“Victoria is definitely the most haunted city in the Pacific Northwest,” says John Adams, a locally based historian and owner of Discover the Past (www.discoverthepast.com), a company that provides tours, presentations and special events with historic and ghostly themes.
Adams knows whereof he speaks. He has spent much of his life researching Victoria’s quirky pioneer past and the many spooky legends that lurk behind the ivy-covered walls of the stately Empress Hotel, in the narrow alleyways of Chinatown and throughout the many vintage buildings in the downtown area.
His popular Ghost Walks, tours which can be customized for groups, often begin by tracing the most notorious local ghost story, the one that surrounds Francis Rattenbury, the architect who in the 1890s designed the two landmarks that dominate Victoria’s Inner Harbor, the B.C. Parliament building and Empress Hotel. After leaving his wife for a woman half his age and fleeing to England, he was tracked down and murdered by an attacker intent on avenging the jilted wife.
“He was buried in England, but his ghost returned to Victoria to haunt both of his buildings,” Adams says. “People often report that they’ve seen him walking the corridors in a frock coat and top hat. He appears and then fades away.”
A few blocks up from the Empress on Government Street is another popular local haunt, Rogers’ Chocolates, a small jewel box of a shop where rich and delicious confections have been sold since 1885. Charles and Leah Rogers, the store’s original owners, are said to make their presence felt whenever they are displeased with how the business is run today.
“People have seen boxes of chocolates floating through the air and chocolates have mysteriously ended up thrown on the floor and smashed,” Adams says.
But perhaps the most ghost-ridden spot in town is the Maritime Museum of British Columbia, built as a courthouse in 1889 on a site where a jail and execution ground once stood.
“Many of those hanged in the early days were buried in the jail yard and still lie underneath the museum building today,” Adams says.
Along with walking tours, Discover the Past also offers Dinner Ghosts, dinner theater-style events held at local restaurants or meeting venues, and Ghost Bus-Tours, motorcoach excursions exploring the city’s haunted landmarks and districts.
Not everything that Adams offers the group market has a ghostly focus. He is also frequently asked to do presentations, usually at opening sessions, highlighting the city’s history and unique points of interest.
At the same time, he is always on the lookout for haunted material.
“New ghost stories come my way all of the time,” he says. “There are loads of them here.”
