A ghostly apparition that spooked Vancouver Islanders for years.
"1909::Foul Bay Beach Resort in Victoria, British Columbia"
Photo Clip: Public Domain
In 1909, a young man named Bernard Hardy arrived on Vancouver Island, hoping to spend his summer camping in the great outdoors. His destination was Foul Bay, Victoria's most popular beachfront getaway, where campers could swim in the bay's cool, salty water and sleep on its warm white sand under a blanket of stars.
"1889::The Decades-Old Fashionable Resort"
Clip: The Victoria Daily Times (1889)
Victoria, British Columbia
Hardy got lucky. Among the hundreds of campers already there, he found a spot on the far West side of the beach and set up camp. He was settling in nicely, meeting new people and exploring the area when a moonlight walk out to Foul Point changed everything.
"1909::Hardy's Moonlight Ghost of Foul Point - Victoria, British Columbia"
Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1909)
Victoria, British Columbia
After seeing a ghostly apparition on his long moonlight walk, Hardy raced back to the safety of his camp. The following day, still spooked by what he saw, he reluctantly approached a local newspaperman who published his story. Hardy was a young man of good habits, a teetotaler at heart, with no inclination to believe in spirits or read about them in the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Yet, some Victorians found Hardy's story too sensational to believe.
"The whole performance did not last longer than ten minutes, and it left me cold and clammy. I went home as quickly as I could, but I couldn't fall asleep until daylight." -Bernard Hardy, after seeing a ghost on Foul Point
"1909::Hardy's Moonlight Walk"
Clip: Google Earth (2024 capture)
After reading Hardy's story in the local newspaper, a group of skeptics set out to capture his mysterious ghost. Undeterred by the area's spooky atmosphere, twenty brave individuals agreed to meet at the Foul Bay campsite, where Hardy's walk had begun. Shortly before midnight, they began retracing Hardy's steps, marching in a long procession with only the moon to light their way. As the white gates of the Chinese Cemetery drew near, the silence of the night began to rattle their nerves. Thoughts of turning back came to mind until someone nervously began to sing. Others joined in, and those who couldn't sing whistled. "John Brown's body lies-a-mouldering in his grave..." echoed among the tombstones as their search continued. They skirted the graves and arrived at the spot where Hardy had been standing when he witnessed the ghostly apparition rise out of the ground on the far side of the cemetery.
"1906::A Memorial Service at the Chinese Cemetery on Foul Point"
Photo: BC Archives (G-03076)
The eerie scene of the Chinese Cemetery spooked the ghost-slayers at every turn. Two stone funerary pillars, where clothing and personal items of the deceased were burned for use in the afterlife, stood like beacons in the middle of the cemetery, shining in the moonlight since 1902. Between these pillars stood an altar where food was laid out for the departed's journey to the otherworld. At this giant stone altar, the ghost slayers serenaded the graveyard for over an hour, hoping the ghost would reveal himself. But he never did, and it left them with a lingering sense of mystery, a puzzle that remained unsolved.
"There wasn't a man in all the throng who believed in ghosts. None of them expected to see a ghost, they're all moondust and mapleberries. And yet, when the great white gate of the cemetery was passed and the burial altar loomed in the distance, the singing redoubled in volume and, as though "John Brown's Body" was not sufficiently cheerful, the tune was changed to another old Civil War song and "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" broke the stillness." -Ghost-Slayer Spokesperson
"1913::The Development of Foul Bay and Gonzales Hill"
Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1913)
Victoria, British Columbia
Over the next few years, the land surrounding Foul Bay was divided and sold. Roads were built, tram lines stretched to the heart of the newly incorporated Oak Bay, and houses began to appear along the waterfront between Ross Bay and Gonzales Point. But one house stood out among them all.
"1955::The Chinese Cemetery and the Haunted House on Harling Point"
Photo Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1955)
Victoria, British Columbia
In 1913, a huge house was built on the very spot where Hardy saw his ghost. The cleverly embellished stories about how Hardy's ghost had spooked the city's toughest characters were barely talked about anymore, but somehow, they continued to linger. Many Victorians believed that the house built on Foul Point was haunted. Maybe this was because of the lingering ghost stories or its oddly massive size and how it sat on the point near the cemetery. Or perhaps it was because the house and its occupants eventually had stories of their own to tell. Whatever is to be believed, Hardy's ghost story had been pushed back into the past and was ultimately forgotten. The house built on Foul Point, known today as Harling Point, remained standing until 1958, like a reminder of the events that had unfolded there.
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