The Haunted House.
Mr Martin, of the Ashford Road, in Boxley, near Maidstone, has, for several weeks past, had his household seriously disturbed by a number of mysterious noises, which became pretty regular visitants of an evening. There were violent ringings at the door bell; banging of the doors; shakings of the window-frames and wainscot; and sounds as of feet within and without the houses, without any one professing to be able to account for them. Footmarks could even be traced across the garden to and from a brick wall about 9 feet high, denoting the path of the “ghost”, to and from his nocturnal pastimes.
The thing was very annoying, especially as it was continued long beyond the term of an endurable joke. But how did the thing come about? The police were applied to on the subject, and suspicion at first lighted on the servant. She, however, was exceedingly demure and even pious body, terribly frightened herself at what was occurring, and relying confidently on having brought to the family “a two years’ character from her last place.”
The police, nevertheless, are not much given to romance and are very incredulous as to supernatural knocking at doors, bell-ringing, and foot-prints in high-walled gardens. The mystery was entrusted for elucidation to Sergeant Featherstone, K.C.C., who, as a preliminary, placed a dispersed guard of constables all round the house, as a corps of observation.
A policeman was also sent to the premises, not in the expectation that anything would occur while he was present, but to lull suspicion of any reserve being on the watch when he should depart. He left about 9 o’clock, and shortly afterwards the back door began to shake furiously. The police on duty concluded from that “the ghost” was domiciled on the premises, and Sergeant Featherstone promptly taxed the servant girl with being the “mysterious visitor,” in her own person. After a little pretended indignation at such a charge, then some evasions and excuses, she “owned the soft impeachment,” confessing that her object had been to divert attention from the late visits of some of her own favoured followers, and to preserve the good character which she had previously acquired.
The subsequent inquiries of Sergeant Featherstone brought some other circumstances to light, which show that the “character” was by no means deserved, but that teh servant was, in fact, a precious hypocrite. Her wages have been paid to her friends, and the deliquent has been sent home to her parents, who reside at Tenterden.
Maidstone Telegraph, 24th December 1859.
Maidstone.
A Ghost.
For three weeks or a month the family of Mr. F. Martin, Ashford Road, had been disturbed by mysterious ringings of the door bell, violent shakings of the doors, and divers other annoyances, the perpetrators of which no vigilance could detect, and to which no clue could be obtained. The family consisted of Mr and Mrs Martin, their son, a young man of about twenty, another son (an invalid) some years younger, and one female servant. The servant is a staid, demure sort of person, not given to going out over much. She had no followers, had two years’ character from her last place, and was so much respected and trusted by her mistress that in the summer, when the family went to the seaside, she had sole charge of the house.
The family were of regular habits, and kept early hours, and the whole thing was inexplicable. The effect, however, on the health of Mrs Martin and her invalid son began to be serious, and the aid of the police was called in. For some time a policeman was almost constantly in the house, but although the disturbances did not take place while he was there, he had never left many minutes before the bells were again rung, and the doors again shaken as violently as ever.
At length, last Sunday evening, Mr Maloney placed Sergeant Featherstone and a cordon of police all round the house. The policeman on the premises left about nine o’clock. In twenty minutes after the back door was shaken violently – there was no one within the cordon – and it was at once proved that the ghost was within the house.
The police quietly departed, and Featherstone having instituted inquiries found that the servant girl, under a steady and even a religious exterior, had long carried on a most flagrant and profligate career. On being charged with the perpetration of these abominable tricks, she, after some hesitation, confessed her guilt; and that some of the fellows who visited her having come at such hours of the evening as rendered it likely that a discovery would be made, she had invented these noises and pretended alarms from robbers in order to prevent suspicion falling upon herself.
Footmarks in the garden which had seemed to confirm her tales had been made, unobserved, by herself, and the boldness, coolness, and dexterity with which she so long deceived everybody was certainly remarkable. Her mistress, indeed, up to the very moment of the discovery was so convinced of her innocence as to be almost unwilling to test it. The girl, whose name is Harriet King, was dismissed – it being doubtful whether any charge against her could be entertained by the magistrates – and her wages paid to her relatives here on condition that she was at once sent home to her parents, who, we hear, are very respectable labouring people at Tenterden. — Maidstone Journal.
Dover Telegraph and Cinque Ports General Advertiser, 24th December 1859.
Mysterious Noises – the “Haunted House.”
As Christmas has been, time out of mind, the appropriate season for “ghost stories,” we have one to relate. Mr. Dickens’s Christmas book is called the “Haunted House,” and relates the mysteries of no less than seven goblins, distributed among as many separate rooms. But the main features in all such tales are pretty much alike – “banging of doors, ringing of bells, creaking of boards, and such like insignificances.” The chief difference between Mr Dickens’s narrative and ours is, that his is a fiction, and ours perfectly true. The facts we have to tell, then, are the following:-
Mr Martin, of the Ashford-road, in Boxley parish, near Maidstone, has, for several weeks past, had his household economy seriously disturbed by a number of mysterious noises, which became pretty regular visitants of an evening. There were violent ringings at the door bell; bangings of the doors; shakings of the window-frames and wainscot; and sounds as of feet within and without the house, without any one professing to be able to account for them. Footmarks could even be traced across the garden to and from a brick wall about 9 feet high, denoting the path of “the ghost,” to and from his nocturnal pastimes.
The thing was very annoying, especially as it was continued long beyond the term of an endurable joke. But how did the thing come about? The police were applied to on the subject, and suspicion at first lighted on the servant. She, however, was an exceedingly demure and even a pious body, terribly frightened herself at what was occurring, and relying confidently on having brought to the family “a two years’ character from her last place.” The police, nevertheless, are not much given to romance, and are very incredulous as to supernatural knocking at doors, bell ringing, and footprints in high-walled gardens. The mystery was entrusted for elucidation to Sergeant Featherstone, K.C.C., who, as a preliminary, placed a dispersed guard of constables all round the house, as a corps of observation. A policeman was also sent to the premises, not in the expectation that anything would occur while he was present, but to lull suspicion of any reserve being on the watch when he should depart. He left about 9 o’clock, and shortly afterwards the back door began to shake furiously. The police on duty concluded from that “the ghost” was domiciled on the premises, and Sergeant Featherstone promptly taxed the servant girl with being the “mysterious visitor,” in her own person.
After a little pretended indignation at such a charge, then some evasions and excuses, she “owned the soft impeachment,” confessing that her object had been to divert attention from the late visits of some of her own favoured followers, and to preserve the good character which she had previously acquired. The subsequent enquiries of Sergeant Featherstone brought some other circumstances to light, which show that the “character” was by no means deserved, but that the servant was, in fact, a precious hypocrite.
Her wages have been paid to her friends, and the delinquent has been sent home to her parents, who reside at Tenterden.
Dover Express, 24th December 1859.