Ghost of recluse may haunt his former home.
Eerie noises in bedroom.
By our Kidderminster correspondent.
“For sale” states a noticeboard in the front garden of this house in Birmingham Road, Kidderminster, which is believed to be haunted.
The house in which a wealthy recluse died and is believed to have hidden a fortune may be haunted by his ghost, the present occupiers believe. Mr and Mrs Harold Halstead and their nine children, who have lived in the Victorian house in Birmingham Road, Kidderminster, for the past eight months, have been terrified by crashes and the sounds of dragging footsteps from an upstairs room. They have seen nothing and cannot account for the noises. Yesterday they appealed for help to the Birmingham Psychical Research Society and asked Kidderminster Corporation’s Housing Officer if he could find htem somewhere else to live.
The house belonged to Mr John Robinson, an engineer who died, aged 66, in May last year. He had lived alone and for 10 years before his death he had refused to pay a penny to the State because he believed he had not been fairly compensated for war-time requisitioning of his factory. He chained and padlocked his gates and sealed his letter-box to prevent summonses being pushed through. He never paid National Insurance and the corporation regularly distrained on his property for arrears of rates. He sometimes stayed in expensive hotels, but to save twopence duty on a cheque he paid personal expenses in cash and was thought to keep large sums in the house. He was made bankrupt by his creditors in 1955 for debts of £632 and his assets were valued at £23,946, but when he died three years later his estate amounted to only £8,850. His cousin, who was an executor of the estate, said when the house was sold that he was sure Mr Robinson had hidden a large sum in notes. No money was ever found.
Mrs Halstead, aformer nurse, said she had heard noises in a bedroom for several months, but had not spoken of them for fear of being ridiculed. They had become louder and more prolonged, and yesterday crashes and slow footsteps were heard in the room while she and her children were having lunch. H er 13-year-old daughter, Christine, confirmed that the noises were heard regularly. “We hear bumps and bangs and we are all frightened,” she said.
The family has left the room empty and is using the other three bedrooms. “All I care about now is moving,” Mrs Halstead said. “I do not care if we all have to squeeze into a little cottage in the country – just as long as it is not haunted. I shall be a nervous wreck if I stay here much longer.”
Mr Halstead said: “The footsteps are usually heard in the late morning or early afternoon. Whenever I go up to investigate there is nothing to be seen.”
Two members of the Psychic Research Society are to visit the house and discuss the case with Mr and Mrs Halstead.
Birmingham Daily Post, 18th December 1959.
A weekend check on ghostly noises.
The supposed haunting of a house at Kidderminster by the ghost of an elderly recluse whose body was found there a month after he died last year is to be investigated this weekend by two members of the Birmingham Psychic Research Society. Mr L.A. Payne, an official of the society, said yesterday that he would discuss with the present occupiers, Mr and Mrs Harold Halstead, the disturbances they have experienced. Mrs Halstead said that noises had been heard again in the house in Birmingham Road on Thursday night. Footsteps in an unoccupied bedroom and on the landing outside had frightened nine children. The family was prepared to move into any other home rather than stay in th ehouse.
Birmingham Daily Post, 19th December 1959.
90-minute wait – but no ghost.
Three members of the Birmingham Psychic Research Society spent 90 minutes yesterday at the house in Birmingham Road, Kidderminster, which the occupants believe to be haunted. They heard none of the noises which have worried Mr and Mrs Harold Halstead and their nine children. Mr Halstead said last night that the noises had reached a peak last week and had not been heard during the weekend. If they recurred, the Psychic Research Society members were prepared to undertake an investigation. The house formerly belonged to an elderly recluse who was found dead there last year.
Birmingham Daily Post, 21st December 1959.