House is Haunted, say family.
Because “queer things” are happening in their house, they allege, a family of 11, including nine children, are sleeping in one room at their home in Melrose-stree, Earby. In a letter to Earby Urban Council’s Housing Committee, read on Wednesday, Mr. E. Peasey, chimney sweep, father of the family, described the happenings which had forced him to bring all the beds downstairs.
He claimed that for three years doors had opened on their own, footsteps had been heard overhead, crockery had flown into the air and pictures gone crooked on the walls. He appealed to the Council for help in finding another house because of the “ghost,” and declared, “I cannot stand it much longer. I will walk the streets first. I am living on my nerves.”
In one room of the house sleeps Mr. and Mrs. Peasey, a nine-month-old boy, three-year-old twin girls, two other girls aged six and 10, and boys aged four, 12, 14 and 15 years.
One of the boys, 14-year-old Bobbie, described a shadow in his bedroom a week ago. At first he thought it was a reflection, but it advanced to the middle of the room and then began to tickle his feet and scratch him, he said. The “thing” was white, with no arms or legs, and when an alarm clock went off it had backed into the corner and disappeared.
Ten-year-old Kathleen described seeing two hooded figures “floating,” and similar shapes were described by others in the family.
Mrs. Peasey said the children were so afraid they would not go upstairs under any circumstances. On one occasion, she said, Bobbie had stood with teeth chattering and tears rolling down his cheeks, too terrified to move. The school attendance officer had called to see why some of the children had not been at school. “I told him it was because they were so afraid they could not get any sleep at night,” she said.
Mrs. Peasey continued by saying that on Wednesday she had attended a spiritualist meeting as a last resort, and had been told the forms were two babies she had buried years ago. She had been told she must ask them to go away and explain that they were harming her other children. The family had not had a peaceful night for some times she said.
The Council decided to instruct their Sanitary Inspector to investigate possible “non-ghostly reasons” for the happenings.
Burnley Express, 16th October 1954.
“Ghost” drove eleven into one room.
A remarkable “ghost story” came to light at a meeting of Earby Urban District Council Housing and Town Planning Committee held on Wednesday. Local chimney sweep Mr. E. Peasey of 1 Melrose Street, Earby, made a request for a new Council house, in a letter describing the “occurrences,” which had forced all eleven of his family to move the beds into one small downstairs room. Among the mysterious happenings was the appearance of a figure without arms or legs.
The letter told of doors opening on their own accord, mysterious footsteps, and of how apparitions had caused Mr. Peasey’s children to wake screaming in the night. A cup on the table had fallen off and smashed on the floor, and a picture hung on the wall was continually tilting, despite all efforts to put it straight. The three-year-old twins had reported that they had “seen a man in daddy’s attic.” The letter stated that these happenings had been going on for some three years now, but they had been getting worse lately, and had reached such a pitch that the family had been forced to move all the beds downstairs. Appealing to the Council for help, Mr. Peasey wrote: “I cannot stand it much longner. I am living on my nerves.”
After a short discussion, the committee decided to take no action on the letter, pending an inspection of the house by the Sanitory Inspector, to see “if there was any non-ghostly reason for the happenings.” Following the meeting, a party consisting of two councillors, two reporters and the Clerk of the Council went to visit the “haunted” house in Melrose Street.
Mr. Peasey told them that he had been evacuated to the house in 1944. His son Bobby, aged 14, described how he saw a shadow in his bedroom. The shadow floated into the middle of the room, and began to scratch him. He described it as a white form with no arms or legs, and said that it backed into a corner and vanished when the alarm clock went off.
Another member of the family, Kathleen, described two shapes with hoods that had appeared floating into the bathroom. The door had banged behind them, and a coat, which had been hung on the door, had fallen to the ground. Mr. Peasey said that he had not seen any of these apparitions, but said that he had been awakened by his children screaming in the night, and when he asked what had happened he was told that they had seen “a man in daddy’s attic.”
The children have had long periods off school as a result, and Mr. Peasey said that a school inspector called recently to see what the trouble was. Just as he entered the room the cupboard door opened, although no-one was near it at the time.
Latest occurrence happened when the family was out. A cup was “thrown” from the table and smashed on the floor. Mrs. Peasey asserted that the door was locked at the time, and that they have had no pets which could have knocked it off accidentally.
The family are scared of going upstairs, but the manifestations have even reached into the room where they now live. A picture on the wall persists in tilting itself, no matter how many times it is put straight.
