norfolk island ghost tour adventure
Norfolk Island Ghost Tour adventure
If you were to Google " Most haunted islands in the world", Norfolk Island comes up as the third on the list.
Join Daniel Phillips and Judith Dunn AO, two of Australia's leading freelance historians, with a team of Norfolk Island's best local experts, on a 5 day, blood curdling, spine tingling, unforgettable adventure, in one of the world's most haunted places.
Welcome to the 19th century's " Hell in Paradise"...
Originally settled as a potential source of raw materials for making masts, sails and rope for naval ships, Norfolk Island's isolation (over 1600 kilometres from Sydney, Australia) in the Pacific Ocean made it " a place to send “the worst description of convicts”. Its remoteness, seen previously as a disadvantage, was now viewed as an asset for the detention of the “twice-convicted” men, who had committed further crimes since arriving in New South Wales.
Governor Brisbane, the sixth governor of Australia, was instructed to create the Norfolk Island penal colony, that would strike even more fear into the hearts of potential 19th century English villains. He assured his masters in England that “the felon who is sent there is forever excluded from all hope of return”. He saw Norfolk Island as “the nec plus ultra ( "nothing further beyond") of convict degradation”. In other words - this place was meant from the start, to destroy the spirit and bodies of those sent there. The convicts detained were meant to be the hardcore of recidivists, or 'doubly-convicted capital respites' . That is, men transported to Australia (in preference to a death sentence), who committed fresh colonial crimes for which they were sentenced to death, (again) and were spared the gallows on condition of life at Norfolk Island.
According to later governors of New South Wales “every man should be worked in irons that the example may deter others from the commission of crime” and “to hold out [Norfolk Island] as a place of the extremest punishment short of death”. Governor Arthur, in Van Diemen's Land, likewise believed that “when prisoners are sent to Norfolk Island, they should on no account be permitted to return. Transportation thither should be considered as the ultimate limit and a punishment short only of death”.
As a result, Norfolk Island gained a world wide reputation as "Hell on Earth". While originally only meant for recidivists, as time went on overflow of prisoners from other parts of the colony of New South Wales, who had not committed violent crimes, found themselves sent into the intentionally cruellest place on earth - including children, who were preyed on by older convicts. With a deliberate intention of being as harsh as possible, ( at a time where normal life would be considered incredibly spartan and harsh by today's standards,) the amount of violence, rape, depravity, disease, death, and sheer misery, has resulted in a paranormal "perfect storm".
As a result, there are many places that residents of the island avoid at night. Stories abound of residual hauntings, poltergeist activity, and the unexplained. Nearly every long term resident family on the island has their own story to tell, of either direct experience, or members of their families having been profoundly affected by a paranormal event.
Governor Brisbane, the sixth governor of Australia, was instructed to create the Norfolk Island penal colony, that would strike even more fear into the hearts of potential 19th century English villains. He assured his masters in England that “the felon who is sent there is forever excluded from all hope of return”. He saw Norfolk Island as “the nec plus ultra ( "nothing further beyond") of convict degradation”. In other words - this place was meant from the start, to destroy the spirit and bodies of those sent there. The convicts detained were meant to be the hardcore of recidivists, or 'doubly-convicted capital respites' . That is, men transported to Australia (in preference to a death sentence), who committed fresh colonial crimes for which they were sentenced to death, (again) and were spared the gallows on condition of life at Norfolk Island.
According to later governors of New South Wales “every man should be worked in irons that the example may deter others from the commission of crime” and “to hold out [Norfolk Island] as a place of the extremest punishment short of death”. Governor Arthur, in Van Diemen's Land, likewise believed that “when prisoners are sent to Norfolk Island, they should on no account be permitted to return. Transportation thither should be considered as the ultimate limit and a punishment short only of death”.
As a result, Norfolk Island gained a world wide reputation as "Hell on Earth". While originally only meant for recidivists, as time went on overflow of prisoners from other parts of the colony of New South Wales, who had not committed violent crimes, found themselves sent into the intentionally cruellest place on earth - including children, who were preyed on by older convicts. With a deliberate intention of being as harsh as possible, ( at a time where normal life would be considered incredibly spartan and harsh by today's standards,) the amount of violence, rape, depravity, disease, death, and sheer misery, has resulted in a paranormal "perfect storm".
As a result, there are many places that residents of the island avoid at night. Stories abound of residual hauntings, poltergeist activity, and the unexplained. Nearly every long term resident family on the island has their own story to tell, of either direct experience, or members of their families having been profoundly affected by a paranormal event.