Peckham
Peckham Besieged By Ghosts!
Extraordinary scenes in the streets.
On Wednesday evening a mysterious affair – nothing less than a “ghost” hunt took place in North Peckham, and created some of the wildest excitement. The ghost or ghosts – fiend, perhaps, would have been the been the better name – commenced operations about seven o’clock by hurling a great stone, nearly a pound in weight, through a large pane of plate-glass in the shop of Mr Howe, grocer and provision dealer, East Surrey Grove, making a crash that caused the neighbours to turn out to see what was the matter. A policeman also was quickly to the spot, and a large crowd soon congregated. While the people were commenting upon the mysterious occurrence, the mystery thickened, for lo! while scores of persons were in the street, crash went another large stone through the very next pane to the one that had been smashed only a few minutes before. In a few seconds after, while the folk were wondering, and the active policeman on duty was dashing about in all directions, crash came another stone through the very same pane that had been last broken – the value of the two being about £3. Then came about half a dozen more stones in quick succession, all directed against the windows, but doing no further damage, some striking too high, others too low, and some hitting the framework.
Mr Howe then exhibited to the wondering crowd nearly a dozen large stones – flints – which had been thrown against his shop. The excitement now became intense, and the crowd increased amazingly, scores of persons forming themselves into amateur detectives, and the “ghost” hunt – for nohing but a ghost could perform such mysterious tricks – commenced in earnest. While these divers opinions were being expressed, bag went a stone through a large pane of glass in the parlour window of a private house on the right.
“There,” cried those who believed that the stones came over on the left – “there, that must have come over the housetops on the left!” But scarcely had they declared their opinion before crash went a large pane of glass in a shop window on the left! “Where did that come from?” was the cry. “That didn’t come over the housetops on the left.” The words had scarcely been uttered ere another stone came flying against the same window, but luckily it struck the framework without causing a smash, and also luckily just missed a little boy’s head. The shopkeeper quickly put up his shutters, but the ghost was determined to do him more damage, and it directed its energies against the bedroom windows on the back, and succeeded in smashing a couple of panes. And now the mischievous ghost, determining that both sides of East Surrey Grove should have equal patronage, changed the scene by hurling a large stone through a good-sized pane of glass in the parlour window of a private house directly opposite the shop in question; and the ghost, getting more lively in its operations, followed this up by hurling another large stone with well-directed airm through the very next pane. People began to close their shutters, and one man barricaded his windows with large boards. Still the ghost continued its pranks, and now a number of stones dropped here and there in the street as if thrown at random, with no other motive than that they might drop on somebody’s pate.
This created quite a panic. Excited mothers began to hunt up their children, fearing that they might get their little heads cracked – and, in truth, big heads were very much in danger likewise; for the stones that were flying about varied from about a quarter of a pound to a pound in weight. A number of the more timid people began to skedaddle, and the active policeman – for he really was active – now at his wit’s end, sent off to Carter Street for assistance. A number of officers, both in uniform and plain clothes, soon arrived; but the ghost still carried on the invisible warfare, slightly changing, however, the scene of operations. Between East Surrey Grove and Camden Grove is a small street, and at the corner of this street (Camden Grove end) is the Lord Raglan public-house, kept by Mr Freeman.
This gentleman had been very actively engaged, along with Mr Underwood, the owner of some of the property, endeavouring to solve the mystery, when bang came a stone through a large pane of plate glass in the window of his own house. This excited the landlord so much that he rushed to the top of the house – some say with a pistol in his hand – determined to blow the mischievous ghost to smithereens if he could but get a shot at it. But while he was ghost-hunting on the housetop, crash went another stone through an ornamental pane of plate-glass in the door of his house, and this was followed by another and another, each, however, missing their mark. Policemen were bewildered, detectives were outwitted, and the spectators looked appalled. Ladders were now procured, and housetops were mounted and reconnoitred, but all in vain. The ghost could nowhere be found, though now and again great stones dropped mysteriously from no one knew where. At last, about half-past eight, after enjoying an hour and a-half’s malignant diversion, the ghost suspended operations.
On Thursday morning police officers still paraded the streets that had been bombarded, but they had not the remotest idea that operations were so soon to re-commence. At eleven o’clock, however, the first stone fell in East Surrey Grove, and, almost simultaneously, another came down with a crash in Camden Grove, nearly striking the window of Mr Buckett, greengrocer. These stones at once created a sensation, and the cry went forth, “The siege has begun!” The police were quickly reinforced by a strong body of officers, both in uniform and plain clothes, under the able superintendence of Inspector James. But the officers of the law proved no terror to the “ghost,” for stones commenced to fly about in a most mysterious way, to the danger of both life and property.
