If you ever get to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia you have to stay a night at the palatial, chateau styled Empress Hotel but be wary, it's haunted.
You may bump into Sir Francis Rattenbury, the buildings architect, in 1904, who also designed the Parliament Buildings in Victoria, wandering the halls at night searching for his wife. He had been bludgeoned to death with a wooden mallet by his chauffeur, an 18 year old Fabian look-a-like (George Stoner) who was having an affair with his 27 year old wife (Alma Pakenham). Apparently, he hit him hard enough to knock off a four inch piece of his skull. He died four days later in the hospital.
Rattenbury was banished from Victoria after a huge scandal, Canadian style. He divorced his first wife after she claimed he mistreated her mentally and physically. He left her for his younger mistress where they moved to Britain then later returned to Victoria. Unbeknownst to him, he hired her much younger lover as his personal chauffeur.
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| Sir Francis Rattenbury - Alma Rattenbury - George Stoner |
The story goes that it's not the 68 year old Sir Francis Rattenbury that haunts the halls to this day but a younger dapper version of himself. He wants revenge and is looking for his wife and her lover, who he had caught together in a room somewhere in the hotel. The room has never been identified, at least to the public.
Guests of the hotel have said, they've met a man, donning 18th clothing, wandering the halls, who asks, if they've seen his young wife Alma, then disappears into thin air before they can answer or they hear a knock on their room door where a young man asks them if Alma is there, then disappears.
Today, guests are treated to "High Tea" a daily ritual at the hotel. You may spot Sir Francis Rattenbury, dressed a little oddly, sitting alone at a table, sipping a spot of tea, pinkie up, that'll be him. So, don't choke on your crumpets, eh?
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