Mr Harry Price at the Grammar School.
Interesting Lecture on Psychical Research.
Mr Harry Price, the world-famous psychic investigator and author of many works of research, was among the guests at the “at home” held at Spring Grove Grammar School on Thursday week by Mr L.T. Brown, M.A. (headmaster) and Mrs Brown.
[…] After acknowledging the cordiality of his reception, Mr Price recounted some of his experiences in investigating Poltergeist activities. Mr Price explained that a poltergeist was an alleged separate entity and not the spirit of a dead man or woman. Poltergeist happenings nearly always took place in a house where an adolescent was living, and he thought it was the young person who acted as a link between the entity, which, he believed, was a force of nature.
Mr Price explained that these poltergeist happenings included the smashing of furniture and other objects, pulling people out of bed, strange noises, the movement of things from one room to another and many other phenomena. It had nothing to do with the spirit and the difference between a ghost and a poltergeist was that a ghost haunted, but a poltergeist infested and performed during the day as well as at night.
Mr Price went on to give interesting details of his recent investigation into alleged poltergeist happenings at a bungalow near Crawley. The house was inhabited by a Mrs Rhodes and her 13-years-old son and the first thing he did was to interview them. The grandmother told him of pots and pans falling off the stove, of objects being thrown about by no apparent human agency, cups and saucers rolling off the table, bedclothes being jerked off at night, etc. Mrs Rhodes told him that when the boy was in bed such things frequently happened.
The boy himself, very intelligent, was not frightened by the happenings and talked of them with interest. Mr Price told how after the lad had gone to bed, he and others tied tape round both his wrists and fastened the other end of the tape to the bed rails. After turning out the light he went out of the room and locked the door. Almost immediately the boy called out. They returned to the room, where Alan said that something whizzed past his face and hit the wall. On the floor they found a sorbo ball, which was not there before. They left the boy again but almost at once he called out. Going back to the room they found his hands were free, every one of the 32 knots being undone. A clock had also “flown” from the dressing table onto the bed. They stiffened up the control and not only tied the lad’s wrists but sealed all 16 knots.
Alan was again left in darkness and the door was locked. Within a very short time he called. They found all the seals broken, and a biggish trinket set, which had been on the dressing table, was on the bed.
Speaking of other happenings at the house, Mr Price said that at 2.30 in the morning a largish picture fell from its hook on to the floor. He examined the cord and found it unbroken. So impressed was he with what happened at the bungalow that he hoped to go there again and carry out further investigations.
Mr Price referred to other poltergeist activities he had investigated. How they could explain these strange happenings and how matter could pass through matter, he did not know. He only knew that the evidence was vast and impressive. Answering a question, Mr Price said his investigations showed that as the young person concerned grew up all traces of these disturbances disappeared.
Middlesex Chronicle, 22nd December 1945.
Strange Happenings In Crawley Bungalow.
A Poltergeist Suspected.
An account has been published of the strange experiences of the occupants of a Crawley bungalow, which have led investigators to believe that the place may be haunted by a poltergeist – a mischievous ghost. The bungalow was recently visited by Mr Harry Price, of Pulborough, whose book ‘Poltergeist over England’ lately attracted much attention, for the purpose of investigating the occurrences, and he invited a reporter and photographer from the “Picture Post” to accompany him. The Rector of Pulborough was also in the party. Last week’s issue of “Picture Post” contains a very interesting account of the visit and of what is stated to have been going on in the bungalow for over a year, with a number of photographs.
The bungalow is St. Julien, Woolborough rd., between Crawley and Three Bridges, occupied by Mrs A. M. Rhodes and her grandson, Alan Rhodes, aged 12, and it is around Alan that the strange incidents seem to centre. Ever since August, 1944, when they heard tappings in their air-raid shelter, there has been evidence of some mischievous force at work. Bedclothes would be pulled off and pictures, keys and pencils thrown across the rooms. Tricks were played with Alan’s bicycle to make him late for school; on one occasion it was padlocked in a shed and the key hidden. The clocks were altered and the wireless put out of order.