Very soon a large stone, nearly a pound in weight, struck the plate-glass window of the Lord Raglan, which had been broken the previous night. This created a consternation, which, however, was increased when, a few minutes afterwards, a heavy stone came with terrific force right through another pane of plate-glass in the front window of the Raglan, facing Camden Grove – and this, too, right under the noses of the police officers. Soon after the smash at this house, crash went a stone through a large pane of glass in the parlour window of a private house opposite the Raglan, and in a few minutes afterwards another stone went smash through a different pane in the same window.
And so the day wore on, stones mysteriously flying about, alternately smashing windows in Camden Grove and East Surrey Grove. Police officers were posted in every conceivable place of vantage – in private houses, in shops, on housetops, in gutters, and behind chimneys, all over the district; but their lynx eyes could not detect the invisible foe. At last came the hour of half-past eight, when hostilities ceased, as they did on the previous evening at that hour, the “ghost” evidently having other engagements elsewhere. One of the stones that dropped during the day near the Lord Raglan had a sling attached to it. That was bad publicity on the part of Mr Ghost to let the sling slip with the stone, as from this circumstance one would infer that the missiles were hurled from a distance, and that is one link in the chain of detection.
Up to Friday night the neighbourhood remained tolerably quiet. To show, however, that the inhabitants were not to be left in peace, about half-past seven two stones were hurled through Mr Howe’s windows, and half-an-hour afterwards a woman, passing along East Surrey Grove, was struck on the head, fortunately without doing her serious injury. The excitement still prevails, and the whole affair remains as mysterious as ever. – South London Press.
North British Daily Mail, 19th September 1871.
Under the absurd heading of “Ghostly Doings at Peckham,” our esteemed contemporary the South London Press has given us an account in brief, founded upon details in another portion of its columns, of certain outrages in that district which have a very material as well as ugly appearance. On Wednesday evening stones were flying about, smashing windows and injuring persons occasionally, in a most extraordinary manner. From seven to half-past eight the bombardment continued. On Thursday in broad daylight it was renewed. The police were baffled, and a mounted inspector hit. Shutters were put up, as the stones continued to be hurled during the day with great violence, some of them weighing a pound each. Two or three children have been struck and injured, as well as a detective. One pane of plate-glass in a grocer’s shop was struck no less than seventeen times, and of course smashed; and Mr Wilcox, of the “Princess Alexandra,” St George’s-road, has sustained injury to his windows to the extent of 13l.. At half-past eight on Thursday night the shower of stones ceased to fall. There is little doubt that this mischief has been done by means of slings. It is said, indeed, that one of these has been found, which must have slipped from some scoundrel’s hand.
We have not heard whether the outrage has been continued, but for some weeks past stones have been flung about in the neighbourhood. On Wednesday seven lamps in a row were smashed on Peckham-rye. Surely the direction whence these missiles are hurled can be traced. Probably they are flung from the top or upper chambers of some house or houses, or from a garden, and a search-warrant should, if deemed necessary, be granted, in order to capture the reckless and murderous ruffians who find an amusement or seek some revenge by these acts. We feel pretty certain that they will be caught; and if they are, we trust that the severest flogging will be administered, and the longest period of imprisonment inflicted, that the law stretched to its utmost can award. As for ghosts, the wretches who do this deserve to be made ghosts of, and we should not pity them if they fell into the hands of an enraged mob, being caught in the act. A fatal catastrophe might easily ensue from such a reckless atrocity; and if it did the perpetrators should undoubtedly be tried for murder.
The “Lord Raglan,” facing Camden-grove, is stated to have suffered considerable loss, and a little daughter of the proprietor was struck by a splinter of glass, which cut her mouth, but, fortunately, did not inflict a very severe wound. Mysterious warnings and hints of intended incendiarism in the ensuing winter have been circulated, and some importance seems to be attached to them by the police, as well as others capable of forming a judgment on the probability of such events. We should be very sorry to see a petroleuse panic got up in London; but if such things are attempted, the guilty parties may depend upon it that severe reprisals will take place. We are not disposed to be scared by bugbears; but there seems to be an evil spirit abroad, and this stone-throwing appears like an indication of it. It may be a wicked and foolish schoolboy freak; but, whatever it is, it must be dragged forth from concealment, and visited with the condign punishment which it merits.
