From the Whitehall, General and other Evening Papers, etc. Jan. 21.
For some time past a great knocking having been heard in the night, at the officiating Parish Clerk’s of St Sepulchre’s, in Cock Lane, near Smithfield, to the great terror of the family, and all means used to discover the meaning of it, four gentlemen set up there on Friday night, among whom was a clergyman, who asked various questions.
On his asking if any one had been poisoned, it knocked six times. Various are the conjectures in the neighbourhood of this supposed spectre, but the cause as yet has not been discovered. The report current in the neighbourhood is, that a woman was some time ago poisoned, and buried at St John’s Clerkenwell.
The clergy as well as laity, who are endeavouring to satisfy themselves concerning the reality or deception of this strange story, seem at present much divided in their sentiments. Some regarding it as a palpable imposition, which a very short time and attention must infallibly expose; whilst others put a graver face upon the matter, and are much inclined to give credit to it.
The story is concisely related thus, viz. the daughter of Mr —, Officiating Clerk of St Sepulchre’s, lay with the person, said to be poisoned, in the absence of her husband, who was in the country at a wedding about two years since, when the knocking was first heard, to the great terror of this child; she frequently crying that she might not be taken away, etc. Soon after this woman died, whose apparition is now supposed to appear to this same child, and in answer to the question put to her on Tuesday night, what was the occasion of the first knocking, etc. before she died? answered, that it was the spirit of her sister, the first wife of Mr —, who was husband to them both.
On Tuesday night the clergyman, who every night gives his attendance in this affair, accompanied by two others who were not there the night before, and about twenty other persons, among whom were two negroes, filled the room where the child lay. They first thoroughly examined the bed, bedclothes, etc. and being satisfied that there was no visible appearance of a deceit, the child, with its sister, was put into bed, which was found to shake extremely by the gentleman who had placed himself at the foot of it.
Among others, the following questions were, during this visitation, asked, whether she could visibly appear to any one? Yes. – Whether she would do so? Yes. – Whether she could go out of that house? Yes. – Whether she would follow the child every where? Yes. – Whether she was pleased in being asked questions; Yes. – Whether it eased her mind? Yes. – (Here a mysterious noise, compared to the fluttering of wings round the room was heard.) – How long before her death had she told Carrots, her Servant, that she was poisoned? One hour. – (Here Carrots, who was admitted to be one of the company on Tuesday night, asserted that the deceased had not so told her, she being at that time speechless). How long did Carrots live with her? Three or four days. – (Here Carrots attested the truth of this). – Whether if the accused should be taken up, he would confess? Yes. – Whether she should be at ease in her mind if the accused was hanged? Yes. – How long it would be before he would be executed? Three years. – How many clergymen are in the room? Three. – How many negroes? Two. – Whether she could distinguish the person of any one in the room? Yes. – Whether the colour of a watch held up by one of the clergy was white, yellow, blue, or black? answered Black. (The Watch was in a black shagreen case.) At what time she would depart in the morning? At four o’clock. (Accordingly, at this hour the noise removed to the Wheatsheaf, a public-house at the distance of a few doors, in the bedchamber of the landlord and landlady, to the great affright and terror of them both).
Last night there was again a large company, among whom were the accused person and five clergymen of great reputation, by whose indefatigable care we doubt not of being able very soon to unravel this tremendous story, the bugbear of the credulous, and the terror of children.
The extraordinary affair above-mentioned is universally credited, and becomes a matter of serious debate. Crowds of people are about the house every night late, and we are told that the person whom the spectre, or whatever it is, accuses of poisoning, has made a point of attending, and been present at the time of such accusations. Upon the whole, we can’t help remarking that, for a long time past, every ten or a dozen years have been productive of something of the marvellous.
In the Derby Mercury, 22-29th January 1762.
A farther account of what has happened relative to the Ghost in Cock-Lane, West Smithfield.
The story of the haunted house, in St Sepulchre’s becoming serious with many people, and engrossing the general conversation of the parish, on Monday night last four gentlemen sat up to examine into the reality of what had been reported concerning the noise that had been so frequently heard at the Charity School-Master’s of Saint Sepulchre’s, in Cock-Lane, near West Smithfield; when they were entertained as follows: Upon going up stairs they were desired to make no noise, for fear of disturbing the spirit, who had already began to scratch; upon their sitting down, a woman in company thus addressed herself to it: Are you come, my Dear? Pray tell me what it is o’clock? A Scratch followed; which implied displeasure.
The woman again said, Do, my Dear, don’t be ill-natured, tell me what it is o’clock; on which ten knocks were given. She was then asked, How much after? one knock was given, signifying one quarter. (Here, the spirit was mistaken, it being thirty five minutes after). A gentleman present got up, and stamped with his foot by the bed-side; on which she scratched; which they continued for some time, stamping and scratching; At last the Gentleman sat down; she beginning to knock, was asked if she would answer any questions; one knock, signifying yes.
When she was asked if Mr — was in the room? one knock was given. Second question, Whether she had been seen by any body? one knock. 3. Whether she had been seen by Mr P and his daughter, and Mr F? one knock. 4. If she had been seen by them, whether she could not be seen by the persons present? two knocks, signifying no. 5. If Mr — was to be left in the room alone, whether she would appear to him? two knocks. 6. If he went out, would she appear to the persons present? two knocks. 7. If she was the wife of Mr —? two knocks. 8. If she died naturally? two knocks. 9. If by poison? one knock. 10. If any other person but Mr — administered it? two knocks. 11. If it was given in water gruel, beer, or any other liquor? the knocks were given for beer. A gentleman observing she drank no beer, but loved purl, asked her, wehther it was given in Beer or Purl? knocked for purl.
12. How long she lived after receiving it? three knocks, signifying three hours. 13. Whether one Carrots knew of her being poisoned? one knock. (Here a gentleman took up a candle, to look under the bed to examine, but saw nothing). 15. Whether Mr — should speak to her? no answer. The woman in company said she was gone, and that the candle was the cause, she not loving light. In less than five minutes the scratching came again. 16. How many clergymen were present? one knock. (Here the spirit was again mistaken, for there were two; but this was cleared up by a gentleman’s observing, that the second clergyman was a stranger to her). 17. How many persons were present? six knocks, right. 18. Whether she would answer to Mr —? scratching hard, angrily; but being again intreated, gave one knock.
19. Mr — asked if she was Fanny —-? one knock. 20. If Mr J— or Mr S— was not her apothecary? no answer, but scratching; but on the question being put, if Mr J— was her apothecary or not? one knock. 21. Mr — asked, if he could not come to his house? two knocks. 22. If she would be pleased if Mr — was hanged? one knock. 23. Whether Mr — buried her, or Mr T—? two knocks, signifying neither. 24. Whether a stranger? one knock. 25. Whether Mr — sat on a bed or a chair? knocked for the chair. 26. Asked by one of the clergymen, if he could be of any service to her? two knocks. Then the other saked the same questions, to which one knock was given. 27. Whether he could be of any service in convicting Mr —? one knock. 28. The other clergyman merrily desired the following question, which was refused to be put, Whether she would appear in a court of Judicature? A layman present put the following question to her; 29. If you are really a spirit, knock at this bed-post, striking the same with his stick, here she scratched as angry. 30. Then she was asked, if she coudl not strike there? two knocks.
31. If any of that family had injured her, whose names were all mentioned? Two knocks. 32 Asked by Mr — how long she had been dead? Two knocks, meaning two years, which was right. 33. Whether she could hear the company when speaking low, or whispering? no answer. .34. If Mr —, Mr S—, Mr —-, Mrs —, and the stranger, were in the room? one knock. 35. If you can distinctly hear and see all the persons present? one knock. 36. Asked by the stranger, if you reallly want satisfaction, appear now before us, who will procure that satisfaction for you; to which a scratching was made as being angry. 37. Whether she told Carrots, that she had been poisoned? to which one knock was given. 38. How long after she had recieved the poison was it before she told Carrots? to which one knock was given. 38. How long after she had received the poison was it before she told Carrots? to which one knock was given, signifying one hour. 39. If Carrots knew this? One knock. — N.B. these three last questions were asked at another time, by some other people.