They became familiar with the ‘spirit’s’ annoying habits and called it ‘Spookey Bill.’ It appeared to like the fire, and when the room was empty, logs and coal had been put on the fire or lighted in an empty grate. It also liked the gramophone, and once left a pencil note: “Play the Gram or Truble, Love, George.”
Mr Price, who has had long experience of investigations of this kind, took various precautions against fraud when he visited the bungalow, such as taping the windows and sprinkling chalk, and then challenged the poltergeist, saying “We have come a long way to see what you can do, and we hope you won’t disappoint us. Please give us some manifestation.” They were not disappointed.
Alan went to bed at 11.20 p.m., which was when trouble usually started. Mr Price tied his hands with tape to the bed rails in such a way that his movements were restricted, but he could knock on the door to attract attention. The door was then closed and the light put out. Then followed a succession of inexplicable incidents, and Alan was continually calling them into the bed room to report something fresh. The tapes tying his hands were untied several times. Pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and other small objects were moved to the bed or the floor. An alarm clock and a trinket box fell from the dressing table on to his bed, but nothing happened while one of the others stayed in the bed room with Alan. Later all the lights in the house went out.
The investigating party seemed convinced that there was no question of deliberate fraud. Perhaps the strange happenings at St Julien will be further tested and so more evidence added to the records of such mysteries.
West Sussex Gazette, 27th December 1945.
Crawley ‘Ghost’ Dance Records
Schoolboy’s Story
A ghostly practical joker, who plays dance records on the gramophone and delights in other weird pranks, is said to haunt “St Juliens,” a six-roomed bungalow in Woolborough-lane, Crawley. A remarkable story of apparently supernatural origin, which has already been investigated by Mr Harry Price, an expert in this sphere, was described on Tuesday by Alan Rhodes, a 13-year-old boy, who is living at the house with his grandmother, Mrs A. N. Rhodes.
When a reporter called, his repeated knocks at the front door at first went unanswered. Then Alan appeared and apologised in this way: “Sorry; we get so many unusual noises in this place that it is difficult to distinguish them from the understandable noises.” He revealed that something inexplicable had laid and lighted a fire in the sitting-room grate that afternoon, and that on the previous night he and his grandmother had been disturbed by the playing of gramophone records, which included “Wilhelmina is plump and round,” “Don’t fence me in” and “A little on the lonely side.” The records were carefully removed from the cabinet before being placed on the turntable!
“Sometimes we have been kept awake until 4 a.m. by these disturbances,” Alan continued. “Spanners have been banged against the sides of our beds; clocks have been found retarded; a battery was once broken up before our eyes; the radio-set has been frequently disconnected, and one night, a box of night-lights was thrown at Nanny. Once a black box was thrown across the bedroom; a picture was broken and a slipper thrown at it; the electric light has been switched off and bulbs removed from their sockets and placed in different vases. Clocks have been wound fully and then allowed to run down quickly. Once we hid the handle of the gramophone, but the records were played just the same!”
“One night a corner of the bedclothes was flipped across our faces. Pegs have been taken from the shed and thrown willy-nilly into the dining room. A basket of oranges and lemons was emptied into the bedroom. These disturbances happen at all hours of the day and I am getting fed up with them.”
“During the investigation, Mr Price, the expert, tied my arms to the bed with tape, and it was undone soon afterwards. The whole thing started a year ago last August. We had a Morrison table shelter and something started to tap on it, which we first put down to the vibration from the heavy guns in the neighbourhood.”
David displayed a large round mahogany table-top, which, he said, was rolled as far as the sitting-room door last week. Unfortunately nothing out of the ordinary occurred during Tuesday’s visit.
Crawley and District Observer, 26th January 1946.
This is “St. Juliens,” a six-roomed bungalow in Woolborough-lane, Crawley, which is said to be haunted by a ghostly practical joker, whose adventures were described in last week’s “Courier.” Alan Rhodes, aged 13, who lives at the house with his grandmother, Mrs A. N. Rhodes, is standing at the front gate with his bicycle.
Crawley and District Observer, 2nd February 1946.
(it looks like the bungalow has been demolished)
From Crawley News, 25th August 1999.
A Poltergeist Case.
[Mr Ian Fletcher, a member of the Society, has contributed the following report of his investigations at a bungalow in the Home Counties. His attention had been called to the case by reports in the Press. In accordance with the usual S.P.R. practice in similar cases, the real names of the persons concerned are suppressed.]