Morning Advertiser, 19th September 1871.
“Spring-Heeled Jack” in Peckham.
We are decidedly of Falstaff’s opinion, that on the whole this world is terribly “given to lying,” and we need only take up a newspaper during the parliamentary vacation, or “enormous gooseberry” season, to find an illustration of the fact. A few days since, some of our contemporaries, in the absence of “a tremendous shower of frogs,” and being unable to record the discovery of a “four-headed nightingale” a “Manx cat with seven tails,” or some equally interesting lusus naturae, have apparently become bewildered in their search for “copy,” and have therefore hit upon the happy idea of inventing a “ghost” for Peckham.
Of course we should be sorry to suppose that the patentees of this sensational hoax were actuated by any but the purest motives in manufacturing and giving currency to what turns out to be a highly-coloured and exaggerated narrative of a very common-place if not everyday occurrence, but when we read in one journal such lines as the following: “ghost-hunting in Peckham,” “extraordinary and exciting scenes,” “hostilities resumed. – Peckham bombarded by daylight,” “state of Peckham yesterday,” &c., and in another, that “the outrage was of that frightful and dangerous character that the tradesmen (one of whom sustained damage to his house and stock to the amount of £15) were compelled to keep their shutters up – whilst police-constables and their officers were impartially pelted, and parents were afraid to trust their children in the streets or venture abroad themselves” – we say, when we read of all this having gone on for several days within a few minutes’ walk from our publishing offices – and that without our receiving the slightest intimation of the fact – we confess that we were “surprised ” indeed.
At first we felt disposed to credit the accounts given of these mysterious outrages by our usually veracious contemporaries, but, on second thoughts, we preferred to despatch a special reporter to the localities indicated in the above “sensation headers,” as the best means of arriving at the true facts of the case.
We gather from his report that at about 7 o’clock on the evening of the 13th inst., stones were mysteriously thrown through the shop windows of Mr Howe, grocer, East Surrey-grove, as previously through Nos. 28, 30, and 32. The same evening three panes of glass were broken at the “Lord Raglan,” Camden-grove, and two or three more at other houses in the neighbourhood. Of course a considerable amount of excitement prevailed, and a crowd was speedily formed. As the majority of the said crowd consisted of women and children there was scarcely any necessity to have sent from the police-station “50 detectives, constables, and plain-clothes men,” as stated in one account, to keep a few inquisitive women and larkish boys in order, or to hunt up a miserable “ghost” – an, accordingly they were not sent – although some half-dozen or so of men in plain clothes were despatched to the neighbourhood for the purpose of discovering the window-breakers.
Nor is it true that on Thursday morning (when the “siege operations” were said to have been resumed) “the police were quickly re-inforced by a strong body of officers both in uniform and plain clothes, under the able superintendence of Inspector James” – the arrangements for discovering the perpetrators of the outrage were directed by Mr Inspector Gage, and it is unnecessary to say that they could not have been confided to abler hands. Neither has our reporter been able to discover any signs of “a cheesemonger’s shop in the Park-road in which a number of panes of glass were smashed.” In fact, the whole matter, as related in the columns of our contemporaries, has been ridiculously overdrawn. The outrage is bad enough in its naked simplicity without creating unnecessary alarm or inviting a repetition of it by wilful exaggeration.
Of course there are various theories afloat as to the cause of these mysterious proceedings, and whilst many of the sufferers appear to attribute the damage to their houses and property to the stone-throwing proclivities of some of those unruly gamins who infest North Peckham, the police incline to the belief that it is the work of one individual, whilst we have an opinion differing from both. In the first place, the weight of the stones, and the distance to which some of them were hurled, is fatal to the “boy” theory. Secondly, were it the work of one individual he would require to be not only very daring and very active, but almost ubiquitous. Our notion is that it is an organized outrage, and that we must look for the perpetrators amongst a class of fellows who are always ready to create a panic for the sake of profiting by the confusion, or amongst a set of “fast” young gentlemen who having no other means of killing a few hours of leisure time are thrown upon their own resource for “a new sensation.” In any case, it is to be hoped that the offenders will be duly discovered and duly punished, and that a sound flogging may form a portion of their chastisement.
South London Observer, 23rd September 1871.
