1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. Happy Almost Halloween. Yeah. 4 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:25,159 Speaker 1: As I mentioned on an earlier episode this month, I 5 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: haven't been as halloweene, I feel like as usual. I 6 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: don't know if that's just the time anxiety lurking in 7 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: the air everywhere around, or if I'm just more of 8 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: a skeptic than ever. I don't know, but anyway, this 9 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: one is probably our most Halloween. Today's episode covers a 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: case of a lot of people believing there was a 11 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: ghost hanging around and something that happened as a consequence 12 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: of that concern over a ghost that then became a 13 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:59,639 Speaker 1: huge legal battle. This is a case of mistaken identity 14 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: and I feel like it also uh needs a little 15 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: bit of a heads up that there is some gun violence. 16 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: But it's also legally an interesting story because this is 17 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: a case that brought to light a problem in British 18 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,479 Speaker 1: law that would have ramifications for a long time before 19 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: it was conclusively settled. And we'll get into all of 20 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: that today as we talk about the Hammersmith Ghost murder. 21 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: So in late eighteen oh three, frightening accounts started circulating 22 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: in Hammersmith, England today that is a borough of London. 23 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: The stories were all really similar, and they were told 24 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: by a variety of local residents who all appear to 25 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: have witnessed the same thing. That was a tall figure 26 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: draped in white, described as an apparition. This apparition was 27 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: seen in town, often in the churchyard, but occasionally moving 28 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: outside of that space. Some people claimed to have been 29 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: attacked by this phantom. As these accounts became more and 30 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: more common, they also became more and more detailed. The 31 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: ghost was said to appear right after the town clock 32 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: struck one am, although it could also pop out at 33 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: other times. It was associated with Black Lion Lane, specifically 34 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: which was at the edge of the neighborhood, near undeveloped fields, 35 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: and soon the ghost even had an identity and was 36 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: believed to be the spirit of a man who had 37 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: died by suicide in eighteen oh two, allegedly by slitting 38 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: his own throat. Some accounts even stated that this apparition 39 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: occasionally appeared with horns. Others said that he had glass eyes, 40 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: and sometimes instead of all white, he was said to 41 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: wear the skin of a beast in an account that 42 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: was written mere months after the events were talking about. 43 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: In this episode, which was part of the series of 44 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: books cataloging the interesting happenings of the time called Kirby's 45 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: Wonderful and Scientific Museum, there was even the assertion that 46 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: locals believed there might be multiple ghosts. These accounts persisted 47 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: to the point that the whole area started to be 48 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: genuinely concerned. In one instance, a mister Russell, who was 49 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,239 Speaker 1: the driver of an eight horse carriage, was so frightened 50 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: by the ghosts that he abandoned his team and a 51 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 1: carriage filled with sixteen people and just ran away. Those 52 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: passengers were just left hanging with the ghost. I guess 53 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: as the ghost things got worse as rumors spread that 54 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: people were even dying of shock upon seeing or interacting 55 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: with the ghost. In one such case, a pregnant woman 56 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: was described as having fainted when she saw the ghost 57 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: after passing near the graveyard at Saint Paul's, and then 58 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: it is said to have reached out and put its 59 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: arms around her. She was found unconscious on the ground 60 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: and taken to a home of a nearby resident. She 61 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: reportedly died there a couple of days later, although there 62 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: isn't any real substantiation for this story. For example, nothing 63 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: ever mentions her name. Because of all this, though there 64 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: were very real fears about being on the street, people 65 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: started staying inside after sundown. In an effort to put 66 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: an end to the perceived threat that was holding the 67 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: town in a state of constant fear. Armed patrols were 68 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: made up of citizens and they started mounting these patrols 69 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: at night. This was more than twenty five years before 70 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: London got its official police force, the Metropolitan Police, so 71 