On Tuesday night the clergyman, who every night gives his attendance in this affair, companied by two others who were not there the night before [as above to ‘the terror of them both’]
Yesterday the child, by way of further experiment, was removed to another house at some distance; and last night was again attended by a large company, among whom was the accused person.
Last night the two children were removed to Mr Bruin’s, a pawnbroker, the corner of Hosier Lane, Snow Hill, where some clergymen and others attended, when the same noises as usual were heard under the children’s bed. Several questions as before were again put to it, and answered by knocks and scratching. The gentlemen did all in their power to find out the deception, and even took up a part of the flooring; but found nothing to confirm their suspicion of deceit. At this examination, the Earl of N—, the Right Hon. Mr N–, and Mr C—, attended, who were very merry on the occasion, but were not able to make any thing of it any more than the rest. One of the questions put by these gentlemen was, whether the spirit knew where the child was at that time; if in Cock-Lane, it was to reply by four knocks; if in Hosier-Lane, by Six. To this the spirit answered by six knocks.
We hear, the child, who is in strong convulsions, is to be removed tonight to the house of a very respectable clergyman. The house in Cock-lane is shut up, on account of the great crowds of people that flock to it all day long.
The following account is given of its first appearance. The daughter of MR –, officiating clerk, of St Sepulchre’s, lay with the deceased in the absence of the husband who was in the country at a wedding, about two years since, when the knocking was first heard, to the great terror of this child; she frequently crying out that she might not be taken away, etc. Soon after this woman died, whose apparition is now supposed to appear to this same child, and in answer to the question put to her on Tuesday night, What was the occasion of the first knocking, etc. before she died? she replied, that it was the spirit of her sister, the first wife of Mr —, who was husband to them both.
What is remarkable is, that the spirit is never heard till the children are in bed: and that this k nocking was heard by the supposed woman when alive, who declared it bettokened her death.
Oxford Journal, 23rd January 1762.
Friday’s Post.
The papers of this post contain a strange account of a ghost, in Cock-Lane, near West-Smithfield, which is so tedious that we are obliged to omit it.
Ipswich Journal, 23rd January 1762.
The Clerk’s Daughter in Cock-Lane still continues to be attended by the supposed Ghost: On Sunday night last the girl lay at a house opposite the school-house in Cock-lane; at which place a person of distinction, two clergymen, and several other persons, were present. Every person was put out of the room who could be supposed to have the least connection with the girl, her hands were laid over the bed-clothes, the bed narrowly looked under, etc., but no discovery was made. (From the Whitehall, General and other Evening Papers, etc. Jan 26.)
The Affair in Cock-Lane seems to lose ground, many beginning to think it is an Imposture; but by what means the deception is carried on, remains at present a secret, though there is no doubt but if it should be so, it will not be long before it is discovered.
Derby Mercury, 22-29th January 1762.
For some time past a great knocking having been heard in the night at the officiating Parish Clerk’s of St Sepulchre’s, in Cock-Lane, near Smithfield, to the great terror of the family, and all means used to discover the meaning of it, four gentlemen sat up there last Friday night, among whom was a clergyman, who asked various questions. – On his asking if any one had been murdered, nothing answered; but on his asking if any one had been poisoned, it knocked one and thirty times. Various are the conjectures in the neighbourhood, of this supposed spectre, but the cause as yet has not been discovered.
What is remarkable, the knocking and scratching appears no where but under the bed where two children lay, and that in whatever room they are placed it follows them. Several experiments having been tried, even in other houses where they have been carried. One of the children has lately seen it, which appears to be a bright figure of a woman. And a person in the neighbourhood as also the clerk, both saw it one night, about two year-since, and were terribly frighted. One of them describes it, that in coming out of the kitchen, he saw a light upon the stairs, and upon looking up saw a bright shining figure of a woman, with a bright light issuing from it, by which [he saw?] through a window into the Charity School, and saw the dial in the school. Many other particulars are related; however, two or three clergymen were again to set up last night.
—
The extraordinary affair at the house in Cock-Lane near Smithfield (a circumstantial account of which we have given in a former part of the paper) is universally credited, and becomes a matter of furious debate. Crowds of people are about the house every night late, and we are told that the person whom the spectre, or whatever it is, accuses of poisoning, has [?] a point of attending, and been present at the time of such accusations. Upon the whole, we cannot help remarking that, for a long time past, every ten or a dozen years have been productive of something of the Marvellous.
Sussex Advertiser, 25th January 1762.
For some time past a great knocking having been heard in the night, at the officiating Parish Clerk’s of St Sepulchre’s, in Cock lane, near Smithfield, to the great terror of the family. To find out the cause he ordered the wainscot to be taken doown, but to no effect; for the knocking and scratching was more violently renewed upon a bedstead whereon two children lay; the eldest about twelve years of age. These children were afterwards removed to the two pair of stairs room, where the same noise followed, and was frequently heard all night.
Upon these things being told in the neighbourhood, a report was spread that the house was haunted, which induced many persons to sit up all night, particularly last Tuesday night, several Gentlemen and a worthy Clergyman attended; the noise of scratching and knocking was continued in a violent manner.
The Clergyman addressed himself in this manner: If an injury has been done to any person that had lived in that house, he might be answered in the affirmative by one single knock; if on the contrary, by two knocks; which was immediately answered by one knock.
He then asked several questions, all of which were most reasonably answered, and the following account is taken from the responses, viz. That she was a woman, her name —; that she had lived with Mr. — in a familiar manner; that two years since she was taken ill with the small pox, and during her illness he poisoned her; that she was buried at St. John’s, Clerkenwell, &c.
(Something of a similar kind, happened about two years ago in Shire-lane, near Temple-Bar, where a family was greatly alarmed by some unusual noises, which proved afterwards to be only a wanton apprentice boy, who lived next door, and had contrived a hole in the wainscott, through which he played his pranks.)
Leeds Intelligencer, 26th January 1762.
The ridiculous story of the Cock-Lane Ghost, which has been injudiciously trumpeted in all the papers, will be soon unravelled, to the no small merriment even of children.
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 28th January 1762.
We hear that the time and place of trial of the Cock-Lane phantom, is agreed on between the Father and a number of unexceptionable gentlemen approved on both sides; but when and where is kept secret.
Derby Mercury, 29th January 1762.
The scratching and knocking in Cock-lane, Snow hill, is by no means the first thing of the kind that has been exhibited in London. The very same farce of answering questions by scratching and number of knocks under a bed, whilst a boy was in it, was acted 25 years ago with great success, by a young Jew, who terrified the family not a little. The father who was a man of fortune and character, knowing his son to be more knave than fool, suspected him of an imposture, and endeavoured to get the truth out of him by a severe correction; but he was too hardened to be whipped into a confession, and went on many months, till a gentleman, who pried closer into the matter than other folks, discovered that he had fixed wires under the bed, etc. in such a manner as to knock and scratch as he pleased.
Not many years ago, there was a groaning tree in New Forest; and the Publican in whose ground it grew, collected a multitude of fools pence from the country people, who flocked in great numbers to see and hear so great a wonder. At length some gentleman proposed cutting the tree down. This the honest landlord opposed, from the dreadful consequence of the person’s dropping down dead who should strike a single stroke with an axe. A man, however, was found, who was not afraid of sudden-death; and not falling the first blow, as had been predicted, he repeated his strokes till he cut it down: when behold the mystery was at once unravelled, there being found a pipe which had a communication under ground for many yards distance; upon which the landlord very prudently decamped.
