Fisher’s Ghost Australia’s most famous ghost

Back in the early 1800’s. Australia was then a rough, rugged and mostly unsettled wild country. It was then full of convicts who had been shipped to Australia for punishment for crimes such as stealing loaves of bread, murder and any other acts deemed as criminal.

Frederick George James Fisher was a 35-year-old ticket-of-leave man who originally came to Australia from England as a convict. He left England on a ship named the ‘Atlas’ and arrived in the colony in 1816. Soon after he acquired his ticket of leave. A ticket-of-leave was something convicts, who were particularly well behaved, could gain for themselves to be able to buy themselves land and settle without being imprisoned.

He soon bought 30 acres of land in Campbelltown, the house being close to the spot which the Old Post Office now occupies. His property extended out to and ended at the Bow Bowing creek line.

Fisher’s close friend, confidant, and neighbor was a man named George Worrall, who was also a ticket-of-leave man. He rented the property next door to Fisher and envied his prosperous neighbor.

At one time, Fisher got into debt and counted on his best friend Worrall to help him out. He signed over his property to Worrall to either stop it from being seized by the law or to give the impression he had no assets. Fisher was then arrested and sent to Jail. Worrall was noted to be boasting at this time how his own land had suddenly increased by 30 acres. He was heard to say “It’s all mine now…..all that was Fred’s…..he give it to me ‘afore he went to prison,’.

Fisher was released 6 months later and did the natural thing, returned to claim his property back off Worrall.

Frederick Fisher then suddenly and mysteriously disappeared on June 17, 1826. The last that was seen of him was by Jane Hopkins on June 17th, 1826, who saw Fisher give money to some men who worked on his farm to buy a drink.

Worrall, while walking around town wearing Fishers pants, told a story of how Fisher supposedly returned back to Sydney and then sailed back to England on the Lord St Vincent and had therefore left Worrall in charge of his estate. The story was soon investigated and it was discovered that no ship by that name was docked at Sydney. Suspicion turned on Worrall as to mysterious, disappearance of Fisher.

Over the years there have been many people who have seen the ghost of Fisher usually on cool nights sitting on a fence post near his land or hanging out at Fishers Creek singing. Fisher is Australia’s most famous ghost because he has been seen by hundreds of people.