Ghost Stories

The Supreme Court of Tasmania, Australia is the oldest in the country. Established by the Royal Letters Patent, construction began in 1823 and opened its doors almost a year later. It falls around the middle of Australian court hierarchy, hearing civil and most serious criminal matters. The first Chief Justice was Sir Joseph Pedder. The first counsel to appear before the court was Joseph Tice Gellibrand who became Tasmania's first Attorney-General and William Sorell as first Registrar of the Court. The first trial brought before the Court was the case of William Tibbs. He was tried on May 28, 1824 for shooting a black man named John Jackson who later died. He was convicted of manslaughter, receiving 3 years of transportation. The Court remained busy throughout its early years. Between 1826 and 1842, a total of 203 criminals were sentenced to be hanged (37 performed in the execution yard). In total, 75,000 criminals passed through Tasmania Supreme Court. However in 1860, the Holy ...

The Pyderrairme people were the traditional owners of the area. However, Port Arthur settlement in Tasmania was first established as a small timber station in 1830, replacing the timber camp at Birches Bay. The colony soon morphed in to a penal station housing British and Irish second offenders after arriving in Australia. It was advertised much like Alcatraz as an inescapable prison. And much like Alcatraz, convicts proved how arrogant they were. Many prisoners found ways to escape to freedom. Manufactures such as ship building, shoemaking, smithing, timber and brick making were also established. After a suggestion years prior, a flour mill and granary was constructed in 1842 and completed three years later. It housed a storehouse, wheel, machinery and a treadmill capable of taking up to 56 convicts at once. It's purpose was to satisfy the wants of the Convict Department as well as provide surplus for export. However, the infrastructure bringing the water to the wheel loss water...

In times of poor sanitary conditions and contagious illnesses, many are pushed to act. Waverly Hills was created to handle the tuberculosis epidemic in the United States. In Australia, fresh off a ship, you would face the Quarantine Station. To prevent diseases such as small pox, Spanish influenza and bubonic plague, the Quarantine Act was passed in 1832. Because of its maritime convenience and isolation, North Head, Australia was seen as the perfection location to establish the Quarantine Station. Healthy or not, residents were isolated for months. At its busiest days, eight ships moored off of Quarantine Beach. The Station ran out of accommodations, forcing residents to camp out on the surrounding hill in unsanitary conditions. Those well enough were called upon to clear surrounding bushland and construct hospital and residential buildings. The Quarantine Station contains its own post office, power supply, water reservoir, hospital, morgue, telephone exchange and paved streets ...

The interesting thing about how this vampire-like creature in Australian Aborigine lore is not his appearance. Sure a four-feet tall red, hairy man-like creature with a rather large head, no teeth and octopus-like suckers on its fingers toes may turn a few heads, but I think its eating habits are a bit more strange. A Yara-Ma-Yha-Who doesn't hunt for food. He patiently waits in a fig tree for food comes to him. He pounces on a person when they walk under the tree and sucks most of their blood with his suckers, leaving just enough to keep them alive. But this is only the beginning of its torturous methods. After a little workout, he returns to his victim and lies on the ground, facing them. Then, he crawls to them and swallows them whole like a snake and does a little dance to jiggle the body down to his stomach. The Yara-Ma-Yha-Who regurgitates his victim who is usually still alive. At this point it would be best if you just played dead. He'll test to see if his victim is s...