Leeds Intelligencer, 2nd February 1762.
London, Feb. 2.
On Friday next, a motion of great consequence is expected to be made in an august assembly. Friday night some ladies and gentlemen of the first rank, were at the house, facing the father’s of the child, in Cock-lane; but no knocking was heard while they were there; however, they diverted themselves by asking the girl many questions, to all which she gave very rational answers. Among others were the following: A lady of great distinction asked her, whether she had seen the apparition? To which she answered twice, and that it appeared in a white sort of shroud, and smiled and nodded her head at her. Another question was asked by a gentleman, whether any subscription or collection had been opened for her father? To which she answered no; but on being asked if such was not desired, answered yes, if the affair could not be discovered.
On Sunday night about 30 gentleman and ladies attended at a house in Cock-lane, big with expectation of being entertained with the knockings and scratchings and flutterings of the ghost; but staying till near twelve o’clcok, and asking the girl whom Fanny attends, many questions, she frankly told them, “That as it was past eleven o’clock she was certain, that Fanny would not be there till six in the morning, and that she was sure she would not attend the Committees at the Rev. Mr Aldrich’s, Fanny disliking that gentleman on account of his unbelief.” Then the company withdrew, greatly dissatisfied at their disappointment.
Last night many gentlemen, eminent for their rank and character, were, by the invitation of the Rev. Mr Aldrich of Clerkenwell, assembled at his house for the examination of the noises supposed to be made by a departed spirit, for detection of some enormous crime. About ten at night the gentlemen met in the chamber, in which the girl, supposed to be disturbed by a spirit, had with proper caution been put to bed by several ladies; they sat rather more than an hour, and hearing nothing went down stairs and interrogated the father of the girl, who denied, in the strongest terms, any knowledge or belief of fraud.
The supposed spirit had before publickly promised, by an affirmative knock, that it would attend one of the gentlemen into the vault under the church of St John, Clerkenwell, where the body is deposited, and give a token of her presence there by a knock upon her coffin: It was therefore determined to make this trial of the existence or veracity of the supposed spirit.
While they were enquiring and deliberating, they were summoned into the girl’s chamber by some ladies, who were near the bed, and who had heard knocks and scratches; when the gentleman entered, the girl declared she felt the spirit like a mouse upon her back, and was required to hold her hands out of bed. From that time, tho the spirit was very solemnly required to manifest its existence, by appearance, by impression on the hand or body of any present, by scratches, knocks, or any agency, no evidence of any preternatural power was exhibited.
The spirit was then very seriously advertised, that the person, to whom the promise was made of striking the coffin, was then about to visit the vault, and that the performance of the promise was then claimed. The company at one went into the church, and the gentleman to whom the promise was made went, with one more, into the vault. The spirit was solemnly required to perform its promise, but nothing more than silence ensued. The person supposed to be accused by the spirit then went down, with several others, but no effect was perceived. Upon their return they examined the girl, but could draw no confession from her. Between two and three she desired, and was permitted, to go home with her father.
It is therefore the opinion of the whole assembly, that the child has some art of making or counterfeiting particular noises; and that there is no agency of any higher cause.
Kentish Weekly Post, 6th February 1762.
The Grand Trial of the reality of the Cock-Lane Ghost is fixed upon, we hear, for Wednesday. There is a Committee chosen of twelve persons, six of them are believers in Miss Fanny, and six unbelievers.
On Thursday night last her Grace the Duchess of Richmond, the Earl of Pembroke, and Lord George Lenox, went to hear the Phenomenon.
Kentish Weekly Post, 3rd February 1762.
Further particulars concerning the celebrated GHOST of Cock-lane near West Smithfield.
On Saturday night a select company attended, in expectation of some new communications from this undiscovered phenomenon. A gentlewoman of reputation undertook to lie all night with the child, as an additional circumstance tending to discover the deceit; but the night unexpectedly passed off without the least disturbance. The company dispersing early on Sunday morning, just as various in opinions as they had met the over night. After their departure, however, it is asserted by the whole family, that the noises came and continued a considerable time unusually loud.
On Sunday night our Spectre was attended at a house opposite the School-house in Cock-lane, by another select number among whom were a noble Lord and two clergymen. The knockings and scratchings were very loud, and a great many questions were asked and answered in the usual way, particularly the following: “Will you attend the girl at any place whither she may be appointed to be carried by authority.” – Answered in the affirmative. An eminent surgeon was of this night’s party, who had his hand upon the girl’s stomach and other parts, whilst the answers were giving; but this, as well as every other method hitherto thought of, has proved totally ineffectual.
Last night (Monday) nothing was attempted to be done in this affair. The fatigue undergone by P— and his family, had been such, that he desired his house might be free from company for one night. It was said this morning, that P— had consented to the removal of his daughter to Clerkenwell, whenever it should be demanded, and that a female acquaintance of his fixed upon for a companion to the child during her stay there; a person unexceptionable to all parties.
As the original circumstances of this story are very little known, and therefore very imperfectly related; it may not be unacceptable to give a short account of its rise and progress to the present time. They are as follow: Mr P—, the clerk of St Sepulchre’s observing, one morning at early prayers, a genteel couple standing in the isle, ordered them into a pew; and, being afterwards thanked for his civility by the gentleman, was asked if he could inform him of a lodgin in the neighbourhood; P— offered his own house, which was accepted of. Some time after, in the absence of the gentleman, who was in the country, the child in question was taken by Miss Fanny to her bed, who complained one morning to the family of both having been greatly disturbed by violent noises. Mrs P—, at a loss to account for this, bethought herself of a neighbouring industrious shoemaker, whom they concluded to be the cause of this disturbance.
Soon after, on a Sunday night, Miss Fanny, getting out of bed, called out to Mrs P—, “pray does your shoemaker work so hard on Sunday nights too?” to which being answered in the negative, Mrs P—, etc. were desired to come into the chamber, and be themselves witnesses to the truth of the assertion. At this time several persons were invited to assist and among the rest the late Rev Mr Linden, but he excused himself; and the gentleman and lady removing into the neighbourhood of Clerkenwell, (where she soon after died) the noise discontinued at the house of P—, from the time of their leaving it, to the first instant, or thereabouts, the space of above a year and a half; and now began this second visitation, as for distinction sake, we venture to call it.
It is added, however, that the like noises were taken notice of by the family where Miss Fanny died, during her illness. This family, if in being, would do well to offer their testimony, in confirmation or denial of the last mentioned circumstance, by way of assisting to clear up or further obscure, as it may happen a notable tale, that has hitherto, it must be owned, proved too much for the penetration of the many, who have taken such uncommon pains to account for it.
Dublin Courier, 5th February 1762.
Last night several ladies and gentlemen were at the house in Cock-lane, for the examination of the supposed spirit, and were all of opinion, that the child has some art of making or counterfeiting particular noises; and that there is no Agency of any higher cause.
Newcastle Courant, 6th February 1762.
From the St James’s Chronicle. Miss Fanny’s Ghost.
Our readers, at a distance from the metropolis, are perhaps not a little anxious to know the present state and condition of the Ghost, and what progress has been made in this matter since our last communication of the 26th instand: But they will do well to suspend their impatience for a discovery a little longer; for the plot evidently thickens; and from this happy circumstance they may expect further entertainment, as often and authentically as we can muster together the particulars of a story, that now may be said to engross the conversation of the town. The clergy and the laity, the nobility and commonality, continue their nightly attendance upon the invisible agent. Nor are the ladies less curious upon the present than upon most other occasions; insomuch, that the narrow avenue of Cock-lane is become a sort of midnight rendezvous, occupied by a string of coaches from one end to the other.
