Cock Lane ghost

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.

Several accounts of strange knocking sounds and ghostly apparitions were reported, although for the most part they stopped after the couple moved out, but following Fanny's death from smallpox and Kent's successful legal action against Parsons over an outstanding debt, they resumed.

The two soon began a relationship, but canon law appeared to rule out marriage; when Kent travelled to London to seek advice he was told that as Elizabeth had borne him a living son, a union with Fanny was impossible.

[2] Despite her family's disapproval of their relationship, Fanny began to write passionate letters to Kent, "filled with repeated entreaties to spend the rest of their lives together".

The couple moved to lodgings near the Mansion House, but their landlord there may have learnt of their relationship from Fanny's family, expressing his contempt by refusing to repay a sum of money Kent loaned him (about £20).

[4] While attending early morning prayers at the church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, William Kent and Fanny met Richard Parsons, the officiating clerk.

When Ann learned of the terms of Fanny's will, which left her brothers and sisters half a crown each and Kent the rest, she tried but failed to block it in Doctors' Commons.

Legal problems with Lynes's sale meant that each of Thomas's beneficiaries had to pay £45 in compensation to the purchaser, but Kent refused, claiming that he had already spent the money in settling Fanny's debts.

They apparently emanated from Elizabeth Parsons, who also suffered fits, and the house was regularly disturbed by unexplained noises, likened at the time to the sound of a cat scratching a chair.

It was conjectured that the mysterious figure in white which so terrified James Franzen, presumed to be the ghost of Elizabeth, had appeared there to warn her sister of her impending death.

Initially only the Public Ledger reported on the case, but once it became known that noblemen had taken an interest and visited the ghost at Mr Bray's house on 14 January, the story began to appear in other newspapers.

[17][28][29] After receiving several requests to intercede, Samuel Fludyer, Lord Mayor of London, was on 23 January approached by Alderman Gosling, John Moore and Parsons.

They told him of their experiences but Fludyer was reminded of the then recent case of fraudster Elizabeth Canning and refused to have Kent or Parsons arrested (on charges of murder and conspiracy respectively).

After struggling through the throngs of interested visitors though, he was ultimately disappointed; the Public Advertiser observed that "the noise is now generally deferred till seven in the morning, it being necessary to vary the time, that the imposition may be the better carried on".

A Captain Wilkinson was also included on the committee; he had attended one séance armed with a pistol and stick; the former to shoot the source of the knocking, and the latter to make his escape (the ghost had remained silent on that occasion).

About ten at night the gentlemen met in the chamber in which the girl, supposed to be disturbed by a spirit, had, with proper caution, been put to bed by several ladies.

From that time, though the spirit was very solemnly required to manifest its existence by appearance, by impression on the hand or body of any present, by scratches, knocks, or any other agency, no evidence of any preter-natural power was exhibited.

The group was there to prove beyond any doubt that a recent newspaper report, which claimed that the supposed removal of Fanny's body from the vault accounted for the ghost's failure to knock on her coffin, was false.

Proceedings began at 10 am, "brought by William Kent against the above defendants for a conspiracy to take away his life by charging him with the murder of Frances Lynes by giving her poison whereof she died".

John Moore was offered support by several esteemed gentlemen and presented Murray with a letter from Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury, who sought to intercede on his behalf.

Having failed to do so they returned on 27 January 1763 and were committed to the King's Bench Prison until 11 February, by which time John Moore and Richard James had agreed to pay Kent £588; they were subsequently admonished by Justice Wilmot and released.

The following day, the rest were sentenced:[44] The Court chusing that Mr. Kent, who had been so much injured on the occasion, should receive some reparation by punishment of the offenders, deferred giving judgment for seven or eight months, in hopes that the parties might make it up in the meantime.

The father was ordered to be set in the pillory three times in one month—once at the end of Cock–Lane; Elizabeth his wife to be imprisoned one year; and Mary Frazer six months in Bridewell, with hard labour.

[47] In his youth, John Wesley had been strongly influenced by a supposed haunting at his family home and these experiences were carried through to the religion he founded, which was regularly criticised for its position on witchcraft and magic.

[48] Some of its followers therefore gave more credence to the reality of the Cock Lane ghost than did the Anglican establishment, which considered such things to be relics of the country's Catholic past.