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: this was not an unusual means of dealing with a 72 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: problem involving public safety. Some of the men in these 73 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: patrols did not think there was a ghost. They suspected 74 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: a very real person was just scaring the area's residence 75 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: and they wanted it to stop. On one patrol, a 76 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: ghost was chased, but this supposed ghost was able to 77 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: elude his pursuers, he said, who have removed the sheet 78 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: as he ran, but then could not be identified. In 79 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: a lot of cases, it seemed that the purported ghost 80 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,119 Speaker 1: knew which roots the patrols would take and then stuck 81 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: to alternate streets. And paths. Yeah, this is often described 82 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: as being a neighborhood that had a lot of alley's sideways, 83 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: et cetera. So it was kind of amaze and it 84 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: was easy for someone to evade capture. On January third 85 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: of eighteen oh four, one of these patrols was out 86 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: and about, but in this case it was not a group. 87 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: It was a man on his own named Francis Smith. 88 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: Smith was an excise officer who was twenty nine years old, 89 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: and he and another man, William Girdler, were both out patrolling, 90 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: but they had decided to separate to cover more ground. 91 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 1: The two men had worked out a call and response 92 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 1: set of phrases so that if one approached the other, 93 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: they would know that it was the person that was 94 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: also on patrol and nothing sinister. So one of them 95 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: would open with who goes there or perhaps a similar 96 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: sentiment like who is it? The other would respond with 97 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: a friend, and then the final confirmation was advance friend. 98 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: So this seems like a great code, but it is 99 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: all based on the presumption that no one else would 100 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: be out in the streets except the two of them 101 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: and perhaps something or someone sinister. After the two men 102 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: parted ways, to patrol, Francis Smith spotted a figure in 103 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: white near Black Lion Lane. Hoping to end this terror 104 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: in the community, Smith raised the weapon he was carrying 105 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: and fired, and the figure fell to the ground. When 106 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: Smith approached his target, he was horrified to see that 107 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: it was a man wearing white work clothes that were 108 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: white linen trousers with a white waistcoat, apron, and even shoes. 109 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: The victim was twenty two year old Thomas Millwood that 110 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,840 Speaker 1: was a bricklayer who was walking home from visiting his 111 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: father after work when Francis Smith mistook him for the 112 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 1: ghost or a prankster pretending to be a ghost. Allegedly, 113 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: this was not the first time someone had thought he 114 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: was the ghost, but previous incidents had ended without any 115 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: kind of serious repercussions. After Smith realized what he had done, 116 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: he went looking immediately for help, and he ran into 117 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: two men named Stowe and Locke, and he told them 118 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: that he had shot a man that he had believed 119 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,559 Speaker 1: to be a ghost. Initially, according to a statement given 120 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: by Stowe to the paper, Smith didn't really seem to 121 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: realize that he would be in trouble legally, or that 122 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: he had done anything wrong. Smith then told them that 123 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: he had spoken to that person twice and received no 124 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: answer before he fired. Stowe and Locke returned with Smith 125 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: to the scene of the shooting to see that Millwood 126 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: was indeed dead. Smith also put out word at a 127 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: local pub that he needed to speak with William Girdler, 128 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: the man he had been out on watch sort of with, 129 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: but not really, and then when Girdler got the message, 130 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: he too went to the scene of the shooting. The 131 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: coroner's examination indicated that Thomas Millwood died from a single 132 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: gunshot to the head. The bullet had entered through his 133 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: mouth at the left jaw, passed through his spine to 134 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: the exit at the back of his neck. According to 135 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: the coroner's report, his face was blackened from the flash 136 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: of gunpowder, and the death was recorded as a quote 137 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: rash act of wilful murder. Locke and Stowe had advised 138 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: Smith to go home, although he had, according to their 139 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: later testimony, asked them to take him into custody themselves, 140 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: but they wanted to wait and see how things played out, 141 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: and when the police went to Smith's home once the 142 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: situation had escalated with that coroner's determination, Smith went with 143 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: the authorities readily. We'll talk about how his legal case 144 00:08:50,040 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: played out after we pause for a sponsor break. A 145 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: lot of people had come to Francis Smith's defense in 146 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: the course of the coroner's inquiry. He was not disputing 147 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:12,079 Speaker 1: the fact that he had fired the shot that killed Millwood. 