Earl’s Mead seems to have been just north of the River Frome as it comes into Bristol city centre somewhere north of Old Market, according to Rocque’s 1750 map.
The Earl’s Mead Ghost!
Startling as the line at the top of this article might be to our readers in this age of reason, when the belief in the existence of ghosts and goblins, fairies, and other such-like visionary beings, is all but completely exploded, yet there is so much of the mysterious in the occurrence we are about to relate, and it has produced such an extraordinary degree of excitement in the neighbourhood in which it is alleged to have taken palce, that we offer no apology for giving it insertion in our columns.
Our readers, and particularly our religious readers, are aware that Lady Southampton, a very pious inhabitant, and indeed ornament, of our city, has, with a spirit of benevolence alike honourable to her and beneficial to society, established a penitentiary with a view to the restoration of poor erring girls, of the most unfortunate class, to society, and their salvation from “the wrath to come.” The inmates of this society, until within a few days since, occupied a house in the parish of St Michael, but in consequence of what was deemed, by a resident gentleman there, its too immediate proximity to his dwelling, its benevolent founder was induced to remove her institution, and for this purpose she hired a large and commodious house in the Earl’s Mead.
To this house the erring but penitent sisterhood were removed, and resided in tranquility until Monday last, at which time, they having been in their new abode for a period of about seven or eight days, the event occurred which is the foundation of this narrative, and which, as may be presumed, produced the most extraordinary degree of excitement amongst those whom it more immediately concerned.
At about 9 o’clock of the night in question the matron, Mrs McIntye, and the under matron, Miss Ward, were alarmed by a cry of distress which proceeded from a chamber at the back of the premises; to this room the ladies above-named immediately repaired, where they found several of the inmates of the asylum, one of them almost in a state of insensibility, and all of them suffering under the most extreme apprehension and alarm. Mrs McIntye immediately enquired the cause of their terror, and, as soon as they had sufficiently recovered their composure, two of them made the following statement: they asserted that, after they had been in the room a few minutes, they observed a female figure, darkly attired, standing near the window with its hand resting on the sill; imagining it to be an inmate of the house, whose Christian name is Rebecca, one of them accosted her by that name, and approached the window for the purpose of putting her hand upon her shoulder, but, upon extending her arm for that purpose in the direction in which she saw the figure, her terror was extreme to find that there was nothing “palpable to feeling, as to sight;” whilst the phantom, for such she believed it to be, retired slowly, and having assumed a menacing attitude as if to forbid further interruption, receded towards the fire-place, where it immediately vanished.
This story, of course, gained but very little credit with the matrons of the institution, who, thinking that the phantom might be a spirit of another and more dangerous description, caused the house to be searched. Nothing, however, was to be found, when, as the girls persisted intheir story, and did not at all deviate from their first statement, and, as the terror and apprehensions of the other inmates had in no way subsided, they thought it advisable to send for some assistance, and a messenger was accordingly dispatched for a gallant and pious officer of her majesty’s navy, whose benevolent spirit often induced him to visit and instruct the wretched inmates of Bridewell, as well as of this and similar institutions, who speedily arrived, as did a very intelligent and pious lady from Kingsdown. Of course the first efforts of these worthy individuals were exerted to point out the folly of the statement made by the two girls, and to dispossess the remainder of their fears; but, as these efforts were found to be unavailing, the Lieut. and lady resolved upon passing the remainder of the night at the asylum, and with this view the whole of the inmates, upwards of 30 in number, were collected together in a little room immediately under that in which the phantom was alleged to have been seen.
The gallant officer, with a view to improve the time, was questioning the unfortunate girls with reference to their past lives, more immediately in order to discover what circumstance had occurred the remembrance of which could have so wrought upon their imagination as to have conjured up the phantom visitor. The conversation very naturally turned upon the subject of murder. One of the girls had stated that, whilst travelling with the gipsies, she had heard of murders being perpetrated on the road-side, and the interrogator followed up this statement by asking her if she had ever known of the commission of any murder, the guilty perpetrators of which had not been brought to justice. To this question the girl gave a negative answer, but had scarcely done so when her cap, without any visible agency, was torn with violence from her head, and dashed against a door in another part of the room, whilst a mahogany table, which was standing in the centre of the room and apart from the company, and the chair upon which the matron was sitting, were dashed to fragments, with a noise which was described by a person present to resemble the shock of an earthquake, and by an agency equally invisible – the girl herself and several others falling upon the ground in a state of the utmost excitement and alarm.
