Haunted Wardrobe.
Destructive “Ghost” Near Shrewsbury.
Trusers cut to ribbons [sic]
Tar in the cream.
A series of extraordinary tricks has been perpetrated on a small-holding at Cruckton, near Shrewsbury, which those most closely concerned have no hesitation in attributing to the supernatural. The small-holder who has been the victim of the mysterious visitor is Mr Charles Barker, a muscular agriculturalist, who declares that he could not sleep at night during the time his house was “haunted” and he was well-nigh driven to distraction.
His wife, a sturdy woman, was so frightened that she did not dare to leave the house, and it is seven weeks since she attended Shrewsbury market. It was soon after her last visit that the trouble began which convinced her that the wardrobe in the house was bewitched. One morning she rose to find that during the night her coat and skirt had been torn up. New clothes were bought, but on the following day these were also found on the floor, unmercifully slashed.
Mr Barker made a careful inspection of the premises before retiring to rest that night. Everything appeared quite secure. When he came down next morning, however, the furniture was upset and his best trousers had been cut to ribbons. The “ghost” was evidently bent on the complete destruction of the family wardrobe, for the sleeves had been cut off a coat belonging to Mr Barker’s son.
Miss Barker was also a sufferer. She placed her boots under her pillow, only to find them on the floor next morning, mutilated by knife cuts.
The family hardly knew which way to turn in their distress. Consultations with a palmist at Blackpool and a Spiritualist at Liverpool afforded no solution. More mundane theories were then considered and the assistance of the police was called in. Nightly vigils were kept without any practical joker being discovered, though anonymous notes were deposited on the table, almost before the eyes of the watchers. One of these told Barker that while he and the detectives were searching the house the writer was hidden in the boiler. He knew he was being watched, for he could read what was in their minds.
The outrages were not confined to the house, nor were they perpetrated only during the night. One morning Mrs Barker left her dairy for a few minutes and on returning she found that gas tar had been poured into two pans of cream. In the stable the “ghost” exercised its skill with the knife on the harness.
Mr Barker at length decided to get rid of some clothes which had belonged to a relative who died eleven years ago. They were despatched to a person in another part of the country, and next day (Sunday last) an anonymous note announced that the conjuring would cease. The Barkers have not been troubled since. The small-holder estimates his loss at £20.
Bradford Weekly Telegraph, 10th September 1909.
A Destructive “Ghost.”
Farmer’s strange story.
Some strange supernatural phenomena are reported to have occurred on a small holding at Cruckton near Shrewsbury, occupied by Mr and Mrs Barker and their grown-up son and daughter.
For six weeks, it is stated, the house seems to have been haunted by a mysterious person who has left anonymous notes, and, despite the vigilance of the occupants and private detectives, the ghost has committed most mischievous deeds. Mr and Mrs Barker were interviewd on Tuesday, when the husband stated that these strange happenings had so affected him that he could not sleep at nights, and they had well nigh driven him to distraction. The wife, a sturdy woman of fifty, declared that she was so frightened that she had not dared to leave the house, and she had not been in Shrewsbury market for seven weeks.
Both attribute the strange occurrences to supernatural agencies, and the husband, on the advice of a friend, went to Blackpool, and there consulted a palmist, but with no good results, while a brother consulted a spiritualist in Liverpool, but all without effect.
Assistance of more mundane kind was then called in. Private detectives and the local police kept nightly vigils, but nothing was seen. Yet almost before their eyes, it is stated, there appeared an anonymous note saying that the writer knew he was being watched, and stating what was in the mind of his watchers.
The wife one morning found her coat and skirt torn up. New clothes were bought, and when not in use locked up, but next day these things were found on the room floor cut in pieces. Going to bed one night after searching the house over, the husband came down next morning to find the place all upset, and his best trousers cut up, and the sleeves taken off his son’s Sunday coat. The daughter, who placed her boots under her pillow, found them next morning on the room floor as though cut with a knife.