148 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: He acknowledged that he was panicked and agitated when he 149 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: saw the white figure. But Smith was also known to 150 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: everyone as a very gentle and kind man. No one 151 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: believed he went out on patrol the night of the 152 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 1: shooting with anything but good intentions. Additionally, a lot of 153 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: people willingly made statements about the low visibility in the 154 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: town the night of the shooting, noting specifically that if 155 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: you stood on one side of Black Lion Lane, the 156 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: low lighting, mist and hedges planted along it made it 157 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: difficult to see across the lane in the dark. Black 158 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,079 Speaker 1: Lion was known to be dim and shadowy because there 159 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: were hedges on both sides of the lane, so seeing 160 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: a white form, it actually would have been pretty difficult 161 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,160 Speaker 1: to make it out as a corporeal human person. This 162 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: is something paranormal. Based on the coroner's findings, Francis Smith 163 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 1: was arrested He pleaded not guilty, with the defense that 164 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,479 Speaker 1: his actions were accidental based on a case of mistaken identity. 165 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: He was tried at the Old Bailey on January thirteenth, 166 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: ten days after the incident, on the charge of wilful murder. 167 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,560 Speaker 1: The case that played out would impact British law and 168 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: change the way people talked about murder charges. Francis Smith 169 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: was adamant during the trial that his actions were born 170 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 1: out of a very real fear, and that he had 171 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: believed he came into the presence of the ghosts that 172 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,679 Speaker 1: had been rumored to be terrorizing the neighborhood. He had 173 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: initially told the court that he wished for his counsel 174 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: to speak for him, but he was told that in 175 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: terms of answering the charges, he had to speak for himself, 176 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,199 Speaker 1: and that his counsel was there solely to question the witnesses. 177 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: So Smith stated in his first remarks to the court quote, 178 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 1: I can only declare that I went out with a 179 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:00,559 Speaker 1: perfectly good intention. After calling to the deceased twice and 180 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: receiving no answer, I became so agitated that I did 181 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:07,679 Speaker 1: not know what I was about. But I solemnly declare 182 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: that I am innocent of any malicious intention against any 183 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:16,559 Speaker 1: person whatever. There are some inconsistencies in the various accounts 184 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: as to whether Smith believed he was shooting at a 185 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 1: specter or whether he believed he was shooting at someone 186 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 1: pretending to be a ghost to menace the neighborhood. Some, 187 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: including the testimony of John Locke, make it sound as 188 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: though Smith knew it was a person. Locke specifically said 189 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: during the trial testimony quote he informed me he had 190 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,839 Speaker 1: shot a man who he believed to be the pretended 191 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:45,839 Speaker 1: ghost of Hammersmith. But that leaves a little room for interpretation, 192 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: as Smith was relaying the news of the shooting to 193 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: Locke after he himself had discovered that he had shot 194 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,679 Speaker 1: a man. As we'll see in a moment, the defense 195 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: made the case that there was a very real sense 196 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:02,720 Speaker 1: of a ghost threat in the neighborhood. The prosecution's case 197 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,319 Speaker 1: made the entire ghost story out to be just utterly ridiculous. 