Ghosts near London.
A reward of £20 is offered for information leading to the conviction of any person or persons implicated in the window-smashing at Peckham, but no clue can yet be obtained as to the perpetrators. The mystery, which many people persist in attributing to “ghosts,” has been taken up by a band of spiritualists, who claim that the mischief is due to agency other than human, and on which several seances have already been held.
Sun & Central Press, 2nd October 1871.
The Peckham “Ghost.”
There has been no window-smashing in Camden Grove and East Surrey Grove during the past week, and the inhabitants are in hopes that the mischievous “ghost” has ceased its pranks. Since our last publication there has been only one smash, and that took place on Saturday at a confectioner’s shop in the St George’s Road, next to the Princess Alexandra. Like all the breakages in the locality, this last one was most unaccountable.
It appears that a number of children were congregated around the window, attracted by the good things therein, when the stone went crash through a large pane, making the sweet stuff fly in all directions. How the stone escaped hitting some of the children’s heads was most miraculous. Two or three detectives were close by, but where the stone came from no one could make out.
The Gloucester Road “ghost” has been captured, and proved to be a mischievous little boy! We will here give the facts just as we gleaned them. A boy, 14 years of age, the nephew of a gentleman living in on e of the houses where the window-smashing was going on, was seen by a detective to get over some railings into the Rosemary Branch field. The officer watched his manoeuvres, and distinctly saw him pick up some stones and put them into his pocket. Then the young rascal gazed about him, as if to ascertain whether the coast was clear or not. Satisfied, apparently, that all was safe, he adroitly pulled a stone from his pocket, and hurled it through one of his uncle’s windows, crying “Uncle, there goes another smash!” The young hypocrite, however, appeared to be crestfallen when he found a police officer at his heels. The uncle could scarcely credit his senses when he was told by the officer that his nephew was the delinquent. He was convinced, however, when the stones were taken from the boy’s pockets. The lad thereupon acknowledged that he had broken some of the panes, but not all!
Our reports of the “ghostly doings” having attracted the attention of the Spiritualists, some of the leading members of the fraternity have visited the places of business indicated by us where the plate-glass windows have been demolished. Having made full inquiries and satisfied themselves that our reports had been faithful and not at all exaggerated, they at once declared that the destruction of glass was the work of the spirits. We have the names and addresses of the gentlemen who visited the locality. – South London Press.
Northern Ensign and Weekly Gazette, 12th October 1871.
The Ghostly Window Smashing.
The hope was indulged in last week that the North Peckham ‘ghost’ had been ‘laid’; but it appears it has arisen again, and has been doing a little more window-smashing. The first breakage this week happened on Tuesday evening, at the shop of Mr Howes, grocer and provision dealer, East Surrey Grove. This is the same tradesman who suffered so severely when first the ‘ghost’ commenced its pranks. The large plate-glass windows which had here been broken were only re-glazed last week, and now another, of the value of L.6 5s, has been struck by a large stone right in the centre, cracking it in all directions.
Wednesday passed over undisturbed by any ghostly pranks, but not so on Thursday. On the evening of that day a large stone went with terrific force through a large pane of glass in the shop window of Mrs Harding, confectioner, St George’s Road, nearly hitting the lady who was standing behind the counter. While they were commenting upon the mysterious occurrence, a great lump of red brick came flying over the people’s heads and went crash through a pane immediately above the one that had been broken only a few minutes before.
Sergeant Phillips was bewildered. He examined the window, found that the missiles had been hurled from different angles, and that was all he could make out.
There was just a little more excitement in store for the wondering crowd. At the corner of East Surrey Grove, in St George’s Road – opposite the Princess Alexandra, in the other corner of the same street – is the shop of Mr Wilcox, chandler. While this gentleman was engaged hanging something up at his door, a stone went crash through a large pane of glass in the window which faces into East Surrey Grove. Mr Wilcox immeidately gazed round about him, but could not discover from whence the stone had come. these are very mysterious proceedings, and all kinds of theories have been adduced as to their cause.
Of course the Spiritualists attribute them to the supernatural. As for the police, notwithstanding the tempting bait of twenty pounds reward offered, and their own unremitting vigilance they appear to be as far off the solution of the mystery as they were the first day they commenced their arduous labours.
There is one thing quite certain – the stones come from different quarters; unless some one has been expert enough to invent a system of throwing round corners, which is not very likely. Another thing is certain, that there is more than one engaged in the malicious work, from the fact that stones have been thrown from different angles almost simultaneously.