I wrote to the owner of the bungalow, which was the place said to be haunted, and asked if I might investigate the phenomena. Having been invited to spend the night there I arrived at 5 p.m. on Sunday, 27th January 1946. The following is an accurate account of what happened during my stay.
On my arrival I had tea with the occupants of the bungalow – Mrs ‘White’ and her grandson ‘David White,’ aged 13 years 1 month. They told of various phenomena which had occurred since August 1944 when a Morrison shelter was installed during the flying bomb raids. The first thing to be noticed was tapping on the shelter while they were inside. This tapping seemed to take the form of a tune and later it was noticed that objects had been moved from one place and put in another and then objects were actually seen and heard flying across the rooms. No one room was specially picked out for these phenomena although the room in which David slept seemed to attract the most activity if he was present. Things such as clothes pegs, china ornaments and pencils were moved from one room to another or might be missing for some time. The gramophone was played by itself. On the afternoon of my visit David said he had removed the handle and sound box but they had been put back in place again.
On more than one occasion the fire had been laid and lit while both Mrs White and David were out. A fire screen had also been taken away from the grate and put in the corner while the place was empty. Notes had been written by both Mrs White and David to this unknown entity (referred to as Wily Willie by David) and replies had appeared, sometimes on the same paper as the note, sometimes on another piece which floated down from the ceiling. The reply was written in a peculiar curly script and often with spelling mistakes. Sometimes notes were found demanding that the ‘gram’ should be played or there would be ‘truble’.
Nobody had been injured by the flying objects but David had had his face slapped and small objects had sometimes hit him. I examined the notes written by Wily Willie and obtained a specimen of writing from David. I was shown the bed in which David slept with his grandmother. The paint along the side had obviously been beaten away. There were some deep scratches on the rail at the foot of the bed. These had apparently been made by a toy car which belonged to David and which had a notched wheel underneath it.
During the evening some missing clothes-pegs and a screw-driver were found under a cushion on the settee. I was told of many other similar phenomena and that on one occasion the handle of the gramophone was purposely left in the house next door but was brought back without anyone knowing. At about 11 p.m., after playing a few records, David went into the kitchen while Mrs White and myself were in the living room. We then heard two objects fall on the floor and the next minute David gave a shout and came into the room holding two pieces of lemon peel, which he said had been thrown at him. A small toy aeroplane made of metal and measuring about two inches long, together with a piece from a draughts set, had been thrown across the room. At my suggestion David wrote a note asking Wily Willie to do some disappearing tricks. This was left on the kitchen table with a pencil and we all went into the living room and closed the door. David, however, went into the kitchen again to fetch something and was away for about two minutes. When he returned, he said that a reply was on the kitchen table but on another piece of paper. This note stated that some letters had been burnt and also told us not to write notes.
David then said he would lie down on the ottoman in the kitchen as that sometimes caused trouble. I went into the kitchen with him and sat on a chair nearby, with him in full view. About five minutes later the ottoman flew violently towards the centre of the room and deposited David on the floor. He replaced it, and almost immediately the same thing happened again. This time I suggested it was left where it was and asked Wily Willie to push it back again by the wall with David on it. This, however, did not happen but while we were waiting a crash sounded on the floor behind David’s head and a pencil box was recovered from the floor. Having waited for about ten minutes without anything further happening, we put the ottoman back in place and I stood at the foot of it while David lay on it. Again it spun violently into the middle of the room, David landing on the floor behind it. As I had seen this happen three times, I thought it best that we should go into the living room and I left a note on the kitchen table, with a pencil, asking “What else will you do?” We waited for about five minutes and then David went into the kitchen so I stood up and watched the note by gazing at its reflection in a picture. David came back without touching the paper and we sat and talked for a short time when David again went into the kitchen, and as I was in the middle of a conversation with Mrs White I could not see what was going on, so decided that this piece of investigation would obviously be invalid.
