Hammersmith Ghost murder case
There have been multiple reports of ghosts in Hammersmith, and the Hammersmith Ghost of 1803–4 was especially notorious, causing a great sensation and resulting in a murder trial which established a legal precedent that shooting a supposed ghost was still murder.[2][3][4]
1803
In 1803, a ghost was seen on multiple occasions which was said to be a man who had slit his own throat the previous year and had been buried in Hammersmith churchyard. It was thought at that time that a suicide should not be buried in consecrated ground as their soul would not then rest.[5] It was an apparition clad in white which terrified people such as a pregnant woman and the passengers of a wagon. The area was patrolled by armed citizens and, on 3 January 1804, excise officer Francis Smith shot and killed a white figure in Black Lion Lane. This turned out to be a plasterer, Thomas Millwood, who was just wearing the normal white clothing of his trade: "linen trowsers entirely white, washed very clean, a waistcoat of flannel, apparently new, very white, and an apron, which he wore round him".[6] Smith was tried at the Old Bailey for wilful murder.[1]
At the trial, witnesses testified to the good character of the accused. Mrs. Fulbrooke said that she had warned the deceased to wear a greatcoat as he had already been mistaken for the ghost on a previous occasion.
On Saturday evening, he and I were at home, for he lived with me; he said he had frightened two ladies and a gentleman who were coming along the terrace in a carriage, for that the man said, he dared to say there goes the ghost; that he said he was no more a ghost than he was, and asked him, using a bad word, did he want a punch of the head; I begged of him to change his dress; Thomas, says I, as there is a piece of work about the ghost, and your cloaths look white, pray do put on your great coat, that you may not run any danger;
— Mrs Fulbrooke's testimony at the Old Bailey trial.[7]
Nevertheless, the chief judge advised the jury that malice was not required of murder, just an intent to kill. Given the facts of the case, the accused had not been provoked nor had he made any attempt to apprehend the supposed ghost. He therefore directed the jury to find the accused guilty of murder if they believed the facts presented by the witnesses. The jury nevertheless returned a verdict of manslaughter but the judges refused to accept this verdict and asked the jury to reconsider. The jury then found the accused guilty of murder and the customary sentence of death was given.[1]
The initial sentence of hanging and dissection was then commuted to a year in prison. The outrage of the murder had meanwhile caused the true culprit to reveal himself — an old shoemaker, John Graham, who had been using a sheet to pretend to be a ghost to frighten his apprentice, who had been scaring the Graham children with ghost stories.[8][9]
Later appearances
Another ghost appeared in 1824, jumping out at women and scratching their faces. This proved to be a young Harrow farmer, John Benjamin, who was caught and imprisoned. In 1832, there was another ghost preying on women with claws that it could use to scale walls. In 1955, there was a report that one of these ghosts would reappear in the churchyard of St Paul's Church. A large crowd gathered but saw nothing at midnight. But those who allowed for British Summer Time and stayed until 1 am, are said to have seen a white spectre.[8][9]
See also
References
- ^ a b c R.S. Kirby (1804), "The Hammersmith Ghosts", Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum, pp. 65–79
- ^ The case of the murdered ghost, BBC, 3 January, 2004
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Courtney Stanhope Kenny (1911), Outlines of Criminal Law, Cambridge University Press, p. 103
- ^ William Hough (1834), The practice of courts-martial, and other military courts, pp. 340–341,
The Judge said it must be either murder, or of acquittal. If the jury believed the facts, there was no extenuation that could be admitted; for supposing that the unfortunate man was the individual really meant (ghost), and had been shot, the prisoner would have been guilty of murder.
- ^ Alan Murdie (2003), The Hammersmith Ghost
- ^ Mike Dash (March 24, 2009), Ghosts, witches, vampires, fairies and the law of murder, Charles Fort Institute
- ^ "Francis Smith, Killing", The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 11th January 1804
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Jennifer Westwood, Jacqueline Simpson (2008), "Hammersmith", The Penguin Book of Ghosts
- ^ a b Steve Roud (2010), "Hammersmith", London Lore