And yet it is surprising how, with more than one engaged in it, the secret can be kept so well, and the destructive work carried on so daringly under the very noses of the police officers. the whole mischief done in the locality seems to be confined to an area of say 250 square yards, embracing the top end of St George’s Road and the bottom ends of the streets leading from it – viz, Cator Street, East Surrey Grove, and Camden Grove. – South London Press.
Renfrewshire Independent, 14th October 1871.
Spiritual disturbances at Peckham.
For the past two or three weeks, since Mr Coleman’s article, printed in another column, was written, the spirits have occasionally, in broad daylight, broken more windows before the eyes of the police and many other observers, notwithstanding that a reward of £20 has been all along offered for the detection of the offenders. One of the reglazed windows of Mr Howe, grocer, East Surrey-grove, was smashed by a stone, the value of the sheet of glass broken being £6 5s. Two days later, shortly after, one window in the shop of Mrs Harding, St. George’s-road, had been smashed before the eyes of Serjeant Phillips a piece of red brick came over the people’s heads, and smashed another pane, before the eyes of about a hundred witnesses. The mischief done in the locality has been confined to an area of about 250 square yards, and the stones have come at different angles, and in different streets at the same time. Upon any theory several persons must be at work doing the mischief, and the police are fairly bewildered.
Full reports of the occurrences are printed week after week in the ‘South London Press’, a very good local paper. Its first report does not seem to be quite accurate, as it says that a boy was hurt by a stone; Inspector Gedge says that he has not heard of anybody having been hurt. Perhaps, if some good medium had a seance on the spot, the spiritual cause of the mischief would be found out; but the question is whether it would not be dangerous for a sensitive medium to venture within reach of such spirits as those who seem to be at work there.
The probability is that some great crime has at some time or other been committed, on the spot, since only very low spirits, like those which inhabit haunted houses, can sometimes produce violent manifestations without the presence of a medium.
In connection with this subject, Mr W.H. Harrison, of Chaucer-road, S.E., gives the following account of a seance at which he was present last Sunday evening: – “The seance was held at 3, Clyde-terrace, Stockwell, the residence of the Misses Ponder, who were both present. There were present also Dr. Ponder, Mrs Rudd, Mr and Mrs Bassett, and myself. I questioned a spirit named James Lombard about the stone-throwing by spirits at Peckham. He said that he did not know who the spirits were who made the disturbances, but he strongly disapproved their doings. I asked him ‘whether, if they could make their presence known there in no other way, physically proving their existence was not of more importance than smashing a few windows?’ He replied, ‘No. How would you like your windows broken?’ I remarked that ‘Perhaps I might not like it at the time, but afterwards I should be glad of it, if it led me to learn for the first time the truth of Spiritualism.’ ‘Not you,’ said he, ‘you would not have believed if they had smashed your windows; you are too hardheaded.’ I answered that ‘Most likely I should not be made a convert at first by the window-breaking, but if it led me to begin a course of inquiry, the benefit done would be the same in the end. Had they not some spiritual policemen to look after these window-breakers?’ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘and they were not justified in doing the damage.’ He said that, as on earth, some of the spirits in the next world were not particularly good, and did not always give their real names at circles. ‘In fact,’ he candidly added, ‘I did not mean to give my real name at first, but my brother was at the circle, and I saw that by proving to him who I was I should do him much good. He has led a better life ever since.’ On the same evening at supper time, in a bright light, I was slowly carried along in my chair about six inches, while my feet were off the ground, and nobody and nothing touching the chair. Another chair, with nobody in it or touching it, moved about a good deal before our eyes for about five minutes, and tilted every now and then. Mrs C.E. Bassett, of Thornham-grove, Stratford, E., was the medium. The spirit, James Lombard, speaks with an audible voice, and he is the brother of one of the employees of the Great Eastern Railway Company at Stratford.”
Spiritualist, 15th October 1871.
A Word on Ghosts.
The southern part of London has lately been victimised by a visitation from ghosts. About a dozen detectives of the Metropolitan Police Force have been told off to watch the haunted neighbourhood; but, although the policemen are present, damage continues to be perpetrated in dwelling-houses under their very noses, and yet no ghost can be secured by human clutches. Matters have become so serious, that it has been suggested that the aid of the Dialectical Society should be sought for.