198 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: Even news accounts that ran ahead of the trial had 199 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 1: dismissed the apparition rumors. It's really silly. The Morning Chronicle 200 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: ran a piece about the shooting on January sixth, so 201 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 1: that's three days after it, which read quote the neighborhood 202 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,440 Speaker 1: of Hammersmith has for some time been alarmed by a 203 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: ridiculous rumor of a ghost, which is said to have 204 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: paid its nocturnal visits to the fields adjacent to Black 205 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 1: Lion Lane. That same article quoted Thomas Millwood's sister Anne 206 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 1: Millwood as describing a snippet of speech that she heard 207 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 1: when she went to the door to watch her brother 208 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 1: as he walked away from the house. She heard a 209 00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 1: voice say quote, damn you, who are you? And then 210 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: stand else I'll shoot you right before she heard the 211 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 1: gun being fired, and worried about her brother, but unable 212 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 1: to see him again because these gloomy and dim lighting situation, 213 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: call her brother's name and got no answer, And at 214 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: that point she alerted her father and her mother and 215 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,439 Speaker 1: a lodger who lived with the Millwood family about it, 216 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,440 Speaker 1: but they dismissed what she had heard as street noise, 217 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: and still very worried about her brother Thomas, went out 218 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: by herself and she found him dead in the lane. 219 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,079 Speaker 1: A lot of witnesses came forward to vouch for Smith's 220 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:26,679 Speaker 1: good character. Even Millwood's mother in law, missus Fulbrook, was 221 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: a witness for the defense. She told the court quote, 222 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 1: on Saturday evening, he and I were at home, for 223 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: he lived with me. He said he had frightened two 224 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: ladies and a gentleman who were coming along the terrace, 225 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: and a carriage. For that, the man said he dared 226 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: to say, there goes the ghost. That he said he 227 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: was no more a ghost than he was, and asked him, 228 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: using a bad word, did he want a punch of 229 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,199 Speaker 1: the head. I begged of him to change his dress. 230 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: Thomas says, I, as there is a piece of work 231 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: about the ghost, and your clothes look white, pray do 232 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,079 Speaker 1: put on your greatcoat that you may not run any danger. 233 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: I don't know what answer he made. He said he 234 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,880 Speaker 1: wished the ghost was catched, or something of that sort. 235 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 1: One thing the defense counsel asked witnesses was about the 236 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: many groups of men who had gone on patrol. According 237 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: to court proceedings, They asked John Locke, quote, you know, 238 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: I believe, however unfortunate, it has turned out that almost 239 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: all the young men had gone out. When Locke answered 240 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: in the affirmative, the follow up question was quote, which 241 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: was publicly known and talked about. So it seems this 242 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: line of questioning was to establish before the court that 243 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,360 Speaker 1: everyone knew that armed men were prowling the streets looking 244 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: for a specter, so in disregarding that danger, Thomas had 245 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: somehow been responsible for what had happened to him. Then 246 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: the defense introduced the idea that there was potentially a 247 00:14:55,680 --> 00:15:00,120 Speaker 1: legitimate ghost haunting Hammersmith. They called a man named Tom 248 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: Groom who worked for a brewer named Burgess, and Grun 249 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: stated that while he and a colleague were walking through 250 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: the churchyard, he very clearly felt hands around his throat, 251 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: though neither of the men could see anything. This was 252 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: laying the groundwork that there were enough credible instances of 253 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 1: people saying they had interactions with the Hammersmith ghost that 254 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: it was reasonable for Francis Smith to believe that was 255 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:30,480 Speaker 1: what was before him when he pulled the trigger. The 256 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: Lord Chief Baron MacDonald gave orders to the jury that 257 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: they must decide if Smith was guilty or not. Those 258 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: orders included the instructions quote it would be impossible to 259 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: calculate the dangerous consequences which would ensue if men were 260 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: permitted to take upon themselves the right of shooting others 261 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: for certain crimes. If a man goes out with the 262 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 1: intention of shooting robbers and kills a person who is 263 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: offering him no violence. He is guilty of murder. However, 264 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: are disgusted the jury might feel in their own minds 265 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 1: with the abominable person guilty of the misdemeanor of terrifying 266 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: the neighborhood. Still, the prisoner had no right to construe 267 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: such misdemeanor into a capital offense, or to conclude that 268 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: a man dressed in white was a ghost. In this case, 269 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: there was a deliberate carrying of a loaded gun, which 270 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: the prisoner concluded he was entitled to fire, but which 271 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: he really was not, and he did fire it with 272 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: a rashness, which the law does not