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Commercial Ghost Tours, New Age Shops and Readers in your area => Victoria => Topic started by: Christine on June 09, 2005, 05:34:59 PM
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MELBOURNE CEMETERY TOURS
Click here to visit website and for more information.
Run by Helen D. Harris OAM and Jan Davidson.
They have run tours of Melbourne Cemetery for over 15 years.
The have an extensive knowledge of the history of the Cemetery and the characters who rest there today.
Bookings Essential Phone: (03) 9890 9288 or (03) 9872 5492.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~hdharris/cemetery.html
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when i was in melbourne, my friend ask me if we would go to melbourne cemetary without ghost tour, it amazing to see all these old tombstone that dated back in 1850 something like that. i didnt know why i was there with my friend because my friend said she always believe there is spirit around in this cemetary.
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Does anyone know of any Ballarat old cemetary tours which operate like this Melbourne one?
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Yes the Historical Society run them occasionally. But all she does is read from a sheet of paper. She can't answer any questions. A few of us have done it and it was pretty bad. She hurries you along, doesn't like you to talk or linger etc and missed some very important graves as well because they weren't on her sheet.
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Hmmm thanks for that. Definitely sounds like not the type of thing I was looking for, would you recommend it though as a good beginning step in cemetary exploration?
Cheers
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Do you collect cemetary pics too Kali, or is it the history your interested in?
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It is probably worth travelling in to the Melbourne Cemetery for their tour, it is very good.
I felt like I was on a bad school excursion at the Ballarat one.lol
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LOL I've had enough bad school excursions to not want a repeat. I'm really into the history and also the anthropological perspective. That's my personal passion. The Melbourne one sounds worth doing, I'm not sure I could talk any of my friends into it though as they are all career people and much too level headed for such escapades. ::) Odd that people view a fascination with dead people or places as morbid, my own health issues (I have a blood disorder) haven't helped though as they hate to think of me and death in the same scenario. :-\
Anyways, thanks for the advice.
Cheers
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No worries Kali..
I daresay if you wanted a group from here would meet up with you for the Melbourne one. I can put it together if you like?
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odd the way different people think about death.
i'm not saying you should look forward to it, but it's a fact and it's coming and we never know when, so ignoring it is a big boo-boo in my opinion.
i'm most amused by the romantic associations people have with death more than a morbid obsession - although some of the people around me might disagree..... :)
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imho..... :-\
Death is a part of life..... :)
Part of the cycle of life... :)
Not something to be feared..... :-\
It is a natural progression..... 8)
The end of one journey and the beginning of another...... :)
How exciting.....
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It is a natural progression..... 8)
The end of one journey and the beginning of another...... :)
Yes, Awake-ning that is the way I am choosing to view it too. I'm not in a hurry to go but when I do I WILL be going softly into that good night. Mostly because I have made peace with my own mortality now, and also to make it as easy as I can for those I will be leaving behind.
Well Gary I can't say I'm ignoring my own as my funeral is all planned and paid for, and it's going to be one huge party. lol
What do you mean by romantic associations people have with deaf though?
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The whole 'end' thing I suppose. In order to cope with death, many people seem to turn it into a kind of ghastly exception. Every culture has, for example, a 'Grim Reaper' character who personifies death. He's not always black or skeletal, and he's not always HE - some has a female 'collector of souls'. The good old funeral march, the concept that people lay in their coffins 'waiting' for something to get them out - forgetting that their bits have fallen off by then. Even ideas such as the 'afterlife' in heaven being just like this one. What (i always want to ask) are they going to do with their bottom in heaven? Will they still vacate their bowels? Will it smell like roses? what about sex? Will they do it? Will they have babies? If not, will there be men and women and will there be a difference? What's the point of a fireman's hose unless you are going to get hot? People have such odd (and amusing I am ashamed to say) ideas about death which tickle me.
I have a story (not finished yet) about life in the cemetary. well, life after death anyway. I dont for a minute think its anything but an amusing story but some people might almost believe it.
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Gary I truly cannot wait for that!
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Cool when will it be finished??? HUh HUh???? Pant pant
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Oops I missed that typo above. Deaf/death.