Differences in opinion have taken place in all supposed supernatural events: in the present, however, there have not been wanting those who may be said almost to differ from their own opinions: among these, report tell us of a learned Ecclesiastic, an early and a staunch advocate for the reality of the apparition, who, notwithstanding, soon growing dissatisfied, fell into a state of apostacy, and even ventured to reason in print upon the absurdity of the story, in the public papers, but he has since happily recovered his former orthodoxy, and is now amongst the foremost of its most sanguine defenders.
Another, of a complexion more steady than the former, distinguished himself not less remarkably, one night last week — Will you consent to make your appearance, said a certain Lord, at my house? one knock. That’s well (replied the noble examinant) she consents, we will have her under my roof tomorrow. — You mistake her meaning, observed the divine, she answers in the negative. A dispute ensued. The question was repeated; answered by two knocks. – The want of satisfactory answers, said this divine upon another occasion, is imputable only to a want of acquaintance with the temper and disposition of Miss Fanny. For my own part, added he, I have now long made her the object of my attention and study, and have such an influence and command over her, as to be obeyed in almost every thing I can propose. Sir, I have at one time caused her to flutter and clap her wings like a dove: At another I have made her trip it round the bed like a kitten. To be serious, however, for once, upon the serious side of the question: It has been universally supposed, that the girl, whilst in strong agitation, is the constant medium of this strange intercourse; it is on the contrary certain, that she is in a seeming sound sleep; at other times quite composed in her bed, and answering to such questions as are put to her at or about the very instant that the knockings and scratchings are the subject of attention; nay, and these too from another quarter than where she laid: add to this, that the puport of many questions are said to have been totally unknown to all but the person who proposed them and yet upon the veracity of this person, whose character admits not of the least suspicion, they are declared to have been rightly answered; the same reverend gentleman also affirms that he has even whispered his question at a part of the room distant from the girl, and that too in so low a voice, as not to be heard by those who stood very near him: and was nevertheless properly answered.
These circumstances contribute greatly to realise the fact in the minds of the credulous: on the other hand, it is not to be denied, that a very sensible proficient in the physical art, who has attended her, declares her fits to be counterfeit, that her pulse, during the violence of them, beats regularly and well, without spasms or intermissions; and that her hands, when seemingly fast clenched in agony and convulsion, were opened by him with the greatest facility.
Upon the whole, it is extremely to be wished, that an affair, which so much alarms the weak and superstitious, and is now exciting the attention of the first nobility and Gentry in the kingdom, could be brought to a speedy conclusion. Parsons, the father of the child, has declared by a publick advertisement, signed by himself, that he is ready to deliver up his daughter into the hands of gentlemen, who will give him security for their humane usage of her. In consequence of such declaration and promise, two Clergymen of reputation and abilities, who, by the bye, have been all along of the number of the unfaithful in this matter, are now fixed upon to put an end, if possible, to the deception, by a strict enquiry into the cause of it. By appointment, they and Parsons met yesterday; and, after a short intercourse, matters were amicably agreed on, and a certain number of gentlemen, fix on a side, to be approved of by both parties, are to assist in an undertaking, now really become of some consequence, and which will take up probably yet a considerable time to fathom.
Mr Parsons, with the concurrence of the above gentleman and his friends, has removed his child, while matters are preparing for a fair and impartial tryal; and has publickly desired, that no one would apply to see her, as such application will be wholly ineffectual.
Dublin Courier, 8th February 1762.
The following Detail will add to the Reader’s Pleasure, when the Imposture is detected.
Daily Gazetteer, Jan. 19.
For these two years past a great knocking having been heard in the night, at the officiating Parish Clerks of St Sepulchre’s in Cock-lane, near Smithfield, to the great terror of the family, and all means used to discover the meaning of it, four gentlemen sat up there last Friday night, among whom was a clergyman, who asked various questions; to every one of which it answers by making so many knocks as the person desires. On his asking if any one had been murdered, nothing answered; but on his asking if any one had been poisoned, it knocked 31 times; Various are the conjectures in the neighbourhood, of this supposed spectre, but the cause as yet has not been discovered.
What is remarkable, the knocking and scratching appears no where but under the bed where two children lay, and that in whatever room they are placed it follows them; several experiments have been tried even in other houses where they have been carried.
One of the children has lately seen it, which appears to be a bright figure of a woman. And a person in the neighbourhood, as also the clerk, both saw it one night, about two years since, and were terribly frightened. One of them describes it, that in coming out of the kitchen he saw a light upon the stairs, and upon looking up saw a bright shining figure of a woman, with a bright light issuing from it, by which he saw thro’ the window into the Charity School, and saw the dial in the school. Many other particulars are related; however, two or three clergymen were again to sit up last night.
Public Ledger, Jan. 20.
The following surprising relation gains, at this time, the particular attention of most in the neighbourhood: that, for these two years a great knocking and scratching has been heard in the night in the first floor of the house of the officiating parish clerk of St Sepulchre’s, in Cock-lane, near West-Smithfield, to the great terror of him and his family. To find out the cause he ordered the wainscot to be taken down, but to no effect; for the knocking and scratching was more violently renewed upon a bedstead whereon two children lay; the eldest is about twelve years of age. These children were afterwards removed into the two pair of stairs room, where the same noise followed and was frequently heard all night.
Some time since as a publican in the neighbourhood was in the house below stairs, in the evening, he saw a shadow much like a woman, who passed by him and beckoned him, upon which he was so terrified that he ran home and was very sick: the clerk soon after having occasion to go into another room saw the same appearance; this happened within an hour.
Upon these things being told in the neighbourhood a report was spread that the house was haunted, which induced many persons to sit up all night, particularly last Tuesday night, several gentlemen, and a worthy clergyman attended; the noise of scratching and knocking was continued in a violent manner.
The clergyman addressed himself in this manner, If an injury has been done to any person that had lived in that house, he might be answered in the affirmative by one single knock; if on the contrary, by two knocks; which was immediately answered by one knock.
He then asked several questions, all of which were most reasonably answered, and the following account is taken from the responses, viz. That she was a woman, her name —; that she had lived with Mr. — in a familiar manner; that two years since she was taken ill with the small pox, and during her illness he poisoned her; that she was buried at St. John’s, Clerkenwell, &c.
The former part of this narration some of the company knew extremely well, the latter they doubted; however, it was thought necessary to inform Mr. — of the affair, and he attended on Monday night, and upon the questions being asked, they were answered as usual.
The above affair being now grown serious and engrossing the general conversation of St Sepulchre’s parish, we are credibly informed one of the clergymen, who has entered deeply into this mysterious affair, has made regular minutes of all the interrogatories which have passed between the spirit and him; and we doubt not but he will shortly oblige the public with the whole detail, to the conviction of the incredulous.
Daily Gazetteer, Jan. 20.
On Monday night four gentlemen again sat up to examine into the reality of what had been so frequently heard at the Charity-School Master’s of St Sepulchre’s, in Cock-lane near West Smithfield; when they were entertained as follows: Upon going up stairs, they were desired to make no noise, for fear of disturbing the spirit, who had already begun to scratch. Upon their sitting down, a woman in company thus addressed herself to it: Are you come, my dear? A scratch followed; which implied displeasure. The woman again said, Do, my dear, don’t be ill natured, tell me what is o’clock; on which ten knocks were given. She was then asked, how much after? One knock was given, signifying one quarter. (Here the spirit was mistaken, it being thirty-five minutes after.). A gentleman present got up, stamped with his foot by the bedside; on which she (the spirit) scratched: which they continued for some time, stamping and scratching. At last the gentleman sat down.
She beginning to knock was asked, if she would answer any questions? One knock, signifying yes. When she was asked if Mr — was in the Room? one knock was given. Second question, Whether she had been seen by any body: one knock. 3. Whether she had been seen by Mr P. and his daughter, and Mr F.? one knock. 4. If she had been seen by them, whether she could not be seen by the persons present? two knocks, signifying No. If Mr. — was to be left in the room alone, whether she would appear to him? two knocks. 6. If he went out, would she appear to the persons present? two knocks. 7. If she was the wife of Mr. —? two knocks. 8. If she died naturally? two knocks. 9. If by poison? One knock. 10. If any other person but Mr. — administered it? two knocks.
