The Stockwell ghost, also known as the Stockwell poltergeist, was an alleged case of poltergeist disturbance in Stockwell, London, England, that occurred in 1772. It was later exposed as a hoax. [1] [2] [3]
On 6 January 1772 at the house of Mrs Golding, various cups, saucers and stone plates were reported to have fallen from a shelf to the ground and food was thrown across the room. Violent noises were also heard around the house. Golding decided to take refuge with her neighbour but the disturbances continued. It was noted that the disturbances only took place when her servant Ann Robinson was present. She was dismissed and the disturbances ceased. [4] [5] Despite the suspicious circumstances surrounding Robinson, the case was considered for many years by the public to be the result of poltergeist activity or witchcraft. [4]
William Hone in his The Every Day Book (1825) revealed that Ann Robinson later admitted she had faked the phenomena. She had attached horsehairs and wires to move the crockery, thrown the other objects and made the noises herself. [4] [5] The Stockwell ghost was sensationalized by Catherine Crowe in The Night-Side of Nature (1848) as a genuine poltergeist incident. [6] She had failed to cite the confession of fraud that was documented by Hone. [7]
In ghostlore, a poltergeist is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of poltergeists show them as being capable of pinching, biting, hitting, and tripping people. They are also depicted as capable of the movement or levitation of objects such as furniture and cutlery, or noises such as knocking on doors. Foul smells are also associated with poltergeist occurrences, as well as spontaneous fires and different electrical issues such as flickering lights.
Ann Radcliffe was an English novelist and a pioneer of Gothic fiction. Her technique of explaining apparently supernatural elements in her novels has been credited with gaining respectability for Gothic fiction in the 1790s. Radcliffe was the most popular writer of her day and almost universally admired; contemporary critics called her the mighty enchantress and the Shakespeare of romance-writers, and her popularity continued through the 19th century. Interest has revived in the early 21st century, with the publication of three biographies.
The Drummer of Tedworth is a case of an alleged poltergeist manifestation in the West Country of England by Joseph Glanvill, from his book Saducismus Triumphatus (1681).
Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism became most known as a social religious movement according to which an individual's awareness persists after death and may be contacted by the living. The afterlife, or the "spirit world", is seen by spiritualists not as a static place, but as one in which spirits continue to evolve. These two beliefs—that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits are more advanced than humans—lead spiritualists to the belief that spirits are capable of providing useful insight regarding moral and ethical issues, as well as about the nature of God. Some spiritualists will speak of a concept which they refer to as "spirit guides"—specific spirits, often contacted, who are relied upon for spiritual guidance. Emanuel Swedenborg has some claim to be the father of Spiritualism. Spiritism, a branch of spiritualism developed by Allan Kardec and today practiced mostly in Continental Europe and Latin America, especially in Brazil, emphasizes reincarnation.
Letitia Elizabeth Landon was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.
Catherine Ann Crowe, née Stevens was an English novelist, a writer of social and supernatural stories, and a playwright. She also wrote for children.
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The Enfield poltergeist was a claim of supernatural activity at 284 Green Street, a council house in Brimsdown, Enfield, London, England, United Kingdom, between 1977 and 1979. The alleged poltergeist activity centred around sisters Janet (11) and Margaret Hodgson (13). Some members of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), such as inventor Maurice Grosse and writer Guy Lyon Playfair, believed the haunting to be genuine, while others such as Anita Gregory and John Beloff were "unconvinced" and found evidence the girls had faked incidents for the benefit of journalists. Members of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), including stage magicians such as Milbourne Christopher and Joe Nickell, criticized paranormal investigators for being credulous whilst also identifying elements of the case as being indicative of a hoax.
William G. Roll was an American psychologist and parapsychologist on the faculty of the Psychology Department of the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia. Roll is most notable for his belief in poltergeist activity. He coined the term "recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis" (RSPK) to explain poltergeist cases. However, RSPK was never accepted by mainstream science and skeptics have described Roll as a credulous investigator.
