The Woman in Black & The Cheltenham Ghost Scare of 1886

In the quiet elegance of 1880s Cheltenham, a spectral presence stirred unease in a grand old family mansion in the centre of town. The ghost—described as a tall, veiled woman in black—appeared repeatedly to the daughters of the Despard family, moving silently through the house and vanishing without trace. Witnessed by multiple family members over several years, the haunting became one of Britain’s most documented supernatural cases, thanks to the efforts of the newly founded Society for Psychical Research, who jumped at the chance to study a haunted house, first hand.

SOURCES

Morton, R.C (1892) Record of a Haunted House. Proceedings for the Society of Psychical Research, Vol VIII, 1892. London, UK.

Mackenzie, Andrew (1970) The Unexplained. Abelard-Schuman. London, UK.

Abdy Collins, B. (1948) The Cheltenham Ghost. The Psychic Press. London, UK.

Underwood, Peter (1977) Hauntings: new light on the greatest true ghost stories of the world. J.M Dent, London, UK.

Cheltenham Chronicle (1875) An Assault By An Errand Boy. Cheltenham Chronicle, 16 Nov 1875, p2. Cheltenham, UK.

Cheltenham Examiner (1875) Fooling And Its Result. Cheltenham Examiner, 17 Nov 1875, p3. Cheltenham, UK.

Cheltenham Citizen (1886) Superstition. Cheltenham Citizen, Fri 27 Aug 1886, p4. Cheltenham, UK.

Cheltenham Chronicle (1886) Solution Of The Suffolk Street Ghost Mystery. Cheltenham Chronicle, Sat 4 Sep 1886, p2. Cheltenham, UK.

Gloucester Citizen (1886) The Cheltenham Ghost. Gloucester Citizen, Sat 25 Sep 1886, p5. Gloucester, UK.

Pall Mall Gazette (1886) Ghosts And Ghosts. Pall Mall Gazette, Fri 10 Sep 1886, p4. London, UK.

Rogerson, Peter (2001) Images of Imogen. Magonia Magazine, Issue 74, April 2001. London, UK.

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