Asked when he had first had any intimation that things were not as they should be, Mr. Peasey said that he could not remember clearly, but thought that it must have been some two or three years ago, when a door-knob had turned, and the door had opened on its own. They had also seen a bright light in one of the upstairs windows, and since that time the electric light in the living room had never been switched off in the night-time.
Mrs. Peasey explained that they had even gone to the point of consulting a Colne Spiritualist. She said that they dare not use the bathroom, but a day or two she had ventured upstiars, and had seen two ghostly white figures going in. They wore hoods, but like the other “ghosts,” they had neither arms nor legs. Mrs. Peasey and her daughter say they do not know what happened then, for they bolted down the stairs to the comparative security of the living room. “The nerves of the family are at breaking point,” she said.
The “spirits” do, however, seem to be quietening down, for they had been still from Tuesday afternoon until the councillors’ visit on Wednesday, and there was no sign of them during the interview with Mr. Peasey. “Tuesday was the first night’s sleep we have had for six days,” he said. Mr. and Mrs. Peasey said that they were not bothered so much about themselves, but they wanted a new house for the sake of their children.
Barnoldswick and Earby Times, 15th October 1954.
The Case of the Haunted Housing Committee.
The sanitary inspector leaned back thoughtfully behind his desk and declared: “Drains? Yes – I can deal with those. But, ghosts, … N-o-o-o…” Which is a heck of a pity. For the urban council of this grey straggling cotton town (pop. 5,000) has a ghost on its hands. A ghost which has moved into a council-owned house. As the clerk to the council, John Morgan, told me: “It’s not a thing that should be encouraged…”
The Ghost of Earby first loomed up at a Housing and Town Planning Committee meeting – on the agenda. Councillors were getting ready to go. Reporters were closing their notebooks. Then Mr Morgan said hesitantly: “There’s… er… just one other letter.” And began reading: “Dear Sir, Please give us other accommodation. There are some queer goings on in our house…”
The letter came from forty-six-year-old Ted Peasey, the town’s five-bob-a-job chimney sweep. Queer goings on! He said there were: Ghostly white shapes floating around the house; Doors and cupboards opening on their own; Phantom footsteps; And a picture which kept on going crooked. The ghost has hounded the family out of the attic where two sons once slept. And now, Ted wrote, his wife and their nine children had surrendered the rest of the house to the ghost and were all sleeping huddled in the small front room.
Everyone laughed – until they realised that it wasn’t so funny having a haunted council house on the books. Especially if you wanted to let it again… There was only one thing to do, the council decided: Send round the sanitary inspector.
When the meeting broke up two councillors and Mr. Morgan paid a moonlight call to the haunted home. Mr. Morgan told me: Of course it was very unofficial. You can imagine my dilemma. I mean to say, a public body can hardly recognise a ghost… But when the civic ghost-hunters arrived at the old six-roomed terrace house they could hardly NOT recognise that SOMETHING was up. The family WERE all sleeping in the front room. The gas light was burning. The rest of the house was dark, deserted… When sanitary inspector, Maurice Beckwith, called about the ghost next morning he didn’t bother about weird tales. He inspected the drains… hunted for draughts… peered into corners for mice…
But back in his office to-day, he admitted sadly: “I couldn’t find any non-ghostly reason for the… er… disturbances.” But the Peasey family have no doubt that they have a ghostly lodger. And they are going to keep on living in the their small front room until somebody does something about it…!
Daily Mirror, 28th October 1954.
Councillors dig up the Peasey’s Ghost.
The ghost which haunts Mr. Peasey was resurrected at Earby’s Council meeting on Wednesday night. Nobody mentioned it directly. Nobody mentioned Mr. Peasey. It was all very ghostly. It was simply item number ten of the Housing Committee agenda which stated: “Re-housing of tenant of No. 1 Melrose Street.”
[…] All that was a year ago, and the Peaseys are still living in “Ghost Villa.” But Housing Chairman Mr. J. O’Toole told Wednesday’s meeting: “This family will have to be re-housed sooner or later. I think we ought to do that without much delay.” The Sanitary Inspector said that the house at 4 Esmond Street would make suitable accommodation for the Peaseys. The Council decided to get a valuation of this house with a view to purchase. Meanwhile Mr. Peasey is keeping his fingers crossed. He is hoping that only Santa Claus will come down his chimney this Christmas.
Barnoldswick and Earby Times, 16th December 1955.
The street was demolished in the 1960s (likewise Esmond Street).