The whole 'end' thing I suppose. In order to cope with death, many people seem to turn it into a kind of ghastly exception. Every culture has, for example, a 'Grim Reaper' character who personifies death. He's not always black or skeletal, and he's not always HE - some has a female 'collector of souls'. The good old funeral march...
Interesting points Gary. I think you summed it up with "in order to cope".
Invariably death comes to us all, but it is generally something with which we have absolutely no control, and should we attempt to control it, i.e. suicide, euthanasia etc we are seen as being 'wrong'. The fascination with death IMHO largely stems from it being an unknown. Everything in our realities goes through a cognitive familiarisation such as death = decay, cold, coffin, dirt = black, sinister etc. So, the grim reaper type thing is a symbol for the reality of death and burial.
Personally I think mankind does a good job in coping with something that is not only an unknown but is a given for us all. If I had my way I would choose my time and go out on a pyre, however, here in Australia that is not allowed so I have to instead make plans that not only fit with me but also can afford my family and friends the opportunity to have closure. That is what funerals are about, closure for those left behind.
Romanticism, as you call it, is a persons attempt to draw comfort in the reconciliation of their loved ones death and reality, but in that I find beauty instead of reason to scoff.
With all due respect Gary, where you see humour I see love; and I feel sorry for those who are unable to appreciate the intricacy of the human spirit.
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Dont get me wrong Kali, I see humour in the attitudes I mentioned but these are not the ones that people feel when death touches them.
When that great change touches the lives of people, there is often much sadness and feelings of loss. THEN, various religious beliefs come into play to help them cope. There's nothing there I find humorous. Grief is tragic and far from being amused, I have a tendancy to empathize to the worst extent. I can actually be traumatized by the loss of someone I hardly know - just through being exposed to the grief of their relatives that I also hardly know!
I was talking about attitudes that occur further back in the life-stream.
It is the 'times are ok, we are getting on' approach to death that is romantic. When no-one is sick or dying (or lately dead) we devise all sorts of emotional protections which are amusing to me. It is not 'in order to cope' with death - but in fact 'in order to cope' with the UNCERTAINTY of death. There is a difference, but I was probably totally misleading in my previous post. People do not, generally, talk of the Grim Reaper when they or someone is dying, only when everyone is healthy!
My idea of a good 'end' is a) to be minced up for pet food and b) for everyone who knows me to carry on as though i had just gone out for the day. No funeral. BUT funerals, as you have rightly pointed out, are for the living. I may introduce some individualities into mine but essentially it must be what my surviving friends, relations (or failing those then enemies) might want.
Hopefully that is a little clearer.
ps. i have to attend a funeral on tuesday coming for the husband of a lady I know and it's going to be very traumatic. Prior to his death I just finished making a short film about - yep! - the grim reaper! The film was conceived and finished before 'it' happened or was likely to happen.
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I am critisized by family for not visiting the grave of my gran, who has been dead about 5 years now. I see no point in going, its not like shes there! They go and weed and cry and morn, Tomcat too, visits his parents grave, takes flowers, so that the groundsman can multch them in in a couple of days. I really find this hard to understand.
I would like my ashes scattered on the wind, I would hate people crying over a patch of ground that has no relevance to me at all, not to mention the family having to bare the cost of the upkeep. Seems a waste to me!
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but it's what some people need ce. i dont mean those who've passed on, i mean those who are left. it's a focal point. it gives them a connection. Some who pass on actually get stuck in that connection - which is sad.
for me, it's a place to stick my left over bits, and as ive said - the best place for that is Chunky Chum Chow for Dogs. :)
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Dont get me wrong Kali, I see humour in the attitudes I mentioned but these are not the ones that people feel when death touches them.
Ah thanks for the clarification Gary. I was under the impression you viewed all as humorous. I was also a bit touchy and defensive in that post so I apologise for that. I do understand what you are saying with the clarification, but then I tend to view the world through rose coloured glasses and see most everything as 'sweet' or 'adorable' or some equally sickening word. :-}
I would hate people crying over a patch of ground that has no relevance to me at all...