When these facts became known on the following morning, a carpenter, who had been employed in effecting some alterations of the premises, asserted that, a few days before, as he was at work in one of the rooms, he saw a female figure cross it and go into a closet, and that, on his entering the closet, believing it to be a human figure, for the purposes of speaking to it, he found that it had vanished, there being no visible means of exit.
Such, excepting that we should have added to the mysterious destruction of the table that the room was filled with the usual concomitant of ghostly appearances – a blue transparent vapour, is the mysterious narrative of these events, as stated to us by three of the “eye-witnesses;” and, having gone through them, nothing adding to or detracting from, it becomes us to state our conviction that the whole affair is a trick of some of the girls. That it is a most deeply planned one, equalling in ingenuity that of the celebrated “cock-lane ghost,” we admit; but still we boldly assert it to be a trick which will ultimately be discovered.
We have diligently examined the room, the house, and the table, with a view to the development of the plot, and the only manner in which we can account for it is, that the girl, taking advantage of the excited feelings of those present, suddenly pulled off her own cap, and that either chemical agency was employed to destroy the table, or that in her fall she broke it herself in such a manner as, in the confusion consequent upon the loss of the cap, to deceive those present.
Having thus made a statement of the occurrence, we feel called upon to say something in reference to the treatment of the inmates of this asylum; for, vicious though they may be, and conscious of the trick as some two or three of them might be, yet, as it is quite evident the great majority of them were not so, it ought to have been remembered that they were human beings endowed with the same reason, the same feelings, alive to the same errors and prejudices, and stamped with the impress of the same divine image as the wisest and most virtuous amongst us.
It will readily be believed that, with consciences awakened by the remembrance of past crimes, and quickened by the newly-received conviction of human responsibility, the terror of these unfortunate girls was extreme. No pen can describe the state of apprehension and alarm in which they were; alternately screaming, fainting, falling on their knees, and imploring to be removed from the house, offering to submit to any privation, and begging, as a favour, that they might be ironed and sent to Bridewell. Labouring under these excited feelings, – feelings of which the matrons and the lady from Kingsdown partook, for nothing could induce them, well-educated and strong-minded as they were, to remain in the house, – we do say that the individual, who took upon herself to forbid the removal of those wretched girls, in open defiance of law, and, as we conceive, of feeling, incurred an immense responsibility; and when we add that a brutal fellow was called in, who inflicted corporal punishment on these alarmed and excited females with a stick, we feel the utmost indignation at their treatment, and protest against it in the name of the Bristol public, in the name of humanity, and in the name of the principles of the benevolent lady, now absent from Bristol, who founded this Institution.
We know that a lady was at the trouble of communicating the horrible state of these poor girls to a clergymen of the church, who is in some way connected with the asylum, and we hear that she was treated very cavalierly for her pains. We cannot help contrasting this conduct with that of the magistrates of the metropolitan district, who, upon being appealed to with respect to a ruffianly and dastardly fellow, who, in ghostly garb, was terrifying and injuring the inhabitants, endeavoured to appease the fears of the apprehensive, to pour balm into the wounded minds of the injured, to detect and bring to punishment the villainous impostor, and not to cudgel in conviction with a stick, or add corporal pain to the extreme of mental anguish.
Bristol Mercury, 24th March 1838.
The Earl’s Mead Ghost.
Our Wednesday’s contemporary having denied the accuracy of a portion of the statement which appeared, under the above head, in our paper of Saturday last, we think it due to ourselves to state that we have renewed our inquiries, and find that our account of the transaction was strictly correct in every particular.
The girls did not rush from another room into that in which the table was, as stated by our contemporary, and the castigation with a stick or bludgeon, to which we alluded, and which is also denied by our contemporary, was administered; and for so saying we have the sanction of “the proper authorities.”
Bristol Mercury, 31st March 1838.