Just now this society is obtaining enviable notoriety. After no fewer than forty meetings, a large committee of its members have decided that there is a certain force which justifies most of the theories put forward by the spiritualists, and this force, they also hold, is frequently directed by intelligence, and capable of causing sounds to proceed from solid substances. Now, this committee being composed of the most scientific men in London, their opinion must cause a great revulsion of feeling among the public. As for the twelve detectives at Peckham, it would not surprise us to learn that the decision would speedily frighten one or two of them into the grave, and all, to summarily abnadon the chase after departed brothers.
Sun & Central Press, 18th October 1871.
The Peckham Ghost.
The “Peckham ghost” is nearly laid at last. There have been only two breakages this week – one on Sunday evening in the parlour window of a private house in Camden Grove, and the other on Wednesday evening in the window of a sweetstuff shop in East Surrey Grove – the same in which a pane was broken last week. There are still about a dozen detectives on duty in the haunted locality, but they have not yet got any clue towards the solution of the mystery. – South London Press.
Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette, 24th October 1871.
The Mysterious Window-Breaking at Peckham.
This is the sixth week of the Peckham “ghost,” and it has been more than usually lively in its destructive energies. The first smash took place about midnight on Sunday, when the spike of an iron paling was hurled through the fanlight over the Shop door of Mr Larrance, oilman, Camden Grove. The missile struck the ceiling, damaging it slightly, and it is evident that it must have been thrown by some one close to the door.
The breakage took place on Monday, about six o’clock in the evening, at the shop of Mrs Howes, grocer and provision dealer, East Surrey Grove, under rather singular circumstances. It appears that a detective from Carter Street had been put on ghost-hunting duty, and that he expressed himself very confidently that he would soon solve the mystery should any breakage take place near where he was posted. Now, while this very officer was in the act of speaking to Mrs Howes, a stone came crash against a large pane, shivering it in all directions, and this within a foot of where the officer was standing. This not a little astounded the detective, who after investigating the affair, found himself as completely baffled as any of his brother officers from Peckham Station had been. The stone weighed seven and a-half ounces. The pane of plate glass broken is of the value of £6 5s. This brings the amount of damage done to Mrs Howes’ shop within the last six weeks up to £20 10s.
The next breakage took place at 22, East Surrey Grove, a large pane in the parlour window being knocked nearly out; but, strange to say, no stone could be found.
There was a large pane of crown glass broken in the window of a house in the Dragon Road, St George’s Road, which some people attribute to the “ghost:” but upon inquiry our ghost-hunter ascertained that the damage had been accidentally done by a boy who managed to knock a baker’s basket through the pane. The police are still actively on duty, and one or two extra officers have been put on. – South London Press.
Newry Telegraph, 2nd November 1871.
A Camberwell Ghost.
“Spirit rapping,” if mysterious and seemingly unaccountable stone-throwing may be so called, appears to have set in as a sort of epidemic, and while it will cease to have the charm of novelty will not fail to be troublesome. In addition to the peculiar freaks displayed at Peckham, we have some strange window-breaking to report in the vicinity of Camberwell Green, where a vigilance committee is on the look-out. – South London Press.
Elgin Courant and Morayshire Advertiser, 3rd November 1871.
Lord Lindsay and Spiritualism. (From the Athenaeum.)
Report on Spiritualism of the committee of the London Dialectical Society; together with Evidence Oral and Written, and a Selection from the Correspondence. (Longmans and Co.)
During these last few weeks the spirits have been making a stir, and it is probable that their doings will be a favourite topic of conversation till the re-opening of the Tichborne trial. At Peckham, the ethereal beings, weary of their old exploits in table-turning, have during the last month amused themselves and alarmed a usually tranquil suburb by breaking plate-glass windows with stones brought for the purpose from the sea-side. In his concern for the reputation of the unseen agents, the editor of the Spiritualist declared the other day that spirits were seldom so criminal, and that probably the stone-throwing demons of East Surrey Grove were only some “very low spirits, like those that inhabit haunted houses,” who had congregated for diabolical frolic on a spot where some great crime has at some time or other been committed.”
The police and chief residents of the district take another view of the affair; and in the grossness of their carnal natures and materialistic philosophy attribute to “malicious persons” the disorder wrought by disembodied souls. “He smiled good-naturedly,” says Mr Benjamin Coleman, with reference to Inspector Gedge’s simplicity, “at my suggestion that it might possibly be the work of spirits; such an idea was evidently new to him.”
