Hatley Castle’s mountainous walls loom, concealing spectral inhabitants within. Amidst the corridors, one ghost emerges—the youngest scion of the Dunsmuir family.
Constructed in 1909 by James Dunsmuir, premier of B.C. and lieutenant governor, and his wife Laura, the castle is steeped in history.
Their son Jim, nicknamed Boy Dunsmuir, embraced World War One at 21. He boarded the RMS Lusitania for France but perished when a German submarine sank it.
Back at the castle, James mourned, haunted by Jim’s absence, serenading his grief with the mournful strains of “Where is My Wandering Boy Tonight.”
Laura, Jim’s mother, clung to the hope of his return.
She passed in 1937, and the castle became Royal Roads University.
Jim’s dormitory spooked cadets—Laura’s spirit stalked, checking if her son had returned. Slumbering cadets found their sheets drawn back by unseen hands.
Hatley Castle echoes with the Dunsmuirs’ saga. It holds spectral secrets, whispers of a son lost to war and a mother’s unending vigil.
This castle, once a family’s refuge, now harbors their lingering spirits, a testament to love, loss, and the veil between life and beyond.