[50] Samuel Johnson was committed to his Christian faith and shared the views of author Joseph Glanvill, who, in his 1681 work Saducismus Triumphatus, wrote of his concern over the advances made against religion and a belief in witchcraft, by atheism and scepticism.

[53] He resented Johnson's lack of enthusiasm for his writing and with the character of 'Pomposo', written as one of the more credulous of the ghost's investigators, used the satire to highlight a "superstitious streak" in his subject.

[54] Publishers were at first wary of attacking those involved in the supposed haunting, but Churchill's satire was one of a number of publications which, following the exposure of Parsons' deception, heaped scorn on the affair.

[55] The ghost was referenced in an anonymous work entitled Anti-Canidia: or, Superstition Detected and Exposed (1762), which sought to ridicule the credulity of those involved in the Cock Lane case.

A man in tall boots, whip in hand, says: "Ay Tom I'll lay 6 to 1 it runs more nights than the Coronation"[nb 5] and his companion remarks "How they swallow the hum".

A monochrome illustration of a narrow street, viewed from a corner, or intersection. A large three-storey building is visible on the right of the image. The ground floor has three windows, the first and second floors have two windows each. The roof appears to contain a row of windows, for a loft space. The word "KING" is written between the first and second floors, and a sign, "Gas meter maker" hangs above the ground floor windows.
A 19th-century illustration of Cock Lane. The haunting took place in the three-storey building on the right.
A monochrome illustration of a ramshackle room. Windows allow light to stream in, from the right of the image. Plaster is missing from the ceiling. A large fireplace dominates the far wall, and is surrounded by various cupboards and containers. The floor appears to be formed from planks of wood.
A 19th-century illustration of the room where the haunting took place
A small audience of people surround a bed, in which two children lie. A ghostly figure hovers above the children, a hammer in one hand. One man looks under the bed, with a candle. Speech bubbles are visible from each member of the audience. To the right of the image, several women are engaged in prayer.
English Credulity or the Invisible Ghost (1762). The ghost appears above the two children in the bed. Also visible are John Fielding (left) and a companion. The portraits on the wall are of The Bottle Conjuror and Elizabeth Canning . The artist is unknown, but may have been Oliver Goldsmith . [ 19 ]
A three-quarter portrait of a young man. His hair is light grey/blonde. He wears pale leggings, a pale waistcoat decorated with gold lace, a large blue sash, and a blue and gold lace blazer. His right arm rests on a chair, his left hand points to a painting behind him.
Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany , attended a séance on 30 January 1762
A half-length portrait of an elderly, and overweight, gentleman. He wears a waistcoat and blazer, with buttons, a white collar, and a wig. His left hand hovers close to his abdomen. The background is a dark black.
A committee whose members included Samuel Johnson concluded that the supposed haunting was a hoax.
An illustration of an oblong and vaguely human-shaped piece of wood, viewed from the top, and a plan view diagram of the haunted room.
The piece of wood used by Elizabeth Parsons, and a map of the haunted room, as illustrated in 1762
A full-length portrait of an elderly man, seated. He wears long flowing red and white robes, a long grey wig, and holds a rolled document in his left hand. His right hand rests on a table littered with documents. Behind him, the corner of a room, with ornate plaster architrave, is visible.
Portrait of Lord Mansfield , 1783. The case was tried by Lord Chief Justice William Murray .
A chapel full of people, many of whom hold small ghostly idols. A woman lies on the floor, rabbits leaping from under her skirts. A preacher stands in the pulpit, preaching to his congregation. On the right of the image, a large thermometer is capped by an idol of a ghost.
In William Hogarth 's Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism , the Cock Lane ghost is shown at the top of the thermometer, knocking to the girl in the bed. A Methodist preacher is seen to slip an icon of the ghost into the bodice of a young woman. [ 46 ]
A monochrome illustration of an outdoor scene. In the background, a building is under construction. A tall church, and other ornate structures, are also visible. To the left, a judge, seated high above everybody else, watches over the scene before him. Below him, riflemen shoot at a dove of peace flying through the air. In the middle of the image, two gardeners tend to a display of shrubbery. One pumps water from a large ornate fountain, the other struggles with a wheelbarrow. To the right, two figures, a man and a ghost, are stood in a pillory. Behind them, in the shade, a wigged man tends to his followers.
Hogarth's The Times, Plate 2 . Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Secker can be seen in the shade, behind the pilloried figures of both the Cock Lane ghost and John Wilkes . [ 60 ]