A Greenwich “Ghost.”
Dr A R Wallace tells of a “ghost” which was discovered at Greenwich Hospital about 1841, the story being related to Major Moor by Lieut. Rivers, R.N., a comrade of Nelson. “The bells in Lieut. Rivers’ appartment in the hospital rang for four days. The clerk of the works, his assistant, a bellhanger, and several scientific men tried to discover the cause, but all in vain. They made everyone leave the house, they watched the bells, the cranks, and the wires, but without becoming any the wiser.
A resident at Lee had a somewhat similar experience, but he was not so foolish as to attribute it to the presence of a “ghost.” He noticed that when there was nobody in the house but himself – as well as at other times – the bells rang mysterious. After a bit he discovered the explanation, which was that the bell wires had been stretched so tightly under the floor boards, and so close against them that when any one trod on particular boards the bells were made to ring.
Brockley News, New Cross and Hatcham Review, 22nd May 1908.
A ghost in Greenwich College.
Phantom nurse walks the wards.
Great difficulty has recently been experienced in getting nurses to take night duty in the hospital attached to Greenwich college, owing to the nocturnal visitations of a phantom nurse in the wards and corridors. About a dozen nurses in succession have tendered their resignations, after staying from two to six weeks, until the sense of the place being haunted completely unstrung their nerves, rendering them unfit for theduty of tending the sick. One of these nurses, who is now living at home, gave the following account to Lloyd’s representative of her experience:
“It was about midnight, and I was sitting int he centre of the room, expecting every moment to have a cup of tea brought up to me. A nurse, as it seemed to me, entered the room a few steps, and then went back again without speaking. I could not understand what it meant, and ran along the passage after her. There was nobody to be seen, and I was so puzzled that I could hardly summon courage to return to my post. No tea was brought to me that night, and in the morning everyone denied having come into the ward during the night. Then I learned that several nurses had left the institution scared by the same apparition that I had seen. It was impossible for me to take duty another night.”
The report speedily got abroad that the college was haunted, and local spiritualists, of whom there are many in the Royal suburb, turned their attention to the solution of the mystery. It was then found that an old dwelling immediately behind the college was quite a rendezvous of ghosts – unaccountable noises terrified the occupants nightly, with sundry violent accompaniments, such as ornaments falling from the shelves, and a bookcase being dislodged from the wall.
The spiritualists arranged to hold a seance, and hired a medium from Kensington. An actress, who was playing Trilby in a touring company, also came for an object lesson in hypnotism. There were five ladies and four gentlemen, including a clergyman, who solemnised the proceedings with prayer. Presently the medium became entranced, and the spirit which possessed him directed that all the company should descend to the basement. The sequel was very extraordinary. Everybody promptly fell into a trance, and an involuntary free fight ensued, the ladies scratching each other’s faces and tearing out each other’s hair. For several of the company that was their last spiritualistic entertainment, and the clergyman declines to speak of the affray.
What relation exists between these obstreperous spirits and the phantom nurse is, of course, not known; though very lately other mediums have been requisitioned from Brighton and other places by the more persistent and courageous of the spiritualists. Lloyd’s represntative was informed by one of them – not the spirits, but the spiritualists – that the mediums all concurred that there was money under the floor of the house. so far, however, the boards have not been taken up to put that statement to the test.
Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, 12th March 1899.