One of the notes left over night told Barker that while he and the detectives were searching the house the perpetrator was hidden in the boiler. The mysterious happenings, however, are not confined to the night, but take place in broad daylight. Returning one morning to the dairy after an absence of a few minutes the wife found two pans of cream had had gas tar poured into them, and the husband in the stable found the harness cut about with a knife.
The wife put the affair down to “witchery,” and, as a means of appeasing restless spirits, some clothes which had belonged to Barker’s mother, who died eleven years ago and have since remained with Barker’s brother, have been sent by rail to a sister in another part of the country.
The next day, Sunday last, an anonymous note said that the conjuring would cease, and on Tuesday Barker said he had not this week been troubled. He estimates his loss at £20.
Lichfield Mercury, 10th September 1909.
Extraordinary “Ghostly” Visitations near Shrewsbury.
Perplexed Peasants.
An extraordinary series of happenings has for the last few weeks disturbed the calm of a homestead occupied by a small holder named Charles Barker, of Horton Lane, near Cruckton, Shrewsbury, events which would make it seem as though some mysterious – and mischievous – sprite had cast a spell upon the dwelling and all connected with it.
Investigation by our reporter led him to theconclusion that the influence at work was distinctly mundane and not spiritual. Yet simple though the explanation of the events to which we shall refer may be, it must be admitted that at first sight they bear the stamp of magic influences.
Mr Barker’s house is situated some yards from the road, and stands by itself in the midst of pretty and well-wooded country. The head of the family are Mr Barker and his wife, both of whom are about fifty years of age. The husband, in addition to occupying a small holding, is employed by Mr John Wooding, of Cruckton, a member of the Atcham Board of Guardians. It is perhaps, not to be wondered that the happenings of the last few weeks have been ascribed to the supernatural, although to the ordinary observer they savour more of malicious persecution by some person or persons desirous of doing injury. As a result of the persistent annoyance Mr Barker has been so upset that he has been unable to sleep at nights, and has also expended a considerable sum in visiting palmists at Blackpool and spiritualists in Liverpool, whose advice he was recommended to get, while Mrs Barker has had such a fright that she is afraid to leave the house, and although ordinarily a regular attendant at the Shrewsbury market, she has not been there for the last seven weeks.
The trouble commenced with the arrival at the house of a series of anonymous notes of a scurrilous nature, some containing threats, while the majority were filthy in character. This was sufficiently annoying, but worse was to follow, for one of the notes conveyed an intimation to Mr and Mrs Barker to go and look at a certain place, and see what had been done. On doing so Mrs Barker discovered that a coat and skirt hadbeen cut in pieces, apparently with a knife. She replaced them by purchasing another coat and skirt, for which she paid 35s., added the good lady ruefully. These were placed in a box without having been worn, but these garments also suffered similar mutilation, and they were found later under a mattress torn up and completely “devoured,” to use Mrs Barker’s own words.
On another occasion a box kept in a bedroom was forced open, and a number of fire policies, rent receipts, bank books, etc., were torn up. A chisel left by the side of the box, however, was an eloquent testimony to the fact that human agency had been at work. A record of damage done in the wardrobe at different times includes four coats and four skirts of Mrs Barker’s, two coats and skirts of the daughter’s, two suits of clothes belonging to the son. The son and daughter have not escaped the threats of the mysterious correspondent, and there have been vague hints of what he would “do” if Mrs Barker went to market.
A pair of boots placed for safety under the pillow by the daughter were found next morning lying on the floor badly mutilated. On three occasions the butter has been spoiled. Two large pans of cream were left in the dairy, and on returning to them a few minutes afterwards the wife found that gas tar had been poured into them. At first it was supposed that ink had been used, but later this was shown not to have been the case, although it is said there was no gas tar on the premises.
All this time the notes continued to arrive. the Police have scores of them in their possession. Apparently they have all been written by the same person. In one of them the writer conveyed the pleasing intimation that he had keys for all the locks, while in another the following words were placed under one another like a column of figures: “When you was coming downstairs this morning I was in the act of cutting up Peg’s (the daughter’s) shoes, and I slipped into the coal hole under the stairs, and I had to stay in the house till you went to milk.” Again, it was stated, “I was in the boiler when you went to bed last night.”