11. If it was given in Water-gruel, beer, or any other liquor? the knocks were given for beer. A gentleman observing she drank no beer, but loved Purl, asked her, whether it was given in beer or purl? Knock’d for purl. 12. How long she lived after receiving it? three knocks, signifying three hours. 13. Whether one carrots knew of her being poisoned? one knock. 14. Whether Mr — should be taken up? one knock. (Here a gentleman took up a candle to look under the bed to examine, but saw nothing).
15. Whether Mr — should speak to her? no answer; the woman in company said she was gone, and that the candle was the cause, she not loving light. In less than five minutes the scratching came again. 16. How many clergymen were present? one knock. (Here the spirit was again mistaken, for there were two; but this was cleared up by a gentleman’s observing, that the second clergyman was a stranger to her). 17. How many persons were present? six knocks; right. 18. Whether she would answer to Mr —? scratching hard, angrily; but being again intreated, gave one knock. 19. Mr — asked, if she was Fanny —? one knock.
20. If Mr J— or Mr S— was not her apothecary? no answer, but scratching; but on the question being put, if Mr J — was her apothecary or not? one knock. 21. Mr — asked, if she could not come to his house? two knocks. 22. If she would be pleased if Mr — was hanged? one knock. 23. Whether Mr — buried her, or Mr T—? two knocks, signifying neither. 24. Whether a stranger? one knock. 25. Whether Mr — sat on a bed or a chair? knocked for the chair.
26. Asked by one of the clergymen, if he could be of service in convicting Mr –? one knock. 28. The other clergyman merrily desired the following question, which was refused to be put, Whether she would appear in a Court of Judicature? A layman present put the following question to her. 29. If you are really a spirit, knock at this bed post, striking the same with a stick? here she scratched as angry.
30. then she was asked, if she could not strike there? two knocks. 31. If any of that family had injured her, whose names were all mentioned? two knocks. 32. Asked by Mr — how long she had been dead? two knocks, meaning two years, which was right. 33. Whether she could hear the company when speaking low, or whispering? no answer. 34. If Mr –, Mr S.–, Mr M—, Mrs W—, and the stranger were in the room? One knock.
36 [sic]. Asked by the stranger, if you really want satisfaction, appear now before us, who will procure that satisfaction for you; to which a scratching was made as being angry. 37. Whether she told Carrots? that she had been poisoned; to which one knock was given. 38. How long after she had received the poison was it before she told Carrots? to which one knock was given, signifying one hour. 39. If carrots knew this? one knock.
N. B. These three last questions were asked at another time by some other people. What is remarkable is, that the spirit is never heard till the children are in bed. This knocking was heard by the supposed woman when alive, who declared it betokened her death.
(To be continued.)
Manchester Mercury, 9th February 1762.
Scotland. Glasgow.
The seventh son of a seventh son is just set out on a walk to London, in order to visit the spirit in Cock-lane; and as this gentleman is blest with the faculty of second-sight, it is thought he will be able to see her. The spirit’s great propensity for scratching makes it generally supposed here, that Miss Fanny died of the Itch rather than the Small-pox.
London.
On Friday evening last the Committee of Enquiry on the ghost in Cock-lane, met at the Jerusalem Tavern in Clerkenwell; when Miss P. was put to bed by one of the Maids of Honour, in the room where the Cockneys Feast is generally held, in the presence of the Right Hon. the Earls of — and — and —; the Right Rev. the Bishops of — and — and —, and above fifty more of the Nobility. The knockings and scratchings began about midnight, and the examination was in the following manner.
Question. Will you go into that Pint Bottle (pointing to a pint bottle that stood on the table). One knock.
From the time of this preliminary answer in the affirmative, all the subsequent noises issued as from the bottle.
Quest. (From the Right Rev. —, looking roguishly at Miss Betty Parsons in bed) Pray, Miss Fanny, is not your real name Miss Betty? Much scratching, as if angry.
Quest. from a Lord of the Treasury. What is the amount of the national debt? – Above 130000000 knocks.
Quest. How many years since the creation of the world? Above 5000 knocks.
Quest. What is the number of the present Anno Domini? 1762 knocks.
Quest. How many people are there in this room? Fifty-eight knocks. right.
Quest. How many women? 12 knocks. Wrong. There was another lady in mens cloaths.
Quest. How many maids? One knock. – certainly wrong; for there were five unmarried ladies, besides the girl in bed.
Quest. Will you have prayers read to you? One knock.
Quest. Shall they be read by any of the Archbishops, Bishops, or other regular Clergy? Two knocks.
Quest. Shall they be read by Dr W—d? One knock.
5 Quests. Or by Dr R–ne? Or Mr M–n? Or Mr M—re? Or Mr B–g–n? Or Mr S–n? One knock at each question.
Quest. Can you say the Lord’s Prayer backwards? Much scratching, as if angry, after which the bottle cracked, and flew suddenly into ten thousand pieces; and no more answers were given.
We hear that this Committee propose to fit out a Privateer to cruise in the Red Sea. And we are assured, that the ghost will continue to hold her rout in Cock-lane, and her Drum at the two theatres.
—
Miss Fanny’s Theatre in Cock Lane,
By particular desire of several persons of quality. Tomorrow evening will be performed, An Entertainment of Scratching and Knocking of Three Acts. Each Act to conclude with A Flutter. Bed 20s 6d. Chairs 5s. Standing 2s 6d. To begin precisely at twelve o’clock. No money to be returned after the first scratch, and nothing under the full price will be taken. Vivant, Etc.
Oxford Journal, 20th February 1762.
We hear that Miss Parsons is removed from Cock-Lane, by some Persons of Eminence at the Court End of the Town, who are determined it seems to scrutinize narrowly into the Affair of the Ghost, and not to let her go out of their Hands, before they have found out this Mystery. They have given Mr Parsons security for the Child’s good Treatment and safe Return, as soon as they shall have satisfied their own Curiosity.
It is said the Ghost still continues its usual Knocking and Scratchings, at the Gentleman’s House, the Court End of the Town.
Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 15th February 1762.
We are informed that the Knocking and Scratching of the Cock-lane Ghost is now nightly heard, but much louder; besides being attended with several other Noises, very uncommon and surprising, as is related by those who have lately sat up. But as we hear there are Bills of Indictment to be lodged against the Father, Mother, and Girl the next Sessions, we suppose there will be a very full Court to hear whether the Noises will attend the Girl there.
Kentish Weekly Post (From the London Gazette, March 30), 3rd April 1762.
Yesterday the five Persons concerned in the Affair of the Cock-Lane Ghost were brought to the Court of King’s Bench in Westminster-Hall; and they not having made Satisfaction to the Prosecutor, were all committed to the King’s Bench, and are to receive Judgment the last Day of Term.
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 10th February 1763.
Yesterday the two Gentlemen who were found guilty of a Conspiracy in the Affair of the Cock-Lane Ghost, upon paying the Plaintiff’s Costs and Damages, which are said to amount to above 600l. were discharged from their Confinement.
This Day Richard Parsons, Elizabeth Parsons, his Wife, and Mary Frazer, for being concerned in the Cock-Lane Imposture, were brought up to the Court of King’s Bench, Westminster, to receive Judgment; when Richard Parsons was ordered to be set in the Pillory three Times in one Month, namely, at the End of Cock-Lane, at the Royal Exchange, and at Charing Cross; and after that to be imprisoned two Years. Elizabeth his Wife one Year; and Mary Frazer six Months in Bridewell, and to be there kept to hard Labour.
