woman in white and a group of menacing convicts.
UBD Map 3 Ref L 3
Paranormal photographs
Fishers Ghost, Campbelltown
The legend of Fisher's ghost is a popular Australian story dating to the early 19th century. It arose from a series of historical events which occurred in Campbelltown, that at the time a remote rural outpost.
 A Campbelltown farmer named Fred Fisher left his home on 17th June 1826 and was never seen again - alive that is. His friend and neighbour George Worrall claimed that Fisher had returned to England, and that before departing had given him power of attorney over his property and general affairs. Later, Worrall claimed that Fisher had written to him to advise that he was not intending to return to Australia, and giving his farm to Worrall.
Four months after Fisher's disappearance a respectable local man named John Farley, ran into the local hotel in a very agitated state. He told the astonished patrons that he had seen the ghost of Fred Fisher sitting on the rail of a nearby bridge. Farley related that the ghost had not spoken, but had merely pointed to a paddock beyond the creek, before disappearing.
Initially Farley's tale was dismissed, but the circumstances surrounding Fisher's disappearance eventually aroused sufficient suspicion that a police search of the paddock to which the ghost had pointed was undertaken - during which the remains of the murdered Fisher were discovered buried by the side of a creek. George Worrall was arrested for the crime, confessed, and subsequently hanged. Fred Fisher, whose lands he had coveted, was buried in the cemetery at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Campbelltown.
The legend of Fisher's ghost has since entered popular folklore, and is celebrated during Campbelltown's annual Fisher's Ghost Festival which commences early November concluding mid month. The creek beside which the body was discovered is known as Fisher's Ghost Creek.
UBD Map 346 Ref H 6
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Asquith Girls High School
 At night, strange noises are heard near the hall and oval of the school. People who’ve heard these noises say that they heard screams of teenage girls and younger. Various people say that they’ve been hit or nearly hit by large objects from off the top of the roof, such as bricks and roof tiles.
East Hills
A small creek that enters the Georges River near the corner of Lucas Road and Henry Lawson Drive is said by some to be haunted by an old local fisherman. The man is said to have been a loner whose only companion was his blue heeler dog. He kept to himself and like to avoid contact with people. He would regularly be seen scavenging for bait in the creek. Then he mysteriously disappeared and wasn’t seen again.
Many locals have reported that they have seen the old man round the creek especially with the occurrence of a full moon and report hearing a dog howling at night in the creek, but no dog is seen.
St. Columba's School, Springwood
 Long before it was a school, St Columba's in Springwood was a seminary. A priest in training once jumped off the bell tower and died. People who have been in the school at night claim to have seen a figure up on the bell tower, preparing to jump the four stories down. Also, people who have been by themselves have reported being touched, or not being able to open doors, and feeling cold for no reason. Local Aboriginals have always felt that there was as strange presence in the grounds and have shown a reluctance to go there.
Kingsgrove Scout Hall, Shackel Avenue
A derelict scout hall in Shackel Avenue was reported to have been haunted since 1999 is a man is said to have been murdered and buried underneath the hall. It is said that at night a ghost of what looks like a man with one arm could be seen.
University of Sydney Zoologogical Department
 The ghost of Scottish-born Australian zoologist William Aitcheson Haswell (1854-1925), who specialised in crustaceans, is said to haunt the University of Sydney Zoologogical Department. In 1882 he was appointed demonstrator, and later, lecturer, in the subjects of zoology, comparative anatomy, and histology at the University.
When the Challis professorship of biology was founded in 1889, Haswell was given the position and held it until its division in 1913. Haswell then became professor of zoology, but resigned his office at the end of 1917 and was appointed professor emeritus. He continued doing research work until shortly before his death from heart disease at Sydney on 24 January 1925. Zoology Department - University of Sydney - where 'old Haswell', Scottish-born Professor William Haswell, It is said that Haswell still keeps a watchful eye over the department.
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