Category: The Seed Hill Ghost of 1855

The “Seed Hill Ghost” is covered more fully in this blog post.

The Seed Hill Ghost.

The something which we last week denominated a ghost of percussion, is reported still to give indications that it has not “vanished at the crowing of the cock,” which proves that it has no kinship with those of olden time. It still continues its knockings. The oraculous have predicted that it will quit its vocation, if not this sublunary sphere, on the day following April Fool’s day, when, after the knock of a certain hammer, its mission will have ended, and the ghost will be laid.

The Secret of the Ghost Out.

On Friday morning the cause of the mysterious knocking at Seed Hill oozed out in the following manner :– On Thursday a servant girl of about 13 years of age, named Catherine Hayley, had pulled the bed clothes from the beds and thrown some of the pillows down the stairs, and then came down to another older servant, called Harriet Dyson, making a dolorous noise in order to frighten her. Mr. Routledge having returned home from the Bradford market was told of this new trick, and the next morning (Friday) he challenged Catherine with the whole imposture. She at first denied the charge, but Mr. R., persisting strongly in his surmise, she at length admitted that she had begun the knockings to frighten the other servant girl – Dyson. The way in which she produced the alarm was by beating the washing machine, which stands in the corner of the kitchen, with a crutch-like stick. The girl was taken into custody and examined by the police and other parties, but nothing has been elicited from her of being in collusion either with Mr. R. or any body else. No farther proceedings, that we know of, will be taken against her.

The “Seed Hill Ghost” is covered more fully in this blog post.

The Seed Hill Ghost.

The people of Huddersfield have been amused, surprised, and alarmed, as the case may be, these few days back, by the reported visits of a ghost, which secrets itself somewhere in the premises or mansion of Mr. Samuel Routledge, of Seed Hill. What questionable shape it may yet take, who can tell, but so far it has modestly kept out of sight, no one having seen its saucer eyes, if it have any, nor its horns or anything to make “night hideous,” beyond a noise. It is known, as yet, but as a ghost of percussion.

The “Seed Hill Ghost” is covered more fully in this blog post.

The Seed-Hill Ghost.

During the whole of the past week the neighbourhood of Seed Hill, and in fact the whole of the “lower region” of the town of Huddersfield, has been in a state of extraordinary excitement owing to most alarming “noises” made in the house of Mr. Samuel Routledge, an extensive dyer, at Seed Hill. Mr. Routledge first called the attention of the police and the public to the matter last Saturday, declaring that the noises resembled the “striking of a door or a table-top with a stick or switcher with all one’s might;” that these noises were very frequent, and had frightened all his servants and even the cat from the house, and that he was thus left in awful solitude. The rumour spread rapidly, and every day since the house has been regularly besieged by crowds of people, all anxious to see and hear for themselves the marvellous doings of the ghost. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, several policemen were stationed inside the house. The ghost, however, was not to be intimidated either by the crowd or the police — “bang, switch, bang, switch, bang, switch,”—continued at intervals to echo through the corridors and rooms of the building. Impudent and cunning ghost! He is quite a ventriloquist; when you are seated in the dining-room, the sound appears to come from the front door ; and when you are at the front door, the sound appears to proceed from the dining room. A policeman was therefore placed at each of these places, determined to catch the ghost. “Bang, switch” echoes once more; each policeman rushes from his post to catch the fugitive ; they meet in the passage, and a terrific collision takes place, each knocking the other down, and in the melee the ghost escapes ! These watchings continued until Wednesday evening, when the police, fairly baffled, raised the siege, and left the ghost in undisputed possession of the fortress. The phenomenon remains a mystery, but the premises are advertised for sale by public auction on the 2nd of April, and rumour insinuates that the ghost is merely the result of some hidden galvanic wires, or some subterraneous steam pipes, and the ruse is to frighten purchasers, so that the house may be sold very cheap.

The “Seed Hill Ghost” is covered more fully in this blog post.

A Ghost Story.

During the early part of the present week a good portion of the Huddersfield public have been running mad in their endeavours to discover the workings of a certain ghost, said to have located himself at the residence of Mr. Sam. Routledge, dyer, Seed Hill. On Sunday and Monday last several hundred people visited the place, and, strange to say, not a few returned deeply impressed with the reality of the story. How to capture the bane intruder has been a point which has drawn largely on the resources of the ingenious, aided by the light of official police experience, but up to the present time he continues his perambulations unchecked and undismayed. We record this much of this idle tale, as illustrating the great amount of superstition still prevalent in the popular mind.