Geelong Gaol Ghost Tour, VIC

James Ross was sentenced to death, by Supreme Court Judge, Sir William A'Beckett after his trial divulged the horrendous accounts of his criminal acts, including murdering his own child, another lady and leaving his wife for dead. The wife recovered, but not without lasting physical and emotional damage. It was determined Ross did not show sincere regret and upon his execution, the world would be a better place without such a 'monster.'

A worthy contender for our most standout adventure, not because we actually saw ghosts, we didn't, although we both believe to have felt something around our ankles in the kitchen, but for the impressive theatrical story telling by our guide. The tour lead as to many different sections of the bluestone build, that was opened in 1853, housing 150 inmates and even outside into the grounds where Shovel was given a demonstration of the 'cat of nine tails' a lashing apparatus, a knotted whip if you will, often embedded with broken glass or scrap tin to apply the most brutal trauma to a convict or prisoner's back, in the form of scratches like a cat claw might elicit. A tripod whipping post was erected on the grounds of the gaol near a side entrance. The gate was then opened for passes by to witness the inexplicable flogging. One notorious resident of the gaol was Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read who was a prisoner of the maximum security, HM Prison Geelong, now referred to as the Old Geelong Gaol, in the mid to late 1980's before its closure in 1991. Chopper has said on several occasions prior to his death in 2013 that Geelong Gaol would be the last place he would like to return back to. Even during his tenure living conditions within the gaol were crude and harsh with open air windows, no heating and minimal electricity. There was also Frederick "Josh" Clark who is said to still haunt the gaol to this day. Josh was an infamous criminal that spent the majority of his 74 years in one gaol or another. He died whilst severing yet another sentence at Geelong Gaol in 1904, this ending the career of one of Victoria's most "decorated" criminals. The mate of notorious gangster "Squizzy" Taylor, Angus Murray escaped from HM Prison Geelong in 1923, by climbing down the side of the building using knotted sheets to a waiting car where he was reuniting with his gangster mate back in Melbourne, before going onto shot a Mr Berriman in a Glenferrie bank that same year. Interesting to note, Squizzy's wife, Ida 'Babe' Pender, later became a patient of the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, which we have also visited. The architecture of the Gaol is impressive and well worth a visit just to admire the brilliance of the artisan stonemasons  and convicts that painstakingly carved each block of basalt and to see the gaol in its original glory before it is redeveloped. The Geelong Gaol was purchased in mid 2018, have a read of this news article for more details.