Lost ghost story that made a man faint 238 years ago revealed
A 239-year-old manuscript detailing an eerie ghost encounter which made a man ‘faint’ as been found in a box of old deeds.
The official papers describe aristocrat Francis Eld being visited by the spirit of his dead mother Catherine in the early hours of March 29, 1785.
The documents state that Mr Eld was in his young daughter’s bedroom in the when the apparition appeared.
He experienced a ‘puff of air’ across his face and saw ‘a sort of cloud or vapour’, which took on the appearance and voice of his mother.
The ghost said: ‘My child, be not grieved, I am dead, but happy.’
The spooky incident is said to have taken place at Seighford Hall, near Stafford, Staffordshire, but the manuscript account of the ‘visitation’ was discovered in a box of legal deeds and papers.
Jim Spencer, Director at Rare Book Auctions in Lichfield came across the papers while carrying out a valuation.
He said: ‘It was quite eerie discovering these papers during the run-up to Halloween. I found it in a box full of old indentures relating to the Whitby family of Shugborough and Haywood.
‘It’s the sort of thing I see all the time but the word ‘visitation’ just caught my eye. As soon as I realised they were talking about a ghost, I genuinely couldn’t read quickly enough, my eyes were racing ahead of my brain.’
Eld of Seighford Hall was in a room with his infant daughter when he experienced a ‘puff of air’ across his face and saw ‘a sort of cloud or vapour’, which took on the appearance and voice of his mother.
Mr Spencer added: ‘Mr Eld was unaware his mother, who was residing at Pit Place in Surrey, had died during the time of his visitation.
‘The following morning, fearing bad news, he ordered his servant to accompany him to Stafford Post Office where he collected a letter written by his father’s housekeeper at Pit Place.’
The letter from his father’s housekeeper read that his mother was ‘tolerably well’ and had eaten ‘remarkably hearty of a hare’, but the letter was written two days before Mr Eld was haunted.
Mr Spencer explained: ‘During the coach journey home, Mr Eld repeatedly told his servant he was ‘sure’ he would ‘hear some bad news about his mother soon’.
‘The following Friday, on April 1, Mr Eld returned to Stafford and received a letter informing him his mother had died on the preceding Monday night or Tuesday morning – March 28 or 29 – coinciding with the time of the visitation.
‘This realisation caused him to ‘faint away’ in shock. At the funeral, Mr Eld told his father about the mysterious haunting, which turned him ‘into jelly’. Mr Eld’s father, John Elde of Dorking, was a notable benefactor of Stafford General Infirmary who was painted by renowned society painter Thomas Gainsborough.’
The handwritten account comes with letters between the Reverend Thomas Whitby of Creswell and the Reverend Townson of Malpas, Cheshire, discussing ‘this very uncommon event’.
The documents are expected to sell for between £300 to £500 but could fetch far more when they go under the hammer at Rare Book Auctions.
Jim Spencer added: ‘The fact that Mr Eld’s experience was documented and discussed by members of the clergy, as well as a servant’s testimony, underlines how greatly he was affected by the incident.
‘Seeing the ghost of his own mother telling him she had passed away when he thought she was alive was frightening enough.
‘When his worst fears were met and he realised her visitation coincided with her passing, it was enough to make him faint from shock.’
The supernatural records and deeds will be sold at Rare Book Auctions, Wade Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, in November.
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