However, David returned and said the note was still as I left it – unanswered. He remained in the room for another five or ten minutes and when he again went into the kitchen, I immediately followed him, only to see my note folded up on the table. (I had left it unfolded.) When we opened it out my message was seen to have been crossed out and underneath it in the usual curly block capitals, was written: DON’T MAKE YOURSELF SEEM A MORE FOOL THAN YOU ALREADY ARE. After this is was decided that David should go to bed so he went into the bedroom, which adjoined the living room and undressed. Within a few minutes I heard some loud knocking coming from the bedroom so I went in and was told that it had come from the bottom of the bed. Just after going out of the room I heard some object clatter on to the floor and I found the cover of an electric light switch on again entering the bedroom. I took it out with me, only to return in a few seconds when I heard something else clatter across the room and discovered it was the bottom of a flat electric torch. It was identified by David who was in bed during these occurrences. I went out and left the door ajar but was immediately recalled, only to find the bult and top of the torch on the spare bed. I took them out remarking the rest of the torch would doubtless make itself known.
As I was about to enter the living room, however, I heard a clicking sound so I looked around but could not find anything to account for the noise. I asked David if he knew what it was and he said it sounded like an electric light switch. There was a spare one, apparently, in the tool shed and I already had the cover of it. I waited outside the bedroom door and went in as soon as I heard the next sound, which was the torch case falling behind a chair at the foot of the bed. As I stooped to retrieve it the battery fell down at the side of the fireplace about a yard from me. I sprang up and looked at David who was still lying down with his hands under the bedclothes. Taking these two parts of the torch out, I assembled them all and returned to the bedroom as I heard knocking.
This time I stayed in the room with my back to the boy but watched his reflection in a picture on the wall. Suddenly a crash sounded at the foot of the bed beside me and I stooped to pick up the electric light switch, which had apparently been responsible for the clicking we had heard. The moment I bent down David’s bedroom slippers hit me on the back, so I asked him where he had left them and learnt that they had been under the spare bed (well out of his reach). I placed a box of matches on the table at the side of the bed and asked for them to be moved. No sooner was I outside the room than they were heard to fall the other side of the room. Having picked them up I chose a china candle-stick on the chest of drawers in the far corner of the room and well out of David’s reach. This I asked to be moved while I waited outside. He called me back and I saw the brush and comb from the side table now on the bed. As I replaced them I remarked that the candlestick was still in its place. I retired to the next room only to hear another object fall; this turned out to be a brooch belonging to Mrs White. I noted the candlestick still in place and went out only to return on hearing knocking coming from some part of the bed, but nothing had moved.
This time I closed the door as I went out but burst in suddenly only to find David lying quietly in bed and everything in order. Again I burst in and this time found a china ornament on the spare bed. I replaced it on the chest of drawers and realised the candlestick was now missing, so I looked round the room for it but could not see it. I felt on David’s bed but did not make a thorough search. Not being able to find it I went into the next room to wait a matter of a few seconds when David again called me in and pointed to the missing candlestick on his bed. After replacing it I took the bottom of the torch and smeared it with vaseline and then placed it on the table by the bed without saying what I had done to it. I then asked him if he would mind my tying his hands to the bed as I wished to see how the knots could be untied. He consented to this so I tied his wrists to the bed rail with thick cord and tested the knots, and then asked Wily Willie to move the piece of the torch. No sooner was I outside than he called me in saying the left hand was free. The cord was still round his wrist but had come untied from the bed. I retied it and looked at the other knot (which was the side nearest the torch part). Again I was called in only to find the same thing had happened but as I was retying the right hand the left became loose, although I saw it was tied as I entered the room. I tied both securely and went out but within a minute David called me back and I saw the piece of the torch on the bed together with a small wooden board and also noticed both hands were free. I dusted the vaselined object with powder and looked for any fingerprints which might be there.
As the time was then 2.40 a.m. I decided on the last part of my tests. This consisted of bandaging David’s closed hands, separately, with a three inch by six yards calico bandage, adn then enclosing the whole fist in a large triangular bandage tied firmly on the back of the hand. I then tied a piece of rope round each wrist and secured it by three firm knots. The other end of the rope was tied equally securely to the outer bed rail. Next I tied a piece of rope round each ankle and secured the other ends, together, to the foot of the bed. After testing all the knots, I placed a box of matches on the table on the right of the bed and asked for them to be moved, then went into the next room closing the bedroom door behind me. The time was then 3 a.m. and I waited for five minutes and then went in as David called me. One of the knots had become loose but not undone. I tightened it and found that it was just possible for him to reach his hand with his mouth so I shortened the length of rope, making it impossible for him to reach the knots with his teeth. I went out and immediately heard knocking coming from the room so I went in again but all was quiet and as I had left it. The knots on wrists and ankles intact.