I agree catseyes, my family want it though and I conceded because it's really only a ritual to me but in the funeral it will be emphasised that I'm not there by the inclusion of Maya's poem... do not stand at my grave and weep for I am not there...
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kali, you have nothing to apologize for :)
And it is to your credit that you can see good about you so much. It makes you even more a pleasure to know.
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*claps* for Gary and Kali!
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Does the Melbourne Cemetery have a full moon tour? Or am I thinking of a completely different tour? It would be really worth going to if they did! ;)
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I dont think they do.
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Oh bummer, never mind!
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Is the melbourne cemetery the one in carlton?
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Yes.
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I think there could be night tours. The National Trust are the people to contact to obtain more accurate information re this.
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There used to a be a company called White Hat Tours and they used to run these cemetery tours. Not sure if they still do or not.
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Has anyone been on a tour of the Melbourne Cemetery and what did you think of it?
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No I haven't
Did you see the cemetary in the movie Ghost Rider?
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Yes we did it a few years ago and it was pretty good..
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http://members.ozemail.com.au/~hdharris/cemetery.html
Run by Helen D. Harris OAM and Jan Davidson.
They have run tours of Melbourne Cemetery for over 15 years.
The have an extensive knowledge of the history of the Cemetery and the characters who rest there today.
Bookings Essential
Phone: (03) 9890 9288
or (03) 9872 5492.
Email: hdharris@ozemail.com.au
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I am going on the night tour tonight, will let you know how it goes.
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This is one tour I would love to go on..
Have fun Julie.
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I would also like to know how the tour is, sounds interesting.
Enjoy
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It ended up being a different tour (Mum booked it) it was the Death in Melbourne tour run by the CAE. I will post something tomorrow about it.
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sounds good...
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hmmm, sounds interesting! look forward to it :)
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Don't they have ghost tours as well?
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Did they tell you about MacGregor Greer?
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Waiting on a report Julie... lol ;) :)
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No, I don't remember that name.
We started off at the church at the corner of Batman and King. It was the first church in Melbourne and was moved to that position from Collins Street. The first burial service was held there for a young child that died. He was later buried on Flagstaff Hill now part of Flagstaff Gardens.
At the time the hill was considered a long way out of Melbourne. 8 people were buried on the hill before the decision was made to create a cemetery where Queen Victoria market carpark stands today.
While there is a monument commemorating the 8 graves, it is not know if the remains were moved.
The guide had photographs and sketches showing Melbourne in its early years and one in particular showed the entire brick wall around the old Melbourne Cemetery. Only one wall stands today and it is part of the QVM, the back wall of the middle shops.
When the cemetery was full, the leaders decided to move it to Carlton, which was considered even further away. This was partly because they wanted to expand the market next door, there were no supermarkets and it was where Melbourne bought their food and money was to be made. Some headstones are now at Fawkner cemetary and some remains, but the rest are still under the carpark ashphalt today.
He gave us maps of the outlay of the cemetery as it was and he gave us each a piece of paper with a transcription of a tombstone and we were to find the location of grave in the carpark and then read out the epitaph to the group. He felt it was a way of keeping the memory alive of the pioneers - as long as someone remembers/acknowledges them, they existed.
He took us to the area where the suicides and executed were buried and we talked about the two first execution victims in Melbourne, two freedom fighter aboriginals.
I had heard a bit of this history on the Haunted Melbourne Ghost Tour, but this was a lot more detailed.
I have a story to tell about the two executed freedom fighters, but I have a little bit more research I want to do.
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He tried to shoot his wife and her lover at the Exhibition Centre in Melbourne.
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This is getting way off topic
but julie are you talking about Bob and Jack ?
somebody was asking about ballarat cemetery tours do a search for the eureka celebrations held in december each year you can usually get a daytime tour around the old cem then
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The ones run by the Historical Society are very factual and rather boring. They don't answer questions because they aren't on their script. A new mob run them too now, but having thought their ghost tour sucked, I can imagine their cemetery tour is just as woeful.
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I will die if I visit that cemetery. So many things to photograph, so little brain to cope with that fact.....
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The Chinese part is great too.