In January 1762, the London newspapers reported a ghost residing in a house in Cock Lane, which lies between Smithfield Market and St Paul’s, a short walk from Dr Johnson's House at 17 Gough Square. It made itself known by scratching and knocking around the bed of twelve-year-old Elizabeth Parsons, the daughter of the house’s owner Richard Parsons.
Spirit of Fanny Lynes
The father and a local preacher, John Moore, had concluded that this was the spirit of Fanny Lynes. She had been a tenant of Parson’s along with William Kent, her unofficial husband – unofficial because Fanny was the sister of Kent's deceased wife. Harassed by Fanny’s family, the couple were taken in by Parsons who, going through troubles of his own, received a loan from Kent. There followed a period of strange noises and an apparition while Elizabeth was left with Fanny. The Kents moved out and Fanny died. Parsons never repaid the loan, and Kent was suing him at the time the noises returned.
Richard Parsons and his associate had set about creating a system to communicate with Fanny: one knock for yes, two for no. What did she tell them? That she had died from arsenic administered by her husband (rather than smallpox, as supposed). William Kent fell under suspicion as details of the case hit the news.
Investigative Séance
From the 12th to the 23rd of January 1762, there followed a series of six séances: three at Cock Lane, two at private houses, and the last at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital to a crowd of twenty. The ghost was a sensation. ‘Scratching Fanny’, as she was known, was widely reported and crowds thronged the Lane, with Parsons (enterprisingly) charging them a fee to come in and talk with her.
On the 23rd of January, the Lord Mayor of London was asked to intervene. He ordered an official investigative séance be held around Elizabeth, and in the event a number of important people were brought together for the task – including Dr Samuel Johnson.
The details of this night of the 1st of February can be read in Account of the Detection of the Imposture in Cock‐Lane, published in the Gentleman's Magazine (Feb. 1762). It contains some interesting details, such as Elizabeth’s claim that she had a spirit like a mouse on her back and the ghost’s promise to knock on Fanny’s coffin when it was removed from the vaults (a promise not fulfilled).
Charged with Conspiracy
Ultimately, the investigators concluded that the supposed haunting was a fraud and that Elizabeth Parsons was making the noises. This appeared to be confirmed at a later séance when Elizabeth was observed putting a small piece of wood under her clothes.
A group of five including Parson and Moore were charged with conspiracy. After a trial which saw an outburst of laughter at the testimony of someone who saw the ghost, and a letter (ignored by the judge) from the Archbishop of Canterbury in support of Moore, they were judged guilty. Parson received the heaviest sentence: two years in prison and three times in the stocks.
Johnson was reluctant to talk with Boswell about his role in the investigation. Perhaps this was because he had been satirized as a naïve believer, although his account shows he clearly wasn’t fooled. Johnson was interested in the concept of spirituality, but in this instance he concluded that there was no ghost and that the case was a contrivance.
Isaac Lucia
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