Again he called me and said that the ropes on his feet had been pulled viciously and that those on his wrists had been pushed up his forearms. I eased them back on his wrists and went out but he called me again in a few minutes. I saw the pillow from the left side of the bed was on the floor on the right of the bed and all knots firmly intact. So placing the pillow on a chair I again left him alone, only to hear violent knocking, so I went in and placed the pillow behind his head, telling him that was in case Wily Willie decided to bang his, David’s, head on the bed rail.
There was more banging and this time I found the bedclothes almost on the floor so I straightened them and then found a small metal box in the bed which had apparently come from the table at the side, although i had not seen it there before. No sooner was I outside the room than there was a loud crash and I went in to find the stone hot water bottle on the floor so I replaced it in the bed. As I went out David shouted and told me a pin had been stuck in him. All this time the knots had remained intact and I waited outside again for about ten minutes without hearing anything more, so I released him at 3.35 a.m. and went to bed in the next room. No sooner was I in bed than I heard heavy banging and then some form of tune which I learned later was supposed to be God Save the King. After this something crashed on to the floor and I went to sleep in the ensuing silence.
I experienced nothing more throughout the night but in the morning when I went into the kitchen Mrs White showed me a note she had written before going to bed, saying “Who is the bigger fool, you or I?” Underneath was written in the usual hand HE IS. This note had been left in the kitchen and David was still in bed, but he got up a quarter of an hour after me. I experienced no more phenomena after this and returned to London by mid-day.
Conclusions.
1. Early in the evening while I was talking to Mrs White, I noticed David get up and put his new propelling pencil behind a picture on the gramophone. About a quarter of an hour later he remarked that his pencil was missing and after looking for it said he had it only a few minutes before. I then reminded him that he had put it on the gramophone and he said “Did I?” somewhat puzzled that I should have seen the incident.
2. I asked if I might borrow one of the messages written by Wily Wilile also a specimen of his, David’s, writing as I should like to have them both psychometrised. I explained that this might determine the author of the writing. He looked quite perplexed at this request but complied.
3. David told me that Wily Willie sometimes announced his presence by a clicking noise. This was demonstrated to me but when I asked if this always occurred David said “Oh, no I – ch, he doesn’t always do it.” The “I” was cut short immediately but was enough for me to catch.
4. On examining the bed I noticed that all the paint was chipped off along the side nearest the head end on the side David slept.
5. When David left the note on the kitchen table he later went out through the kitchen but did not stay in this room. While he was out I assumed he wrote the reply and then left it on the table beside the note as he came through again. Had I, therefore, looked into the kitchen while he was out I should have seen everything as it had been left with the note still unanswered. When I later examined the reply I noted that it had obviously been written on some dark surface as the letters showed through as if written on faint carbon paper. I looked for an impression of the writing on the tablecloth but could see nothing, so I tested this for myself by writing on the tablecloth but could see nothing, so I tested this for myself by writing on the paper and saw that the impression did come through quite clearly.
6. Most of the phenomena seemed directed against David rather than in his favour so I was surprised to see one note left by Wily Willie, at Christmas, insisting that David should be given an accordion.
7. Another note was signed “Polish lunetic” but it was in the same style as the other notes including one signed George. On no occasion was any Polish written.
8. When David lay on the ottoman he pressed his feet firmly against the wall behind him and he had his knees well flexed. So all he had to do in order to move this piece of furniture was to press his feet hard against the wall and push his body downwards and outwards onto the ottoman. It did not move once it was away from the wall.
9. Later when I left a note to be answered, David went into the kitchen and shut the door behind him. As I was in conversation with Mrs White I did not follow him. However ,when I later discovered the answer, I was unable to decipher the first word but David immediately read it out.
