Old Melbourne Gaol

When

since 1845 date from records made at the time

Where

Old Melbourne Gaol, Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Verdict

Legend

In the gaol where Ned Kelly was hanged, security guards hear cell doors slam at night and the jangle of keys no one is holding.

What happened

The gaol on Russell Street in central Melbourne operated from 1845 to 1924. A total of 133 people were hanged on its gallows, among them Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly, on 11 November 1880, and the serial killer Frederick Bailey Deeming in 1892. After it closed, part of the site went to what is now RMIT University, and the rest became a museum in 1972, now run by the National Trust. Today it hosts night-time ghost tours and ‘ghost hunts’. According to accounts published in 2023, security guards patrolling the bluestone corridors at night have heard cell doors slamming and a ring of keys jangling with no one holding it. Three people complained that something pulled their hair near cell 13. The guide Janet Watson Kruse described how, during a night tour in October 2023, her whole group heard footsteps, one after another, on the walkway above them, though no one was there. The apparitions reported most often are said to look like old warders.

Witnesses

Museum security guards, the guide Janet Watson Kruse and night-tour participants (accounts gathered by Anna Houlahan in 2023).

Explanations and hypotheses

The history of the gaol and its executions is well known; the ghost stories are anecdotes from staff and visitors. Dr Tom Aechtner, a religion scholar at the University of Queensland, notes that people tend to assume a hidden agent behind random events, and that belief in ghosts offers answers where there are none. Echoes in stone corridors, old structures settling and the atmosphere of a night tour account for many of the sounds described.

Legend A story handed down through generations – it can be neither confirmed nor disproved.

Sources

More: Wikipedia (en)