Evening at Larnach’s Castle
If you google haunted places in Aotearoa, on almost every list you’ll find Larnach’s Castle mentioned. The tale of William Larnach really is rather tragic and in case you don’t know the story, here’s a quick recap. Arriving in Dunedin at the time of the gold rush from the Australian gold fields as a banker, William Larnach quickly grew a reputation as a businessman. He amassed a fortune through business investments, went into politics, was involved in shipping, farming and landholdings. He had six children with his first wife Eliza Guise before she died at the age of 38. He then married Eliza’s half sister Mary Alleyne who after 5 years of marriage died at the age of 38. Larnach then married Constance de Bathe Brandon, a lady who was more than 20 years younger than him. Unfortunately Larnachs businesses started failing, his properties lost money, and his favourite daughter Kate died in her early 20s. As he started to spiral towards bankruptcy, he finally discovered his third wife was having an affair with his eldest son Donald. Soon after, he committed suicide in Parliament in Wellington via a gun in 1898.
So, when it comes to ghosts there are rumours the local spirits are his first wife Eliza, or his favourite daughter Kate, or even William Larnach himself. There are all sorts of stories of people witnessing supernatural activity however the most famous of the paranormal events to happen at the castle happened in 1994. A new play about the Larnach family called Castle of Lies was being premiered in the grand ballroom. While the guests came in and were seated, a ferocious gale came up across the peninsula and ripped through the grounds of the castle. As the evening went on and the wind got more intense, smoke from the fireplaces blew back down the chimneys sending fine white white soot right through the ballroom. That was followed by heavy rain and hail while the drapes inside went flying in every direction possible. Then, at the part in the play where William Larnach was about to kill himself, a flash of lightning shot through the room. So dramatic was the event, many of the guests mistook it for a very impressive stage effect.