Altona Homestead Spooks: Altona VIC

[KANACKI]

Victoria has its fair share of hidden gems in regards to haunted historic houses. Or perhaps its like all pubs a necessary must for all historic pubs must have a ghost?

The following above Altona Homestead is alleged to be haunted by a ghost or two? Where does facts begin and where does fiction end. Such is the mysteries of such haunted places you never quite know for sure?

The story goes In 1909 Mr. Edward Goodson a homeless man was found murdered at Altona Homestead. It has been alleged that he still haunts the house still seeking justice for his demise. But it appears he may not be alone because it is believed that another ghost also haunts the fine old historic house?

In 1868, the original owners, the Langhorne family, brought with them from England, the body of their deceased daughter Alice who had died from diphtheria in 1854. The had loved their daughter so much who died in England brought her dead body to Australia to buried in their new family crypt as symbolic measure the family had uplifted from England in sorrow from their sad death of their daughter to their new country. A connection from  their past life in England to their new life in Australia.

Did this deceased spirit of young girl travel with her mortal remains or had she passed on? Some care takers of property beg to differ? They allege witnessing a tea trolley in the old house as if being pushed by some one? Was it the ghost who emigrated?

If so we could perhaps imagine some rather strange firsts?

Here is a picture of the house below. For those guests who cannot sea it I suggest signing up to the forum
 as you will get to peek at many amazing historical properties around Australia alleged to have be haunted.

Of course old Kanacki had to dig a little deeper....

To be continued....

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

Looking through various historic newspapers I could as yet not find a reference to this alleged death of a homeless person.

However I try to look again.

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

 I get quite miffed  reading on various internet sites  so Called Ghost tours with pseudo history to flog to unsuspecting punters. While all ghost stories in some respect are taken on good faith, And I believe there is room for them. But tours conducted with very poor research really destroys the credibility of such tours.

I really believe the ghost tour industry needs a serious overhaul.

Searching deep into the two key ghosts of the house the dead vagrant and possibly the dead resurrected daughter. Real history tell a some what different story.

Altona had its first settler soon after in Alfred Langhorne, a nephew of Captain Lonsdale, who, after obtaining a pastoral lease of 248 acres from the N.S.W. Government in 1836 (Victoria was part of N.S.W. until 1851) settled there by 1842 and built the first portion of the “Homestead” in what is now Queen Street, Altona. The area was known as Laverton. This homestead first appears on a map of 1842.

From “Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip” we learn that Alfred Langhorne was born in 1817, travelled overland (presumably from the Sydney area) to Dandenong in 1836, and was overseer for Captain Lonsdale in 1838. He married (Sarah) the same year, then settled at Altona. The pastoral lease was Laverton (Truganina).Soon after settling, Langhorne leased large areas of land, so that by 1849 he held 12,488 acres, or 19 1/2 square miles. He bought his first block of 40 acres in 1850 for £176 ($352). Over the succeeding years he purchased more land, including Wrede’s block, so that at his death in 1874 he owned about four square miles.

Over the years the “Homestead” was enlarged, so that by the turn of the century it had assumed its present size, with out-buildings since demolished. It seems also that the Homestead was probably known as “Altona” at least as early as 1861, possibly because of the German ancestry of the Langhorne family, dating back to the days of Oliver Cromwell in the 1 600’s, when the family emigrated to England.

Alfred Langhorne married and had his children it appears in Australia. He never brought a dead daughter of from England.?

As for the dead vagrant I shave seen no record in historic newspapers of a man by the name Edward Goodson murdered at Altona?

These stories are not spectral events but a out and out sham by opportunistic fraudsters using a historic properties to market scam tours to get the public to part with money.

While the house indeed is a very historic property and worth a visit in its own right. But fleecing members of pubic with pseudo history and stories of ghosts clearly not there is just plain fraud.

Kanacki

[Simon2]

KANACKI, I almost missed this one, but glad I kept a copy of Posts I hadn't read.

As I was reading another well researched Post, my spirit, as it sometimes does, was ahead of me and in the house looking through for other spirits, but as you said, my spirit could not find any spirits.

What the spirit did find and my physical-self confirmed, was energy, both positive and in a couple of rooms, negative energy.

So, I must agree with your findings.

The issue my spirit had, was that it was not able to check the whole purchased and leased areas as, over the ensuing years housing, roads, etc., built over the large area, thereby making it difficult to see spirits directly attributed to the initial timeframe, which the two spirits were supposed to occupy.

[KANACKI]

Hello Simon

Regardless I would still encourage people to visit even if only for its true historic ambiance.

Kanacki

[Simon2]

Oh KANACKI, I am so sad that I cannot physically research, at least, your Posts in NSW only.

It is like an "itch that I am unable to scratch".

I am now totally reliant on my wife (mainly) and my children sometimes and they just won’t take me to visit some Sydney suburb's, but I understand their individual positions.

"Such Is Life" LOL

[KANACKI]

Hello Simon

I am sad to hear your loss of mobility. Many of places I write about these days I cannot go either. Yet you can go there in spirit like in my case via research to at least get some visual interpretation of such a place although limited from actually being it does help you build a picture of the site, history and events surrounding such haunting.

Kanacki

[Simon2]

Yes KANACKI, I would think that, given the very lengthy research and writing you do, your spirit would certainly get an ability to visit some of the sites, particularly the really lengthy researched Posts.

The feedback you would get would vary, but none the less, it would certainly give you a picture of such Sites/Posts.

[KANACKI]

Hello Simon

Yes just by researching various haunted sites you can build up a picture of tragic events behind such alleged hauntings. Some are of course more compelling than others yet all in their own ways are interesting. It is jaunting into mind and human soul that is interesting.

Kanacki

[Simon2]

Quite correct, we can both use our skills we have rather than worrying about things we cannot change.

This applies to all the Stories you have Posted, some of which I already have either visited or been visited spiritually.

I will concentrate on building this attribute, that I have totally under-utilised.

[KANACKI]

That is the problem with ghost stories some are just urban myths that grow and ingrain their stories into our haunted Folklore.

Kanacki