In the meantime, whilst all the low spirits of Peckham are smashing windows and eluding the police, the high spirits of the West End, triumphant in having found a scientific patron amongst the Fellows of the Royal Society, are troubling the clubs and the critics with a book which is the most amusing and instructive piece of absurdity that literature has given us for many a day. [a long review of the paper follows].
Wigan Observer and District Advertiser, 3rd November 1871.
At last the police have succeeded in solving the “mystery” of the Peckham stone throwing, and in tracing the cause (as we contended from the first they would do) not to “spiritual agency,” but to the mischievous propensity of a parcel of idle men and boys. Some of these have been taken in the act, whilst others have been captured with their pockets full of stones; but the most singular part of the affair is, that when the culprits were taken before the magistrate not one of the many victims of their rascality could be induced to appear against them. This is really too bad.
For several weeks past, Mr Superintendent Gernon, Inspectors Gage and McKay, as also a number of detectives, have been actively on the look out for the window breakers, and now that some of them have been captured all that the police can do is, to let them go again. It is very common to hear the police blamed for their want of vigilance, but what shall be said of those who refuse to second their efforts or to give themselves the least trouble to ensure protection to their property? But what (the reader may ask) are the plate-glass insurance companies about that they do not come forward and prosecute? The reply is simply that it is not to their interest to do anything of the kind.
The “Peckham Ghost” has been a perfect god-sent to the companies, and has produced a perfect influx of insurers, and nothing would please them better to hear there was not a whole pane of glass left in Peckham. So since neither they nor the immediate sufferers seem disposed to second the efforts of the police there is nothing to prevent his ghostship from playing his pranks with impunity.
South London Observer, 4th November 1871.
The Stone-Throwing in Peckham.
The Daily Telegraph of November 2nd, said that the window-breaking at Peckham, mentioned in our last, was done by some men and boys; that two men and one boy were caught with stones in their pockets, and that they were not punished because nobody would prosecute. The South London Press of November 4th, says that the aforesaid Daily Telegraph paragraph is “wholly without truth from beginning to end.” Nobody has been taken up by the police, and during the past four weeks a few more windows have been smashed before their eyes.
Mr John Howes, of East Surrey-grove, Peckham, who has had £20 worth of glass broken, writes to the South London Press that the Daily Telegraph paragraph is altogether untrue, and that he and others had, by special placards, offered a reward of £20 for the detection of the offenders. He adds – “Not a single man or boy has been discovered with stones in his pocket; the police have been most energetic, and all praise is due to them for the manner in which they took up and are carrying out the matter, but they are as far off a solution as the night the throwing commenced.”
The Daily Telegraph reporter did not even know the locality, for he calls the scene of operation “Rosemary Branch, Peckham,” whilst in reality the place is several miles away from Rosemary Branch.
Another person who has had his windows smashed, writes to the South London Press that it was utterly impossible that the stones could have come over the opposite houses. Moreover, while the bombardment was at its highest, some of the police were standing on tops of the houses, as well as in the streets. The efforts of Mr Superintendent Gernon, of the P division, to detect the culprits, have been a dead failure, and Mr Inspector Gedge, with all his men, was equally unsuccessful.
The crowds of persons who witnessed the smashing operations, unanimously declared that the mischief must be done by spirits, and our reason for supposing them to be right is that plenty of such cases are on record. Mr William Howitt has collected a great many such cases, and printed them in the Spiritual Magazine. The Parisian police have been baffled more than once by spiritual stone-throwers.
Mr John Jones, Mr Coleman, and others, have written letters to the South London Press about the spiritual hypothesis, and in one of his letters Mr Jones says: “Connected with the breakage of Mrs Harding’s window was a curious fact. The stone broke the window, passed clean over the inner glass casement, and then suddenly stopped in mid air, and took a vertical fall into the scales just emptied by Mrs Harding of some confectionery, as much as to say, ‘Now, just weigh me.’ The stone was three-quarters of a pound weight. I had it weighed. It was a large flint stone, yellow tinged, such as one sees down in the chalk country on the roads, and in the chalk beds; nothing of the kind about the streets of Peckham.”
Spiritualist, 15th November 1871.
