#ashley hall

theparanormalguide:

Oakabella Homestead
- Ghosts and Hauntings

- Sometimes the spirit of a location will reach out to grab you. There are many stories of people dreaming or having vision of a location before they have ever set eyes on them. A lot of the time this could be a premonition of the site of an event yet to happen. Sometimes it could be a glimpse of a past or future life. Sometimes on the rare occasion it can be both.

For more than forty years the current owner of Oakabella Homestead had been dreaming of the old white home sitting amongst the dusty and scrubby landscape. The dreams gave her a perfect vision of the house she would later own, a house located outside of Geraldton, Western Australia. At the time, and for most of the duration of these dreams, she was living in Canada but it was in 1989, when she moved to Perth, the dreams become more vivid and frequent. When she finally travelled out to the homestead with a friend she instantly recognised it as the house from her dreams.

Oakabella Homestead was established in 1851 by James Drummond on 44,000 acres of land. The land, including and surrounding the homestead, was very important to the local indigenous tribes and confrontations between the natives and the pioneers soon broke out. It is not known how many deaths occurred due to these confrontations but it can be safely assumed there were more than a few inflicted on the indigenous population.

After the Drummonds left Oakabella Homestead it passed through several owners before being purchased by the William and Amy Jackson on July 1, 1910. The Jackson family used the land for farming and also, interestingly, for breeding horses for the British Army in India.

Unfortunately, as with all families in the the era, there were a number of child deaths in the homestead. Not all were from disease and the other afflictions that caused high child mortality. Several accidents have occurred including that of one child who fell while climbing through an open window breaking their neck.

In 1973, another of the Jacksons met an untimely death. George Jackson was sitting in his room cleaning his gun when it went off killing him. If you have a look at reports on the internet you will read how this is one of the only rooms that has any dark or foreboding feelings tied to it. The furniture has been left in place and some people have found that the bloodstain can still be seen on the walls, floor and furniture under specific lighting conditions.

The house underwent a massive restoration and refurbishment in 1995 and opened to the public for tours in 1997. Cat bones were found in door and window frames, an old form of warding off spirits.

Apparently the ghosts wanted it kept old as new appliances and tools had a habit of breaking. All the furniture was kept instead of renewing as was many of the artefacts of pioneering life. All fifteen rooms of the homestead have a story to tell and you can hear these by taking the tour.

The current owners put the history of the homestead and land in more importance to the ghost stories. The house is virtually a museum as are the accompanying buildings. A majority of the pieces on display are from the Oakabella estate itself as well as other interesting collections from the region and of colonial times.

It has been said that Oakabella Homestead is a portal or a meeting place for local spirits. The spirits of previous owners of the house, those that have died on the property and even the souls of those who have passed away in nearby Geraldton are said to make themselves known on occasion. Children seem to have a lot of interaction with the spirits as the ghost of a little boy has presented himself to them on many occasions.

George Jackson seems to be the loudest of the spirits with his banging on the walls of the house. Footsteps have been heard in the halls, electrical appliances go haywire, doors swinging open and closed and on rare occasions objects and tools moving and sometimes rising off of benches.

The traditional owners of the land the Yamaji people state that the ancient spirits tied to the dreaming also still wander the landscape. If you venture off the beaten track you will find caves complete with cave paintings and artefacts as well as traditional meeting grounds. As with all locations of indigenous significance it is warned that you do not remove objects from the site. You may soon find that you want to send them back in a hurry.


Ashley Hall 2012

Picture: Oakabella Homestead.
Inset Left: Detached kitchen.
Inset Right: Path to Georges room.

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