The Hon. Mr Justice Wilmot made a most pathetic and moving Speech to the Delinquents, pointing out their wicked Intentions to take away the Life of an innocent Man; in which, however, they might fail, yet it was at best no less than taking away the Reputation and Character of an innocent Man, intending to cement it with his Blood. His Lordship then applied their Guilt in a very moving Manner, exhorting them to let their Repentance be equal to the Judgment of the Court.
After Sentence Mr Parsons made a short Speech to exculpate himself from any Malice he had against Mr Kent, etc.
Mr Brown, for publishing some Matters relating to that foolish Affair, was ordered to pay a Fine of 50 l. and be discharged.
Derby Mercury, 11th February 1763.
Yesterday Parsons stood in the Pillory at Charing-Cross, for the third and last time, for being concerned in the affair of the Cock-lane Ghost: There was a prodigious number of Spectators, who seemed to commiserate his case; and a collection was made for him, as at the two former times.
Dublin Courier, 13th April 1763.
Ghost Laying.
The Echo says that it may now be said that the “Cock-lane Ghost” is in the way to be fairly laid. At all events, the south side of the lane – which lay behind the recently demolished inn of the Saracen’s Head on Snow-hill, whence Mr Squeers and Nicholas Nickleby started per coach for Yorkshire – has been pulled down within the last few days, and the name of “Cock-lane” will, we suppose, pass away.
London Daily Chronicle, 18th August 1869.
One, Parsons, the officating clerk at St Sepulchre’s, having a house in Cock-lane, let a portion to a gentleman, and a lady (the gentleman’s deceased wife’s sister), known as Miss Fanny, with whom he was living. During his absence in the country Miss Fanny had Parsons’ daughter, a girl of eleven, to sleep with her, and during the night they were disturbed by the most extraordinary noises, which continued nightly until the lady and gentleman removed to Clerkenwell. Here Miss Fanny soon afterwards died and was buried in St John’s Church. In the following January the noises – knockings and scratchings – recommenced. The daughter of Parsons, from beneath whose bed the knockings proceeded, pretended to have fits, and the ghost, in answer to Parson’s interrogatories, gave knocks in the affirmative or negative; it also said that it was the spirit of the deceased Miss Fanny, who had been poisoned by a glass of purl, containing arsenic, administered by her paramour.
Thousands of persons now visited Cock-lane, amongst whom were Johnson, Horace Walpole, Duke of York, Lord Hertford, Lady Northumberland, Lady Mary Coke, &c. &c. Horace Walpole, writing to George Montagu in Feb, 1762, says, in reference to a visit to her ghostship: – “The house, which is borrowed, and to which the ghost has adjourned, is wretchedly small and miserable. When we opened the chamber, in which were fifty people with no light but one tallow candle at the end, we tumbled over the bed of the child to whom the ghost comes, and whom they are murdering by inches in such insufferable heat and stench.”
“We heard nothing. They told us (as they would at a puppet show) that it would not come that night till seven in the morning, that is, when there are only ‘prentices and old women. We stayed, however, until half an hour after one. The Methodists have promised them contributions. Provisions are sent in like forage, and all the taverns and ale-houses in the neighbourhood make fortunes.”
Another writer, speaking of the number of persons who attended Cock-lane, says: “The ghost, though fond of company, is particularly modest upon these occasions, an enemy to the light of a candle, and always most silent before those from whose rank and understanding she could most reasonably expect redress.”
The fraud was at length detected, it being found that Parsons’ daughter had a small board concealed benath her stays. Parsons, his wife, one Mary Frazer, and two other persons were tried, and convicted of conspiracy. Parsons was sentenced to be pilloried thrice, and to be imprisoned for two years. Mrs Parsons was imprisoned for one year, and Mary Frazer for six months. Miss Parsons, the medium of the ghost, who doubtless acted under her father’s direction, died in 18-6, having been twice married.
South London Chronicle, 5th October 1878.
Haunted Houses. A study in ghost-lore – in three parts. Part II.
[…] The Cock-Lane Ghost, as it was called, kept London in commotion for a considerable time, and was the theme of conversation among the learned and the illiterate, and in every circle, from that of the prince to that of the peasant. At the commencement of the year 1760 there resided in Cock Lane, near West Smithfield, in the house of one Parsons, the parish clerk of St Sepulchre’s, a stockbroker, named Kent. The wife of this gentleman had died in child-bed during the previous year, and his sister-in-law, Miss Fanny, had arrived from Norfolk to keep his house for him. They soon conceived a mutual affection, and each of them made a will in the other’s favour. They lived some months in the house of Parsons, who, being a needy man, borrowed money of his lodger. Some difference arose betwixt them,a nd Mr Kent left their house, and instituted legal proceedings against the parish clerk for the recovery of his money.
While this matter was yet pending, Miss Fanny was suddenly taken ill of the smallpox; and notwithstanding every care and attention, she died in a few days, and was buried in a vault under Clerkenwell church. Parsons now began to hint that the poor lady had come unfairly to her death, and that Mr Kent was accessory to it, from his too great eagerness to enter into possession of the property she had bequeathed him. Nothing further was said for nearly two years; but it would appear that Parsons was of so revengeful a character that he had never forgotten or forgiven his differences with Mr Kent and the indignity of having been sued for the borrowed money. The strong passions of pride and avarice were silently at work during all that interval, hatching schemes of revenge, but dismissing them one after the other as impracticable, until, at last, a notable one suggested itself.
About the beginning of the year 1762 the alarm was spread over all the neighbourhood of Cock Lane that the house of Parsons was haunted by the ghost of poor Fanny, and that the daughter of Parsons, a girl about twelve years of age, had several times seen and conversed with the spirit, who had, moreover, informed her that she had not died of the small-pox, as was currently reported, but of poison, administered by Mr Kent. Parsons, who originated, took good care to countenance these reports; and, in answer to numerous inquiries, said his house was every night, and had been for two years – in fact, ever since the death of Fanny – troubled by a loud knocking at the doors and in the walls. Having thus prepared the ignorant and credulous neighbours to believe or exaggerate for themselves what he had told them, he sent for a gentleman of a higher class in life to come and witness these extraordinary occurrences.
The gentleman came accordingly, and found the duaghter of Parsons, to whom the spirit alone appeared, and whom alone it answered, in bed, trembling violently, having just seen the ghost, and been again informed that she had died from poison. A loud knocking was also heard from every part of the chamber, which so mystified the not very clear understanding of the visitor that he departed, afraid to doubt, and ashamed to believe, but with a promise to bring the clergyman of the parish and several other gentlemen on the following day to report upon the mystery.
On the following night he returned, bringing with him three clergymen, and about twenty other persons, including two negroes, when, upon a consultation with Parsons, they resolved to sit up the whole night and await the ghost’s arrival. It was then explained by Parsons that, although the ghost would never render itself visible to anybody but his daughte,r it had no objection to answer the questions that might be put to it by any person present, and that it expressed an affirmation by one knock, a negative by two, and its displeasure by a kind of scratching. The child was then put into bed along with her sister, and the clergymen examined the bed and bedclothes to satisfy themselves that no trick was played by knocking upon any substance concealed among the clothes. As on the previous night, the bed was observed to shake violently.
