A “Ghost” in St. Philip’s.
Last evening considerable excitement was created in the neighbourhood, in St. Philip’s, by the rumour that a ghost was troubling the house of a pork butcher named Pollard, residing at the corner of Gloucester-lane. The cry was raised shortly after seven o’clock, when Mr. Pollard, junior, conveyed the extraordinary intelligence to the police that the domestic quiet of his household was being disturbed by an agency that could not be explained otherwise than by the supposition that a ghost had paid an evening call to the establishment.
It was stated, and in a most circumstantial way, that the bedclothes had been taken from all the beds in the house, and thrown about in confusion, that a child had been shifted from the couch on which it was lying, and that other ghostly enormities had been committed. The news quickly spread in the locality, and for hours the house was besieged by hundreds of persons, of course attracted by a natural curiosity to catch a sight of the intruding spirit. The scene was a curious one, and the remarks of the bystanders showed the lurking superstition that still prevails in Century XIX.
Some averred that they had seen the ghost emerge from an upper window; others were certain that it was still inside; whilst others of a humorous strain of mind suggested that all the hubbub was the work of a departed poker which had been sent out of the world in other than an ordinary way by the respectable pork dealer, and had come back to wreak its vengeance. At all events, those who stayed in front of the premises for some hours had little to repay their curiosity.
There is nothing like a good ghost story to make the flesh creep, the hair to stand on end, and to send one to bed in a delightful state of fright; but the ghost of Gloucester-lane was not of this sort. It was a prosy ghost at the best, and if it were in the neighbourhood – and we should not like to throw discredit upon Mr. Home and his disciples – it ought to have been ashamed of itself not to have created more fun. If ghosts will take upon themselves the trouble of leaving their proper resting-places and visiting the “vale of tears” once more, they should do something to sustain their reputation.
As it was, the ghost of Gloucester-lane only got poor Mrs. Buss in trouble. This good lady was too inquisitive and demonstrative, and the consequence was that she was “run in” by forms other than ghostly, in the shape of a couple of stalwart policemen, to the St. Philip’s station. There, doubtless, she will have had time by this morning to cogitate upon the absurdity of becoming excited about ghosts; and, on reflection, no doubt she will admit that, whereas the ghost was a myth, B91 was a stern reality.
A number of policemen had to be engaged about the premises up to a late hour, to keep the roadway clear; and they had their work to do. It was stated that a dozen clergymen (!) had been called in to lay the ghost during the evening, but we didn’t see them; and no doubt that rumour was just about as reliable as the fanciful imagination of the now famous pork-butcher of Gloucester-lane.
Bristol Times and Mirror, 9th July 1874.
A Ghost In St. Philip’s.
Gentlemen – Noticing an account of the above in your paper yesterday, kindly allow me to state a few facts respecting the same. On Tuesday evening last, between the hours of five and eight o’clock in the evening, my child, aged two years and four months, who had been afflicted for several months, was put into the cradle by the servant girl; a few minutes afterwards it was found out on the floor; it was put in the cradle a second time and a few minutes afterwards was found sitting in a chair. Clothes and different things were thrown over the place.
Very little notice was taken of this, but on Wednesday morning the same child was left in bed, and on the girl going upstairs, she found the bed clothes all stripped off the child; also his night-clothes, which he slept in. A short time afterwards, on going upstairs, the beds were all thrown off into the rooms; chairs, &c., put on the bedstead; clothes and different articles of furniture thrown about. These things were put away in their proper place. Three of the rooms were securely locked and the keys taken away by a relation. On his return, some time afterwards, on examining the rooms, everything was in its proper place as left, but the fourth room, which had no lock on the door, was all confusion.
[…?] suspicion on the servant girl, I discharged her, and the […?] ghost is gone, for nothing of the kind has happened since she left. Allow me to say, in conclusion, we have lived in the house near 25 years and nothing of the kind ever occurred [before?].
By inserting this in your next issue you will oblige, Yours respectfully, Thomas Pollard. [2?] Gloucester-road, Bristol, July 9th, 1874.
Bristol Times and Mirror, 10th July 1874.
(Gloucester road is a typo?)
A Local Ghost.
At the Bristol police court, yesterday, a middle-aged woman, named Buss, was charged with being disorderly in St. Philip’s, and P.C. 91, who had charge of the case, created some astonishment by announcing that the prisoner was one of a crowd of persons who were looking for a ghost. It appeared, however, that the prisoner was looking for her little boy more particularly, and being vehement in manner and language was “run in,” as an example to others.
In answer to Mr Terrell, who inquired at whose house this ghost was to be seen, Superintendant Hazell said it was at the house of a very respectable man, and there was no doubt it was caused by a servant. Mr Terrell (to the defendant): And did you see the ghost? Defendant: No, sir; I never see no ghost. She afterwards said there were a lot of people there, upon which Mr Terrell expressed his astonishment that “there were so many fools in the parish.” The prisoner was cautioned and discharged.
This ghost story has reference to a strange scene that occurred on Tuesday evening outside the house of Mr Pollard, pork butcher, in Gloucester Road, where several hundred people were collected in anxious search for a ghost that had been, according to popular report, “going on awful” at Mr Pollard’s. Chairs had been moved, beds upturned, and children carried about by this mysterious agency, but no one in the crowd could claim to have personally caught sight of the ghost.
Western Daily Press, 10th July 1874.
Thursday. Present – Messrs. F. Terrell and H. J. Mills.
Sarah Buss, a stalwart young woman, was brought up for being disorderly in Gloucester-road, St. Philip’s. P.C. 156 stated that there was a crowd in Gloucester-road on the previous evening, and upon his requesting the defendant to move on she turned round and used abusive language towards him. He thereupon took her into custody. Mr. Supt. Hazell told the magistrates that a report was raised on Wednesday evening in Gloucester-road that a ghost had been seen in the house of a tradesman there, and hundreds of people assembled in consequence. The police were compelled to remain on the spot for three hours, and were at last obliged to clear the road, so great was the crowd. There was no ground for the report, and there was no doubt that it had been aggravated by the servant girl in the house.
In reply to Mr. Terrell, the defendant said she merely went into the road to see after her little boy, who she was afraid would be trampled on by the crowd. The road was full of people. Mr. Terrell – I should not have thought there were so many fools in the parish. Defendant – There was plenty of ’em there last night, I can assure you sir. She was discharged with a caution.
Bristol Mercury, 11th July 1874.