What really happened within the walls at the Crawley family and their grand Monte Cristo Homestead in New South Wales? How come there were so many violent deaths, and is it true they are all haunting the house to this day?
There are many places that warrant being haunted in Australia. In the wilderness of the outback to the mysterious legends from the Aboriginals and the first Europeans sent to the country when it was a prisoner camp. However, few places are as notorious as The Monte Cristo Homestead in New South Wales, Australia is known as one of the most haunted places in the country.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Australia
Visitors have reported eerie experiences, including sightings of ghostly apparitions and unexplained noises. Learn more about the history of this haunted location and the spine-tingling encounters of those who have dared to visit the manor overlooking the town.
The History of The Monte Cristo Homestead
The Monte Cristo Homestead was built in 1885 by Christopher William Crawley, a wealthy pioneer. Originally a farmer, he and his Wiradjuri wife, Elizabeth settled close to the Railway line that opened in 1878. They opened a hotel and it was big business. They went from barely getting by to be the top of the social class in town and the wealthiest in the region.
The Victorian homestead remained in the Crawley family for over 90 years until it was purchased by Reg and Olive Ryan in 1963 for 1000£. Between the Ryan’s it was left empty for a decade with several caretakers coming and going. Although they tried to watch out for the place, the house was vandalized, the furniture stolen, and it looked like it would decay to ruins. Even the Catholic church refused it as a gift because of how ruined it was.
Instead, the Ryans restored the homestead and opened it to the public for tours as a museum, souvenir shop and antique showcase. When they first moved into the bat-infested house, they had a couple of chairs and air mattresses, but little by little, it was restored to its former glory as the finest house in town.
The House is a Haunted One
However, it wasn’t long before visitors began reporting strange occurrences to the Ryans and their five children, leading to the homestead’s reputation as one of the most haunted places in Australia as they advertised themselves as.
The first sign for the Ryan’s that their new forever home was haunted was one foggy evening when they came from town with supplies. Back then, the house didn’t have any electricity. When they saw light coming out from every door and window in the house they had to stop the car, thinking it was squatters that had moved in. When they got closer, the lights turned off, and when they checked the house, there was no one there.
They tried to explain it away, but over the years, the family noticed a lot of weird things happening they felt had to be a part of the house’s haunted history. When bringing pets, they refused to enter the property and didn’t want to stay in the house. In one of the more extreme cases, they once came home to find all of their chickens and pet parrot strangled to death as well as a litter of kittens who had been murdered.
The Ghosts of The Monte Cristo Homestead
The Monte Cristo Homestead is said to be home to at least ten ghostly inhabitants, including the ghost of a maid who fell to her death from the balcony, a stable boy who was burned alive, and a former caretaker who is said to still roam the halls.
Visitors have reported hearing footsteps, seeing apparitions, and feeling cold spots throughout the homestead. Some have even claimed to have been touched or pushed by unseen forces. Despite its spooky reputation, the Monte Cristo Homestead continues to attract visitors from all over the world since the Ryans opened the house for visitors in the 90s, who are eager to experience its ghostly inhabitants for themselves.
The Ghost of Christopher Crawley
The Monte Cristo Homestead is known for its many ghostly inhabitants, but there are a few rooms that are said to be particularly haunted. The Blue Room, where the former owner of the homestead died, is said to be the most haunted room in the house.
According to rumours, he died from a sudden blood poisoning because his starched collar infected a boil on his neck in 1910. They seemingly looked like any other hardworking victorian couples, but rumors about mistreatment and them being cruel to their servants started spreading.
Over the years, the children of the Ryans have always had a feeling of being watched by an elderly man.
The Ghost of Elizabeth Crawley
Also his wife, Elizabeth is said to haunt the manor. She became a recluse after the death of her husband. During the 23 years she lived on after her husband, it was said she only showed herself twice and spent most of her time in the chapel attic. She died when she was 92 of a ruptured appendix.
She is often dubbed the Grey Lady, wearing her black lace dress, lace cap and with a stand up beaded collar and walks through the halls, still treating the house as her own, ruling it with the same strict manner as when she was alive. It is said that she doesn’t particularly like having guests.
It is said she is dressed in all black, carrying a silver cross as she comes out from the little room she converted into a chapel.
The Children Playing
The Nursery is also said to be haunted by the ghost of a child who died. The Crawley had a 10 month old baby named Magdalena or Ethel who died when the nanny dropped her by accident down the stairs in 1917. Or was it actually on purpose as some have speculated? Visitors have reported hearing the sound of a child crying and feeling a cold presence in the room.
There was also another young boy who fell to his death when he fell down the stairs, but not much is known. Was she even real, the little girl? The location of the children’s graves are known, and the only Ethel, a 10 month old baby in Junee, is listed with other parents. She was in fact their grand child.
The sound of children playing in the mansion’s halls have also been reported together with the flickering lights and sudden drops in temperature.
The Ghost of the Maid
Finally, the Servant’s Quarters are said to be haunted by the ghost of a maid who fell to her death from the balcony on the second floor. It is said that you can still see the bleach stain from when they tried to remove all of the blood. Some say that she was pregnant with Crowleys, and her death was actually a murder to cover it up. Was it actually Elizabeth who pushed her?
Visitors have reported hearing footsteps of a busy maid in the dead of night and some people claim to have seen the ghostly figure of a woman on the balcony.
The Stable Boy
Another servant thought to be haunting the estate was the stable boy named Morris. He slept on a straw mattress that was set on fire after he called in sick for work and he died from the burns. Was it Crawley who wanted to teach him a lesson, or just a spark from a fire nearby?
To this day, it is said you can hear the dying screams from the young stable boy Morris coming from the old Carriage house.
Howling Harold
One day, a maid died after giving birth. Harold Steel, who was the son, grew up on the estate. Why was he the illegitimate child of Crawley perhaps? The rumor is speculating about this. Some also say that the maid died much later, and kept her son hidden in the servant cottages.
He got into a carriage accident in Junee and developed a mental illness. This caused him to become aggressive, and they had to chain him in the back of the cottage for more than thirty years. His hair became dreaded and he howled in the night, making the locals believe that it was a creature chained in the house until they put him in an asylum when the authorities discovered him.
Still to this day, some claim they can hear the howling and hissing that Harold used to make coming from the cottages in the night.
The Caretaker
In 1961, Jack Simpson, a caretaker, was shot dead by a boy who was inspired by the movie, Psycho and had seen the movie three times before the murder. The words “Die Jack, ha ha” were carved into the shed door, where they can still be seen today. “
It is said that the caretaker has joined the rank of the ghosts, although not much is found about the murder or if it ever happened at all.
The Enduring Haunting of The Monte Cristo Homestead
Visitors to the Monte Cristo Homestead have reported a range of spine-tingling experiences. Some have reported feeling a heavy presence in certain rooms, while others have heard unexplained noises or seen ghostly figures. Many visitors have reported feeling a sense of unease or fear while exploring the homestead.
What happens not to the Monte Cristo Homestead though? In January 2025, the family closed down the house for visitors because of the passing of Olive Ryan. They said that the Monte Cristo Homestead would never open again on their official Facebook page. Although the the house is now moving into a new phase, many ghost tours and guides want to keep the legacy and the houses history alive together with the ghosts.
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Monte Cristo Homestead – Wikipedia
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