10. Shortly before going to bed David put a small paper book into a large album belonging to his grandmother, who asked what he was doing. He said it was to prevent Wily Willie getting at it. I thought probably Wily Willie would be blamed for putting it there, not taking it out.
11. When David was in bed and the top of the torch made its appearance I found it was quite warm, so was the switch and I presume they had both been in the bed.
12. When I stood in the bedroom with my back to David I observed his reflection in a picture over the mantelpiece and saw him move as the switch was thrown at me.
13. When I asked David where his slippers were before they were thrown at me, he said they were under the spare bed. This would have been out of his reach, but I saw them a few minutes earlier on the floor beside his bed and well within his reach.
14. When I suddenly entered the bedroom the second time, without his calling me, I saw him sitting bolt upright in bed with his arm outstretched pointing to the china ornament on the other bed. I assumed the pointing posture had, a second before, been one of throwing. As the candlestick I had asked to be moved was missing, I purposely stayed in the room for a few minutes pretending to be looking for it. I suspected it of being in the bed and was giving it a chance of getting warm. When I discovered it the next time I entered the room, it was quite warm.
15. I tied his wrists with rope but one came undone while I was actually in the room beside him. This could have been accomplished by his previously loosening the knot and making a slip knot out of it.
16. The vaselined article revealed a small portion of a finger-print which was not mine. I did not attempt to prove it was David’s as I felt quite sure without this extra evidence that he was doing all the “phenomena.”
17. All the experiments I had carried out did not seem to upset the boy in any way until I was about to bandage his hands, and he then seemed almost frightened but assured me he was not afraid of being tied up. Once he was securely tied, a much longer interval ensued before anything happened and then I found the knot on the right wrist was loose and definitely wet where he had tried to undo it with his teeth. After shortening the ropes so he could not reach them with his teeth nothing more happened to them.
18. The only things which occurred when he was securely tied were knockings, which could have been accomplished by banging the back of his hand on the bed rail, or similarly his head. Then the hot-water bottle could easily have been kicked out of the bed, even with his feet tied, as there was some slack rope when he pushed himself right down in the bed. The pillow could easily have been worked across the bed by his body and, if necessary, he could have aided its progress with his teeth. Although three objects had been moved at my request, namely a box of matches, a candlestick and part of the torch, the box of matches was not moved again when he was securely tied to the bed. In fact nothing happened which could not have been done by him.
19. The knocking I heard after I had gone to bed was produced by David banging the electric light switch on the side of the bed. The switch was found on the floor in the morning badly chipped and it was David who recognised the tune of God Save the King which to my mind is unlike the finale to be chosen by a Pole.
20. The note found in the morning by Mrs White could easily have been written by David as he said he had seen the note before it was answered when he got up to get a drink before going to sleep.
21. After breakfast I went for a walk with David and told him the above mentioned points and then told him I was quite convinced he was entirely responsible for all the phenomena and he replied “Well not all of it.” However he admitted he had done everything the previous night and I am sure that, by the way he did it, it was not the first time he had done it.
I told him that if he stopped his poltergeist-like phenomena I would say nothing to his grandmother and let people assume the entity had gone of its own accord. He agreed to this but I learnt a few days later that it had not ceased and when I saw him on 1st February he said he coudl not help it. I then wrote to Mrs White saying I would like to see her while the boy was out, which I did on the 5th February adn I told her exactly what I thought about the matter, and when he came in I had another talk with him. Mrs White could not believe the boy was responsible until he admitted it, but even he began to believe in Wily Willie and I feel that some of the things he did were performed unconsciously. I learnt that it was David who discovered the fire alight when he came home while his grandmother was out, so it was quite possible for him to have lit it.
I learnt that he did not play much with other school children as they lived too far away, and as he had no normal outlet for his somewhat highly-strung nature, I think he subconsciously invented Wily Willie to take the place of a play-mate. He was very nervous during the flying bomb raids and it was then that the trouble started. No doubt he wanted something to take his mind off the raids and the tapping on the shelter – presumably an unconscious nervous reaction – gave him something to think about.
Since I told Mrs White that David was responsible nothing more has been heard and I suggested that he should be allowed to mix with other children when he returns from his holiday which he commenced a week later.
SPR Journal v.33, 1943-46.