"The Parsonage is said to be one of the most haunted places at Port Arthur, with rumours of ghostly sightings going back to the middle of the nineteenth century. The Reverend George Eastman died in an upstairs bedroom. When he was placed in his coffin it was too awkward to carry down the stairs so a rope was rigged to lower it out of the window onto the ground. However the coffin was too heavy, the rope broke and the corpse was tipped into a gutter. For many years after this unfortunate incident people reported smelling rotting flesh, hearing unearthly moaning noises and seeing strange lights inside the parsonage.
A nineteenth century writer, George Gruncell, described a number of strange events that occurred at the Parsonage in the 1870s. The Hayward family had been visiting Melbourne and the Reverend Hayward had hurried back leaving his family to follow. One night after his return, the doctor at the settlement, seeing lights from the upstairs rooms of the Parsonage, thought that the parson's wife and children had returned. When he went to welcome them home, he found only the Reverend Hayward and a servant. No one had been upstairs and when the rooms were inspected they were found to be in darkness. But others in the settlement had also seen the lights and assumed that the family had returned.
On another occasion the Reverend and his wife were sitting in the drawing room when they became aware of an intense light shining under the door of the study across the landing. When they peered through the keyhole the room appeared to be brilliantly illuminated, yet when they opened the door it was in complete darkness. A few months later they had Judge Flemming staying with them and they told him the story of the mysterious lighted room. He was not inclined to believe the story but that same night the lights appeared again exactly as they had before. They all peered through the keyhole at the brightly lit room but when they opened the door it was completely dark.
The guest chamber gained a reputation as a haunted room. A lady guest was driven from her bed one night by unexplained knocking noises that seemed to come from the walls and floors in the room. When she fled up the stairs she heard the patter of feet behind her.
"Some months later, a servant was sent to check the fire in this room. Suddenly she let out a terrific shriek and collapsed senseless in the middle of the room. When she was revived, she explained that she had seen the figure of a man looking at her through the window. He had a knife or dagger in his hand and he held it as though about to strike. She would never again enter the room after dark.
Shortly before the penal settlement was disbanded, Mrs Hayward's mother and sister came to visit. One night Mrs Price, the mother, was unable to sleep. The moon was shining through the window and as she lay with her eyes open she became aware that somebody had entered the room. It was a human figure draped in white. She lay still and watched the figure through half open eyes, afraid that it might be a burglar after her jewels.
The figure appeared to strike a match and then made its way to a cot in which a child was sleeping. After looking at the sleeping child for a moment it turned and glided out of the room. "
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