THE ?ghost? of Werribee Park Mansion features in an exhibition, Spooks: Stories of Haunted Melbourne, coming to the City Museum in the Old Treasury building.
Curator Simon Gregg said the exhibition was ?believed to be the first of its kind in the world? allegedly providing documentary evidence that ghosts prowl the Princess Theatre, Como House, the Old Melbourne Gaol, Parliament House, the State Library, MCG, the National Gallery of Victoria and Werribee Park Mansion.
There will be photographs, film and audio representing years of field research from respected paranormal investigators including Ghost Hunters of Australia.
?I?ve seen the films and images, and some are very spooky indeed,? Mr Gregg said.
?I can?t explain them ... there?s some pretty weird things out there.
?We won?t be releasing these images until the exhibition starts and I?m looking forward to seeing the response of visitors.?
The Spooks exhibition, from 4 July to 26 August, will showcase objects and ephemera supporting the stories of ghosts of people ranging from lauded citizens to hardened criminals. Visitors will be invited to make up their own minds on whether these people from the past do indeed appear beyond the grave. The haunting presence at Werribee Park Mansion is said to be one of two people, or indeed both of them.
Thomas Chirnside, one of the two brothers who built the stately residence, suffered depression and committed suicide by shooting himself in the laundry in 1887.
His restless spirit is thought by many to be still roaming the mansion.
He was said to carry a torch for Mary, his brother Andrew?s wife, a love that remained unrequited.
In the early 1900s, Mary met a tragic end when her hair caught fire from the flame of a candle she was holding and she perished.
Romantics believe they could be together as ghosts in the after-life.
The pioneering brothers came out from Scotland and built a sheep-farming empire. They completed construction of the 60-room Italianate mansion in 1877.
Darren Done, of Ghost Hunters of Australia, said he and 10 other members investigated buildings said to be haunted to find answers to the strange goings-on reported.
The group uses high-tech equipment including an EMF (electro-magnetic field) detector to measure changes in the environment, a laser to measure any sudden change in temperature, infra-red night vision equipment and a parabolic mike that can pick up whispers 100 metres away.
?Allegedly, if there?s a rise in the energy level, there may be a paranormal event about to take place. With temperature, most people think the air would get cold if a ghost appears, but we look for both rises and falls,? Mr Done said.
?I actually describe myself as an open-minded sceptic. We try to rationalise incidents and indeed we can 97 per cent of the time.?
?But there?s 3 per cent that?s pretty interesting. So do ghosts exist?
?I wish I had a dollar for every time I?m asked that question. I think there?s definitely something there, but putting a label on it is the tricky part. Is it a ghost or some branch of science that?s not fully understood yet??
One incident, though, stands out in Mr Done?s mind.
Camped out overnight in the Old Melbourne Gaol in 2003, he and another investigator were sitting quietly, monitoring, when they both heard a woman?s voice say, ?Help me?.
The following day, officials said this was impossible because there had been no female prisoners in that part of the gaol. Mr Done insisted they check again.
?Sure enough, they found there had been a prisoner, Lucy, who died in 1865 ? on exactly the same day of the year, June 21, that we heard the voice,? he said.
http://www.starnewsgroup.com.au/story/43382
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