Some of the notes contain references to “Mother’s clothes,” and it appears that certain clothes went to Mr Barker’s brother on the death of the mother some years ago. There is another relative, but no complaint had come from her because she had not received the clothes. Last Sunday a note was received, stating that the “conjuring” would now cease, and happily up to the present the writer has been as good as his or her word.
The worst part of the damage has been to the clothes and harness in the stable, which has been cut and mutilated. Practically the sum of £30 is a modest estimate of the damage which has been done.
It must not be supposed that vigilant watch has not been kept to discover the perpetrator of these outrages. On the night preceding the morning on which the daughter’s boots were found to be cut a policeman sat up in the kitchen for several hours without hearing a sound. Only on one occasion have the watchers been near to making a capture, when a man was seen running across the field in the direction of the Potteries line, directly after a note had been left. One note was given to the little girl by an individual who was apparently a postman, but whom the family believe was nothing of the sort. The mysterious notes have been left at the house in all sorts of odd ways. Sometimes they have been placed under the door, at other times through the window, while they have also been deposited on the garden gate, and thrown into the back yard.
Theft is apparently not the object in view, for although money has been removed it has been found later in an outhouse accompanied by a note carefully explaining where the writer had taken it from. Notes have also been left in Mrs Barker’s trap when put up at licensed premises in Shrewsbury. The cool impudence which has marked all these happenings may perhaps best be illustrated by the statement that writing paper has been taken from the house itself and notes have been written upon it with a fountain pen, belonging to the son. Later the pen was returned with instructions as to where it would be found.
The aid of private detectives from Shrewsbury was sought, and on one occasion a watcher hid up in a tree outside the house armed with a powerful glass. No one appeared, but directly after he entered the house a note was left in which the writer stated that he had seen the person referred to – giving his name – watching from the tree.
Interviewing Mr and Mrs Barker it is impossible not to be impressed by their evident sincerity in recounting the story which we have just detailed. Mrs Barker, whom a representative of the “Chronicle” interviewed in her cosy kitchen on Wednesday afternoon, bore unmistakable marks of the anxiety and distress of the last few weeks, while the distress of the husband is only equalled by his annoyance at not being able to bring the person who has brought all this trouble upon his home to book.
Shrewsbury Chronicle, 10th September 1909.
The reported ghostly doings which have been a nine days’ wonder in the neighbourhood of Cruckton, near Shrewsbury, appear on the face of them to be capable of a matter of fact explanation. The perpetrator of the mischief either deserves a sound thrashing, or of compassion as one mentally afflicted. It is a curious circumstance that detectives who were on the watch were never able to detect anyone approaching the house, which stands isolated from other habitations; and another coincidence is that the mysterious letters which have been recived are all written on paper similar to that the occupants of the cottage themselves use. The police, we understand, are not pursuing further their investigations into the matter.
Shrewsbury Chronicle, 10th September 1909.
An extraordinary affair near Shrewsbury.
There have been occurring for some time past a succession of extraordinary incidents at a little farmstead at Horton Lane, near Cruckton, Shrewsbury, causing great annoyance and considerable pecuniary loss to the tenant, Mr Chas. Barker. Even at the present moment the affair is shrouded in mystery, so far as Mr Barker is concerned, in spite of his own and the vigilance of private detectives, as well as members of the family, who, it is said, have not been weary in trying to put their hand on the culprit, whoever he or she might be.
At the first blush the story which Mr Barker has to tell almost suggests that some supernatural element has been at work in the destruction of much of his personal property; but a careful sifting of what he has to relate makes clear that the “evil” hand he has suffered from is that of some malicious and vindictive person, and probably one whom Mr Barker has little suspected.
