Parliament House Tasmania
Parliament House in Tasmania’s Hobart has stood proud since 1840. The imposing building takes up space in the popular part of the city known as Salamanca Place. It was originally built as the Customs House, yet its purpose has evolved over time as Tasmania continued to mature.
It wasn’t until the early 1900s when this space was occupied solely by Tasmania’s parliament. Since then, many rumors have formed that the building may be haunted in interesting ways.
Ghosts of Parliament House in Hobart
While a place of parliament seems a rather unsuspecting place for ghosts and spooks to dwell, many consider Parliament House to be one of the most haunted places in Hobart. The majority of the ghostly phenomena to occur within the building is thought to be at the hands of its resident ghost who is known as Albert.
While Albert’s origins and identity aren’t exactly known, there are a couple of theories as to who he is and how he came to haunt Tassie’s Parliament House. The first theory relates to the skeleton of an unknown convict that was discovered in more recent times within a drainage tunnel located underneath the building. The second theory states that Albert could be the late premier, Albert Ogilvie, who died during his premiership in 1939.
Albert Ogilvie, though having passed away while serving his term in parliament, did not pass over within Parliament House. He actually died while playing golf in NSW. Never the less, many believe his spirit to have returned to the building for some unknown reason. His ghost has been seen roaming the halls after hours many times. Other areas where people have reported activity include near the Speaker’s Chair, the House of Assembly Chair and even the library.
Visiting Tasmania’s Haunted Parliament House
Parliament House in Hobart is an interesting place to see whilst in Salamanca Place. Free guided tours are offered during the day that take visitors through the building.
If you enjoyed this article and are interested in checking out other nearby haunted locations, I recommend the Drunken Admiral, which lies just a short walk from Parliament House.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Posted by Josh Williams on July 17, 2022
Hi Amy,
When I was an apprentice electrician in Hobart the company I worked for had the maintenance contract for parliament house. And as a fresh faced 19year old I can confirm that it is most definitely haunted. Over my couple of years of working there I would say I had atleast 40+ paranormal experiences in that building. Here are Some of the main ones that are fresh in my memory.
When working alone anywhere in that building I constantly had a feeling of being watched.
While working in the flag room I heard footsteps walking up the wooden staircase and on the the landing at the other end of the room. There was no one else aloud in the flag room at that time and when I looked thinking it was my boss no-one was there.
When working in the section of the building that is known as the opposition section. I heard what I believe to be a conversation between to gentlemen. It lasted about 5seconds but there was definitely two distinct voices. The worst part is that it was around 11pm when parliament was not sitting and I was going around checking that there was no one working late as we was going to be turning the power off to that section of the building and if anyone was working they would need to save there work because the computers would be shut off. There was not a single soul anywhere in that section of the building infact the only people in the building at that time was myself my boss and one security guard at the front desk.
Most of my experiences happened in the basement. I witnessed a man standing in the corner of the museum as I was walking past the window I seen him standing in the corner thinking it was the maintenance man I went in the museum to say hello but the man had vanished.
Countless times I would hear the sound of high heels walking on the concrete down the hallway towards me or Infront of me in the basement only to stop around the corner from where I was or heading at that time. Looking or walking around the corner expecting too see someone only for there to be no-one there. I put this down to possibly being one of the women of the night that the politicians of yesteryear was known to bring in after hours via a tunnel that was between the basement of parliament house and the customs house hotel across the road.
My most terrifying experience.
I was working alone in the basement at the end of a hallway when out of nowhere a deep voice yelled out. “Hey you are not supposed to be down here”. Thinking it was my boss playing a prank on me I quickly rounded the corner expecting to come face to face with him but once again not a single person. I quickly ran down the hallway thinking maybe it was the maintenance man only to find his office locked. I went up stairs and asked the security guard if the maintenance man was still in the building and was told that he had left hours ago. Looking into the carpark and seeing my boss taking a phone call. I looked back at the security guard who after looking at the expression on my face said my boss had been outside on the phone for atleast 20minutes. Starting to chuckle to himself he said. You seen something didn’t you? My reply not seen but heard. We had a conversation about all the stuff he had experienced and I filled him in on the things I had experienced. To which he then calmly said “won’t be the first time definitely won’t be the last”. I wouldn’t go back down to the basement by myself after that but eventually I wouldn’t have a choice that I had too. Whenever the security guards would ask what section I was working in and I would say basement they would laugh and say have fun with that. And as the elevator would close the last thing I would hear is “hey your not suppose to be down here”. I for one was not laughing..
Anyway love your YouTube content thought I would drop a line and say hi. Keep up the awesome content and if you ever make it back to Tasmania you should definitely do a video on parliament house 😃
Josh
Posted by Amy on July 26, 2022
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Josh, and I appreciate you tuning in to my channel, too!