The North Peckham “ghost,” as if purposely to let the public know that the authorities have not yet “laid bare” the whole mystery, has just caused one more breakage this week. It happened on Thursday evening, at six o’clock, when a stone, weighing over nine ounces, was hurled with terrific force through a pane of plate glass in the shop window of Mr Howes, grocer and provision dealer, East Surrey-grove. The pane in question, which is of the value of 6l. 5s., happened to be one which had been previously cracked by a stone, and the Glass Insurance Company had, in order to save as much of the plate as possible, caused it to be cut with a diamond, in order to prevent the cracks extending. The merciless “ghost,” however, evidently aware of this fact, has now nearly destroyed it.
The Spiritualists have been busily making inquiries in the neighbourhood this week, amongst them being a noble lord, who is desirous of investigating the matter for himself. If its statements are diametrically opposed to facts, so much the worse for the facts. In spite of the mystery having been, as it stated, “laid bare,” the police persist in devoting attention to it, and detectives are still on duty in the “haunted” neighbourhood, one of them being close at hand when this last smash took place. – South London Press.
Morning Advertiser, 16th November 1871.
The “North Peckham Ghost,” after carrying on his pranks for over two months, seems to have given them up. There has been no mysterious stone-throwing in the “haunted” neighbourhood during the past week. The police, who have been actively on duty the whole of the time, in the hope of making a capture, have been completely baffled, and the whole affair is still shrouded in mystery. We hope we shall have nothing more to record about the “North Peckham Ghost,” unless it be the detection of his ghostship, and the payment of the twenty pounds reward subscribed by the injured tradesmen for his conviction. – South London Press.
Morning Advertiser, 20th November 1871.
Ghosts in North Peckham.
North Peckham has enjoyed another week of quiet, undisturbed by the mischievous “ghost.” There has been no more mysterious stone-throwing, and we may now hope, after a fortnight’s quiet, that the nuisance is at an end. – South London Press.
Dundee Courier, 29th November 1871.
The inhabitants of Peckham may, we think, breathe again. We all know how greatly of late they have been annoyed by the hand or hands of some mysterious iconoclasts. The ruffianism which has instituted the title of the “Peckham Ghost,” and smashed windows, heads, and property, so fearlessly and successfully, may, we fully believe, be traced to its proper source. That there ever was any unnatural agency at work in the matter, no sensible person would credit for a moment, scouting entirely the mysterious creations of superstitious and ignorant minds. No! The “Peckham Ghost,” anomalous as the statement may appear, was no ghost at all – in fact, it had nothing ghastly about it, save, perhaps, the pallid faces of those whom it so seriously alarmed. We believe that the moving cause was something far more substantial than unreality. To the uninitiated requiring enlightenment on the subject we would advise the perusal of a scandalous case of wilful damage which came before the Lord Mayor at the Mansion-house on Thursday.
A young man named Rancelot (not “the bold Sir Lancelot”), the son of a banker, was fined for breaking windows with stone bullets, propelled by means of a catapult, or some similar instrument. The number of windows broken in the neighbourhood of Lombard-street had recently been large, and to what cause their destruction was attributable was evidenced in the glorious discovery of as many as 400 missiles of war in the vicinity. Now anyone understanding the nature of the catapult will easily conceive how easy it would be by their instrumentality to set a neighbourhood by the ears, and that almost with perfect safety to the artillerymen engaged. Let the alarmed Peckhamites dismiss their ideas, then, of their recent trial being a supernatural infliction, and take this case as ancillary to a better understanding of their tormentors. We merely put forward the suggestion.
Morning Advertiser, 16th December 1871.
interestingly, from earlier in the year:
A Juvenile Window-smasher.
At the Lambeth police-court, Ernest Wollen (8) was charged with breaking a plate glass window, value 30s, in the house of Mr Wilcox, licensed victualler, St. George’s-road, Peckham. Complainant said that stone throwing in his neighbourhood was “quite a mania.” There was not one house out of 1,000 that had not windows broken. Last week the brother of the child had broken plate-glass worth £6. He regretted to appear against such a child, but was obliged to do so on account of the Plate-glass Insurance Company. The magistrate said that frequent complaints were made of stone-throwing, and it had become a serious nuisance.
Mr Wilcox thought the police should appear in plain clothes and capture some of the older boys. The nuisance was very great, and until it was stopped much injury would result. The learned magistrate said parents should punish their children, and he would do all he could to check the evil, and if the police brought older boys before him he would certainly punish them. The boy was sent home with his father, who promised to check his stone-throwing propensities.
South London Press, 17th June 1871.