Mr Barker, who is employed by Mr J Wooding, farmer, also keeps a small holding, which stands about a hundred yards from the main highway, and there on his eleven acres he keeps two or three cows and a couple of poinies, the duties of the place being attended to in his absence by Mrs Barker and her son. According to a statement made by Mr Barker, a neighbour some weeks ago received the first of several alarming and disgusting notes, by which she was induced to take a journey expecting to find a relative seriously ill, but who was found to be quite well. Subsequently letters were received at Mr Barker’s house and in some of these his wife was urged to go over to Liverpool for a similar reason. Had nothin gmore happened the affair might have been regarded in the light of a practical joke, but there wre other and more serious things to come.
One day a member of the family found on the premises a note worded – “Look what I have done for you,” and, following the instructions given in the note to go to a specified spot, saw a coat and skirt belonging to Mrs Barker cut almost in pieces. Some fire policies, rent receipts, licenses, and a bank book that were kept in a box in one of the bedrooms were found torn to atoms, and then a note was picked up stating where the key might be found. The coat and skirt already mentioned having been damaged beyond repari, Mrs Barker obtained new ones; they were placed in a box, which was locked up, but greatly to her surprise she afterwards found them lying under a mattress completely spoiled by th euse of a knife. More and more vigilance was exercised, but without avail; there were evidences of the strange hand having been at its malicious work both during the day and the night.
Mr Barker went out of the house one morning to feed his cows, which were on the premises, but he returned to find that his son’s bank book had been taken and torn up. Two private “detectives” were brought in to take part in the night’s vigils, and once these were continued until two o’clock the next morning. Mr Barker then went to bed, and was astonished to find later on that a pair of boots which his daughter, by way of precaution, had placed under her pillow, now lay in the room badly cut.
Mr Barker continued to receive notes frequently; they were found lying now in one part of the premises, and then in another, and being informed in one of them that the mysterious writer was in possession of keys that fit the locks in all the doors, he replaced them by others. But even this failed to rid him of the pest, for he was soon informed that he had procured new keys for the new locks, and so could still gain access to the premises.
Next, a pair of Mr Barker’s trousers were found in the house cut up, his daughter’s clothes were likewise treated, and one morning he picked up a note saying – “When you was coming downstairs this morning I was in the act of cutting up Pegg’s shoes, and I slipped into the coal-hole under the stairs; and I had to stay in the house till you went to milk.”
Mr Barker, who was relating what had happened to a representative of the Journal, went on – “We have had the butter spoiled three times. On one occasion my wife left two large pans of cream standing in the dairy, and on going back a few minutes later she found that a quantity of gas-tar had been thrown into it. Then my daughter, who was married last week, we were told, must be taken to Shrewsbury when we went there, or her wedding clothes would be destroyed. Remembering what had already taken place, we heeded this note, but the sleeves of a coat in a new suit of my son’s were cut off. Besides all this, the harness of my pony was cut into while my wife and I were on the premises, in broad daylihgt.
One night I was particularly careful in looking under the beds, in the coal-hole, and other parts of the house, to satisfy myself that no one was secreted in the place, and went to bed quite believing that there was not; but on coming downstairs next morning I found that more damage had been done, and next day there came a note, from the same mysterious person apparently, stating – ‘I was in the boiler when you went to bed last night.’ “The boiler,” Mr Barker said, “I did not happen to look into that night.”
Asked if he knew of any reason why he and his family should be subjected to such annoyance, he replied he could think of none but the possible one that when his mother died some eleven years ago a wish was expressed by his sister to have her clothes, which, as a matter of fact, came into the possession of another member of the family – not himself. No corresponsdence with the sister had since taken place for a considerable time until within the last four days, and she had written in affectionate terms to her two brothers, without, however, the slightest allusion being made by either to the mysterious doings at Cruckton. The brothers, however, remembering that references were frequently made in the anonymous notes received about the mother’s clothes, the one in whose possession they were decided to send them to his sister, and they were accordingly packed up and sent to her by rail.
Curiously enough, and before the sister herseld had had time to reply, another note was picked up in the house, and by it Mr Barker was assured that the “conjuring” would now be given up. Mr Barker, who is just over 50 years of age, says he has been to Blackpool to communicate with an expert on the matter, and he puts his loss at about £20.
Wellington Journal, 11th September1909.