After some hours, during which they all waited with exemplary patience, the mysterious knocking was heard in the wall, and the child declared that she saw the ghost of poor Fanny. The following questions were then gravely put by the clergyman, through the medium of one Mary Frazer, the servant of Parsons, and to whom it was said the deceased lady had been much attached. The answers were in the usual fashion, by a knock or knocks:
“Do you make this disturbance on account of the ill-usage you received from Mr Kent?” – Yes. “Were you brought to an untimely end by poison?” – Yes. “How was the poison administered, in beer or purl?” – In purl. “How long was that before your death?” – About three hours. “Can your former servant, Carrots, give any information about the poison?” – Yes. “Are you Kent’s wife’s sister?” – Yes. “Were you married to Kent after your sister’s death?” – No. “Was anybody else, besides Kent, concerned in your murder?” – No. “Can you, if you like, appear visibly to anyone?” – Yes. “Will you do so?” – Yes. “Can you go out of this house?” – Yes. “Is it your intention to follow this child about everywhere?” – Yes. “Are you pleased in being asked these questions?” – Yes. “Does it ease your troubled soul?” – Yes. (Here there was heard a mysterious noise, which some wiseacre present compared to the fluttering of wings). “How long before your death did you tell your servant, Carrots, that you were poisoned? An hour?” – Yes.
(Carrots, who was present, was appealed to; but she stated positively that such was not the fact, as the deceased was quite speechless an hour before her death. This shook the faith of some of the spectators, but the examination was allowed to continue.)
“How long did Carrots live with you?” – Three or four days. (Carrots was again appealed to, and said that this was true.) “If Mr Kent is arrested for this murder, will he confess?” – Yes. “Would your soul be at rest if he were hanged for it?” – Yes. “Will he be hanged for it?” – Yes. “How long a time first? ” – Three years. “How many clergymen are there in this room? ” – Three. “How many negroes?” – Two. “Is this watch (held up by one of the clergymen) white?” – No. “Is it yellow?” – No. “Is it blue?” – No. “Is it black?” – Yes. (The watch was in a black shagreen case.
“At what time this morning will you take your departure?” The answer to this question was four knocks, very distinctly heard by everyone present; and accordingly at four o’clock precisely the ghost took its departure to the Wheatsheaf public-house close by, where it frightened mine host and his lady almost out of their wits by knocking in the ceiling right above their bed.
The rumour of these occurrences very soon spread over London, and every day Cock Lane was rendered impassable by the crowds of people who assembled around the house of the parish clerk in expectation of either seeing the ghost or of hearing the mysterious knocks. It was at last found necessary, so clamorous were they for admission within the haunted precincts, to admit those only who would pay a certain fee – an arrangement which was very convenient to the needy and money-loving Mr Parsons. Indeed, things had taken a turn greatly to his satisfaction; he not only had his revenge, but he made a profit out of it. The ghost, in consequence, played its antics every night, to the great amusement of many hundreds of people and the great perplexity of a still greater number.
(To be concluded next week).
Halifax Comet, 30th September 1893.
Romance, imposture, and crime. Some of the world’s greatest mysteries.
The Cock-Lane Ghost.
In the year 1762 there lived in Cock-lane, a narrow thoroughfare in Smithfield, the clerk of St Sepulchre’s Church. His name was Parsons, and he made a little extra money by letting apartments. His rooms were taken by a woman of shady reputation calling herself Miss Fanny, and the landlord’s daughter, 12 years old, slept with her. When Miss Fanny had been in the house a few days she complained of violent knockings which kept her awake all night. She said the sounds were like the hammerings of a shoemaker, and, strange to say, there was a shoemaker living next door. It was easily discovered, however, that the knockings took place at a time when he was not at work, and continued all day Sunday when he was out of the house. It was not Miss Fanny alone who heard these noises. First the mother and father were brought in and heard them distinctly, then the neighbours were invited, and they were also abundantly satisfied. No secret at this time was made of the affair, but all who cared to come and listen were welcome, and almost invariably the mysterious knockings saluted their ears. Miss Fanny, not caring to be in a house to which so much attention was drawn, hurriedly left; and she died some time afterwards in Clerkenwell.
From the time that she left to the time that she died, 18 months altogether, not a knock was heard in Cock-lane; but as soon as Miss Fanny died the knockings recommenced. They always took place in the room in which the landlord’s daughter was placed, and nowhere else. The parents changed her room, but with no success. Directly the girl got into bed she went into a fit, and knockings and scratchings were heard. The father came to the conclusion that a ghost wished to communicate something of importance to the material world.
When the knockings began he commenced to put questions, and he requested the ghost to reply by knockings in such a manner that he would be able to understand what they meant. A message was then conveyed to him that the spirit engaged in knocking was that of the now deceased Miss Fanny, and she wished him, it appeared, to know that she had been poisoned by a gentleman, Mr Kent, with whom she had led an evil life.
This was an unexpected development. The sensational story soon got abroad, and Cock-lane became a notorious place in London. It was visited by hundreds and thousands of persons. Ladies of fashion, Ministers of State, noblemen and their wives, clergymen, and all the prominent people of the day, including the famous Dr Samuel Johnson, thought it proper to go to Cock-lane in order to investigate this mystery at first hand. In addition to these the public thronged to the place intent only upon prying into what was curious and inexplicable. Horace Walpole wrote a long account of his visit, but did not disguise his belief that it was a rank imposture, though he could not discover how it was done. Mr Parsons, the father of the girl, had now found that the ghost was very profitable to him. He received fees from the visitors, and rapidly accumulated money. If he was quite serious and in earnest at first, and had a conscientious belief that the knockings were genuine and the ghost itself above suspicion, there is no doubt that before the business ended he had decided to keep the mystery going for the sake of the wealth it brought him. Nevertheless he acted in a seemingly straightforward manner by allowing every scope for investigation, by permitting the wainscotting to be pulled down, and the flooring to be pulled up, in order that any trickery might be discovered or the ghost located. He also allowed his daughter to be taken into other houses, but the knockings always followed and no artifice was detected.
The point therefore arises, was there the least truth in the strange affair from first to last? Did the trickery begin 18 months before Miss Fanny’s death, was it neglected for that period, and was it deliberately recommenced? If the latter contention is correct, it is strange that 18 months should have been allowed to elapse without even a sign, and without some little trick to keep the game going and to excite interest. But there appears to have been no preparation for the sudden development which took place. That in itself requires explanation.
Until Boswell wrote the life of Johnson there was a common supposition that the fine old eighteenth century celebrity was one of the believers in the genuineness of the Cock-lane Ghost. The duty devolved upon his biographer to correct this error, and to relate the true circumstances of Dr Johnson’s connection with the alleged imposture. He went with the Rev. Dr Douglas, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury, to investigate the matter at first hand, and he subsequently wrote an account of it in the “Gentleman’s Magazine.” His narrative is so interesting and so important in enabling us to determine the true facts of the case, that we shall produce part of it here, as reported by Boswell. He said that about ten o’clock at night, on the 1st of February, 1762, the girl supposed to be disturbed by a spirit was put to bed by several ladies with proper caution, the gentlemen remaining below. The ladies sat with the girl about an hour and heard nothing, whereupon they went downstairs. The father of the girl strongly denied any knowledge or belief of fraud, and the investigators decided to leave the house and go into a vault under the Church of St. John, Clerkenwell, as the supposed spirit (Miss Fanny) had promised to give a token of her presence there by knocking upon her coffin.
While they were still inquiring and deliberating, so Dr Johnson’s report proceeds, they were summoned into the girl’s chamber by some ladies who had gone first to her bedside, and who said they had heard knocks and scratches. When the gentlemen entered the girl declared that she felt the spirit like a mouse on her back. She was told to put her hands out of bed, and from that time the noise ceased, although all the persons present solemnly appealed to the spirit if it were there to make its presence manifest. The spirit was next told that the person to whom the promise was made to visit the vault, and it was requested to fulfil its promise. At one o’clock the company went into the church, but there was complete silence.