The Cock Lane ghost was a purported haunting that attracted mass public attention in 1762. The location was a lodging in Cock Lane, a short road adjacent to London's Smithfield market and a few minutes' walk from St Paul's Cathedral. The event centred on three people: William Kent, a usurer from Norfolk; Richard Parsons, a parish clerk; and Parsons' daughter Elizabeth.
Gef, also referred to as the Talking Mongoose or the Dalby Spook, was an allegedly talking mongoose which was claimed to inhabit a farmhouse owned by the Irving family. The Irvings' farm was located at Cashen's Gap near the hamlet of Dalby on the Isle of Man. The story was given extensive coverage by the tabloid press in Britain in the early 1930s. The Irvings' claims gained the attention of parapsychologists and ghost hunters, such as Harry Price, Hereward Carrington, and Nandor Fodor. Some investigators of the era as well as contemporary critics have concluded that the phenomenon was a hoax that the Irving family perpetuated by using ventriloquism.
Hinton Ampner is a village and country house estate with gardens within the civil parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, Hampshire, England. The village and house are 8 miles due east of Winchester. The name probably derives from a combination of old English words Hea, Tun (homestead) and Higna, with the suffix Ampner being a corruption of Almoner, as the manor was once attached to a priory landholding.
Edward Moor (1771–1848) was a British soldier and Indologist, known for his book The Hindu Pantheon, an early treatment in English of Hinduism as a religion.
The Great Amherst Mystery was a notorious case of reported poltergeist activity in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada between 1878 and 1879. It was the subject of an investigation by Walter Hubbell, an actor with an interest in psychic phenomena, who kept what he claimed was a diary of events in the house, later expanded into a popular book. The case was dismissed as a hoax by skeptical investigators.
Nandor Fodor was a British and American parapsychologist, psychoanalyst, author and journalist of Hungarian origin.
Booty v. Barnaby is the name of an English court case in 1687, in which a Mrs Booty brought a suit for slander against her neighbour, Captain Barnaby, who claimed that he had seen her deceased husband being driven into Hell.
The Old Rectory in Epworth, Lincolnshire is a Queen Anne style building, rebuilt after a fire in 1709, which has been completely restored and is now the property of the British Methodist Church, who maintain it as a museum. It is the site of supposed paranormal events that occurred in 1716, while the Wesley family was living in the house. The rectory was home to the Reverend Samuel Wesley, his wife Susanna and their 19 children, one of whom, John Wesley, grew up to become a founder of the Methodist Church.
When the Lights Went Out is a 2012 British supernatural horror film directed by Pat Holden and starring Kate Ashfield, Tasha Connor, Steven Waddington, Craig Parkinson, Martin Compston, and Jo Hartley. It was released in the UK on 13 September 2012. The film premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Richard Plunkett (1788–1832) was a Parish Officer of the Law, variously described as a headborough, beadle or night-constable, in Whitechapel, in the East End of London, between 1817 and 1826. His duties were centred upon the Whitechapel watch-house, from which he and his watchmen had to deal with nocturnal criminality in an area of rapidly increasing population, crowded conditions with poor sanitation, and much urban poverty and squalor. Plunkett's term of office just preceded the Metropolitan Police Act 1829, by which a new system of policing was introduced. Plunkett was often called upon to give evidence at the Old Bailey, the cases being scheduled for hearings two or three times a year. His testimony and that of his officers in these more serious cases show his relations with the population at large, his investigations, pursuits and arrests, often based on personal knowledge of the offenders. The majority of these cases resulted in convictions leading to penal transportation. His work illustrates the real activities of the parish police of Whitechapel just over a decade before the writing of Oliver Twist.
Samuel Shaw Howland was a prominent American businessman who was a founding partner in the merchant firm of Howland & Aspinwall and an incorporator of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.