Earl’s Mead Ghost.
A somewhat “startling account, to use the words of our Contemporary, appeared in the Bristol Mercury of Saturday last, under the above head. The substance of the story was furnished us last week, but not in time to make proper inquiry respecting the truth of it. We have since visited the place, and received from the proper authorities an account, which does not differ materially from that published, except as to the harsh treatment and coercive means used towards the inmates.
That our readers may comprehend the gist of the story it will be necessary to premise – that there is a large and respectable looking house, well known to many of our readers, situated on the right hand side of Froome stream which runs by Baptist Mills, and which was occupied, if not built, by Mr Wittingham, the father-in-law of R.H. Davis, Esq. This house was calculated for, and has been, the residence of a wealthy currier; in the progress of time, however, it became unoccupied and continued so for several years; the situation was not alluring to any one but a currier, from its proximity to the Froome, and the house was too large for a class of denizens in the neighbourhood; the consequence was that some persons, who could not account for so good a house remaining a long time untenanted, spread a report that it was “haunted.” A few months since the house was sold and the new proprietor repaired and painted it, and soon afterwards obtained a tenant. Who this tenant is, will open another chapter of the story.
From motives of the most humane, charitable, and religious tendency, Lady Southampton, who commiserated the degraded state of those abandoned females, who, having lost their virtue and character, are a burden to themselves and a disgrace to the community; but who are often cut off in their offences for want of a place of refuge – has been at great expense and trouble in endeavouring to establish an asylum where these wretched outcasts might be protected from the insults they hourly receive, and where by penitence and prayer they might redeem their errors. Great difficulty was experienced in selecting an appropriate place – a large house was necessary, and large houses are generally in situations inhabited by respectable individuals, who are desirous of similar neighbours; in the present instance a house was taken on St Michael’s hill; against this the neighbourhood immediately remonstrated with her Ladyship, and another situation was sought for, and found – in the above house at Earl’s Mead; the dwelling stood by itself, – was large, commodious, and surrounded by a garden within walls; indeed a more preferable habitation for the purpose could not have been found, and the establishment, consisting of 30 girls, besides matrons, was removed there. There, however, it was not destined to remain in quietness.
On Monday se’nnight an out-break took place: – the girls, most of whom are young, and as may naturally be expected from their former dissolute habits, ignorant, and the easy victims of their passions, had filled their fancies with the tales which had unfortunately reached them that supernatural noises had been heard on the premises. On the above evening, previous to going to bed, they were amusing, or rather exciting themeselves, by relating stories of their past lives, which we think it would have been desirable they should have forgotten, and having worked themselves into a tremor, began to scream, – this brought the matrons, to whom they pretended to have seen a strange figure pass through the room, and whilst this story was being told, the cap of one of the girls was suddenly torn from her head – the party then, consisting of upwards of 30, rushed out of the room into another of smaller dimensions, where they overset a small table, the legs of which were broken off – as no one in particular was aware that she did it, this was also said to be the act of the invisible being, or Ghost.
Their fears now increased, and a general panic ensued. Assistance however was obtained, and some friends of the establishment arrived and endeavoured to calm the minds of the inmates, this was not an easy task, as when the matrons prepared to leave, in the morning, the girls made a rush to get out of the house, saying that they would not be left behind; and here it was that such power as was necessary to restrain them was used, but nothing more. It may here be remarked that their entrance to this House of Refuge was voluntary, and their departure cannot be resisted; but it would have been highly improper to have suffered them to escape under the then impression of their fears, and without knowing where to direct their footsteps.
Upon a subsequent investigation it has been ascertained that the snatching off the cap was the act of one of the girls; that the breaking of the table was the result of their all rushing into the small room together; and that it is to be feared that the unfortunate girls, whatever may be the result at some future day, are not at present duly sensible of the kindness of their benefactress, or duly grateful for her care and anxiety. We can truly say, that, from an inspection of the premises, and the provision supplied to the inmates, every comfort that their situation admits of has been provided; and, if they are really disgusted with their former lives, they ought to be deeply thankful for the care and expense that her Ladyship has voluntarily incurred on their behalf. – Bristol Gazette.
Sherborne Mercury, 9th April 1838.