On their return they examined the girl, but could draw no confession from her. Between two and three she desired to go home with her father, and was permitted to do so. “It is therefore the opinion of the whole assembly,” wrote Dr Johnson, “that the child has some art of making or counterfeiting a particular noise, and that there is no agency of any higher cause.” Such was the conclusion of Dr Johnson, and it carries great weight with it. But it will be observed that the result of his investigation was purely negative, and while it proved nothing, it did not definitely disprove anything. The excuse commonly put forward is that the spirit, had it existed, would refuse to submit to tests, and would only give genuine manifestations at its own pleasure and opportunity. It does not appear that Dr Johnson continued his investigations; he was content with his one visit, and did not think it necessary to reconsider the conclusion then arrived at. He is a hostile witness, and must be reckoned with as such, but when the grounds of his hostility are carefully examined it will be admitted that he might, with profit to himself and to others, have enlarged the scope of his inquiry, and have offered greater assistance than he did to the forming of a definite judgment on this mysterious subject. Yet his verdict must not be lightly cast aside, for he was himself somewhat of a believer in ghosts, and was therefore likely to have believed in the girl if he had discovered sufficient reasons for it.
To return to the narrative, it should be mentioned that among other things the man Parsons sent for a gentleman to witness the phenomena, and this person was so impressed by what he saw and heard, that he decided to communicate with the parish clergyman, and on a selected date about twenty persons decided to sit up all night and await the ghost’s arrival. The girl was put to bed after a full examination of the bed and bedclothes, and no hard substance, so the record runs, was found concealed anywhere upon which the child could produce sounds of her own. The company waited some hours, and then knockings were distinctly heard. They seemed to come from the adjoining wall. The child at the same time declared that she could see Miss Fanny, who was anxious to deliver a message to the company. Questions were then put to the ghost, who rapped out the answers. Her story was that she had been poisoned by Mr Kent, that no one was concerned in her murder but him, and that she intended to follow the child wherever she went.
Some test questions were then put to her, and the answers to them are of the utmost importance. She was asked if she had told her servant that she had been poisoned just before her death, and the reply was that she had done so an hour before. The servant, however, who was present, point-blank denied this, and declared that Miss Fanny was speechless for an hour or more before her death. In this particular, therefore, it was taken that the ghost lied, and the inference was that the whole business was an imposture. But it happened that, with this one exception, the replies to the remaining questions were correct, and the company were thoroughly bewildered by what they had witnessed and by what they had heard. It is worth noting that the ghost prophesied that Mr Kent would be arrested for the murder, that he would confess the crime, and that he would be hanged – all of which statements, we may here remark, were proved to be ridiculously false by subsequent events.
On a later occasion Mr Kent himself went down into the vault and implored the ghost to tell him direct whether he had poisoned her, but he could get no answer. This gentleman, although his past life with Miss Fanny had not been very creditable, was now placed in so embarrassing a position that he determined to take proceedings to clear himself of the odious charge brought against him. He indicted Parsons, his wife, the daughter, Mary Fraser (the servant), and several friends of the family for conspiracy. He declared that the whole business was fraudulent, and that the object of it was to terrorise himself and to obtain money by false pretences. Parsons, it now transpired, had borrowed money from Mr Kent and had not paid it back, and the lender had pressed him for its return. The case began to wear an ugly look.
In the meantime it had been determined to test the girl again. Her bed was tied up in the manner of a hammock, and her hands and feet were spread out and fastened down. For two nights whe was under observation, and no sounds were heard. She was then told that if the knockings were not heard any more she and her parents and friends would be taken to prison, and she was pressed to confess if she had knowingly practised a deception. She declared she had not, and was then allowed one more night in order to give the spirit a chance of making a communication. That night she concealed a board under her stays. She got into bed believing this was unknown and unnoticed, and promised that the spirit should appear at six o’clcok in the morning. At that hour sure enough certain knockings and scratchings began, whereupon the girl was searched, and the board, of course, discovered. This seemed to prove the case of imposture, but now a most important fact has to be recorded. The sounds made by the girl on the board were unanimously declared by all who heard them, and who had heard the original noises, to be totally different from the sounds supposed to be made by the spirit.
The theory, therefore, was started that the child, knowing that she would be cast into prison if another night passed in silence, was so frightened at the prospect that she decided to resort to clumsy trickery. It will be remembered that when she had previously been observed, and when her belongings had been examined, nothing was found upon which she could have made a noise, and if she had on that occasion concealed a board in bed or under her clothes, she would undoubtedly have been detected. What she did in her desperation was so simple, childish, and foolish, that we can scarcely believe she had done it before and escaped detection. It must be remembered that she had everything to lose by not making the attempt. If no sounds came prison awaited her. Is it to be wondered at, then, that the girl decided to take the risk of compelling the sounds to come, and so have one chance of escape? She would argue that, even though the imposition was discovered, the penalty would be no greater than would have been incurred by her failure. Thus she had every inducement to run the risk.
What had happened, however, was sufficient to convict her in the courts. All the conspirators were found guilty of conspiracy, and heavy punishment awaited the principal offender. Parsons was sentenced to imprisonment for two years, his wife to imprisonment for one year, and the servant for six months. Other persons who had supported them were reprimanded and fined. The question still remains – was this an imposture from beginning to end? That it concluded with a trick everyone knows; but was it a trick at the outset, and, if so, how was it accomplished, and with what object was it played? The majority of the authorities agree that the girl did not use a board except on the last occasion. How, then, were the sounds made? Some say by ventriloquism, but this is scarcely satisfactory. Ventriloquism is usually carried on by men, and that a child of 12 should have been a ventriloquist is a marvel so great as not to be credited. Besides, if the girl had carried on her imposture by means of ventriloquism she could as easily have made the sounds when under observation as at other times, and there would not have been the slightest need for her carrying a board to bed with her for the purpose of producing noises. It would have made no difference whether she was in a bed or in a hammock, whether her limbs were fastened or were free. Assuming that she was a ventriloquist, she could have continued her deception to the last without fear of discovery. She would certainly not have allowed whole days and nights to go by without making a sound at all, especially when she knew how this silencce was being misconstrued.
Another theory is that she was helped by her father and mother, who in some secret sort of way quite unexplained were in the habit of knocking the wall and scratching in various parts of the room without being observed by any of the visitors. But we doubt whether such a clumsy contrivance could have possibly been concealed for months and years, as happened in this case, whether it would have been carried on with equal success in different rooms, and even in different houses. And, if the father and mother were the tricksters, why did they not carry out their trick to the end? It stands to reason that the father and mother were kept closely under observation from the first, and that any manoeuvring on their part would at once have created suspicion. We are therefore inclined to reject this explanation. A third theory is that the girl invariably concealed some hard substance about her with which she could produce sounds by an adroit movement of her hands or feet. But again it must be remembered that no movement on her part was ever seen, and that when she was examined most rigorously no article was found upon her.
What, then, are we to conclude? We do not care to say a word in favour of the occult and supernatural, especially when the chief actor in the drama ended her career so ingloriously. The final deed of the girl of twelve was so absurd that it raises our doubts whether she would have been able to carry on a clever and complicated imposture for years, and not only have baffled party after party of inquirers, but still have left the precise nature of the deception unresolved. Our own opinion is that this matter has been dismissed far too lightly, and that the infantile trick to which the girl resorted in the end has concealed the real importance of a full investigation of all the preliminary facts. We do not say for a moment that the experiences of a girl of twelve were genuine, but on the other hand there are many circumstances required to prove that they were wholly fraudulent.
A number of those who came to the conclusion that the Cock Lane Ghost was an imposture did so because they heard nothing, although that fact is not sufficient to prove any point. Mere negation means that the case is unproven. Others who came to the conclusion that the Cock Lane Ghost was a fraud based their opinion upon the final folly of which the girl was guilty, but no proof has been forthcoming that she perpetrated any such folly before, adn it would be very poor testimony to the sagacity and the skill of thtose who kept her under observation to believe she had done so. We leave this case as mysterious as when we found it, convinced that though the Cock Lane Ghost may have been the veriest trick, it was one in which the girl of twelve proved herself more than a match for all the experts and the philosophers of her own and succeeding generations.
Liverpool Weekly Courier, 3rd November 1900.