excuse. In all 273 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: the circumstances of the case, no man is allowed to 274 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: kill another rashly. The judge also told the jury that 275 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: they could not take into account whether Francis Smith was 276 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,560 Speaker 1: a good man or not, that they just had to 277 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: consider the facts of the case, and the facts of 278 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: the case were obvious. Francis Smith admitted to shooting Millwood, 279 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: but because of the odd circumstances, it seems the jury 280 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: tried to mitigate the outcome of the trial by fining 281 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 1: Smith guilty not of murder but of manslaughter that would 282 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:09,439 Speaker 1: automatically carry a much lighter sentence. The problem, though, was 283 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: that MacDonald and the two other judges in the case, 284 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: Justices Rooke and Lawrence, stated they could not accept that 285 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: outcome because Smith had not been on trial for manslaughter. 286 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:23,359 Speaker 1: This was just a matter of following the letter of 287 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: the law. So the jury was instructed to once again 288 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: deliberate with the option of delivering a guilty verdict or 289 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: an acquittal for murder based on the evidence of the case. 290 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: The judges also reminded the jurors that Thomas Millwood had 291 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: not done anything on the night of the shooting other 292 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,120 Speaker 1: than walk home wearing white. He had not menaced anyone, 293 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: he had not tried to run. But they also noted 294 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: that even if he had, even if he had been 295 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: a prankster trying to scare people by feigning to be 296 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: a ghost, that could only be considered a nuisance, which 297 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: at most could be cited as a misdemeanor. After the 298 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 1: second round of deliberation, which took an hour, the jury 299 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: came back with the verdict that Francis Smith was guilty 300 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: of murder. This automatically resulted in a death sentence, and 301 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,439 Speaker 1: the bench ruled that Smith was to be hanged and 302 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: that his body would be donated to a medical college. 303 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: Knowing this was bound to stoke a controversy, the Lord 304 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: Chief Baron Archibald MacDonald promised to bring the matter before 305 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: King George the Third. This was a scenario where the 306 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,679 Speaker 1: facts of the case were covered in the press in 307 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: detail and everyone knew what had happened. It was perceived 308 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: by almost everyone as an accidental shooting, but also with 309 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: the understanding that in legal terms there wasn't much leeway 310 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: to find Smith anything other than guilty. Still, he did 311 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: have a lot of public support, and the King also 312 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: recognized the unusual circumstances in the way that the law 313 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,160 Speaker 1: did not not really allow for any kind of nuance 314 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: in a case like this, so the monarch actually issued 315 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: a pardon three weeks after the initial guilty verdict. The King, 316 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: unlike the jury, did have the power to change the 317 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: outcome of the case and issue a guilty verdict instead 318 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: for the lesser charge of manslaughter, and to dictate the 319 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 1: terms of the sentencing. Francis Smith was to be imprisoned 320 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,359 Speaker 1: for one year to perform hard labor. The proceedings of 321 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,760 Speaker 1: the Old Bailey list a remission of imprisonment for Francis 322 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: on July twelfth of eighteen oh four, so his sentence 323 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: was reduced at that point for good behavior. But after 324 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: that he sort of vanishes from the historical record. But 325 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,399 Speaker 1: what about the ghost? Thomas Millwood was a plasterer or 326 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: a bricklayer, Various different accounts call him, each of those. 327 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:53,199 Speaker 1: He happened to be wearing white work clothes. He was 328 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 1: not a spirit lurking in the graveyard waiting to scare people. 329 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: So what had all those ghost sightings about. Well, initially 330 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: after the shooting, sightings of the ghost did stop, and 331 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: then the day after Francis smith sentencing, the Hammersmith Ghost 332 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: stepped forward to confess. And we'll talk about that right 333 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: after we hear from the sponsors that keep the show going. 334 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: On January fourteenth, a shoemaker named John Graham reached out 335 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: to authorities to state that he had been putting a 336 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: sheet over his head and then walking around Hammersmith scaring 337 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:41,439 Speaker 1: people as a prank. This had initially started just as 338 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 1: a prank against his employees. The men had been telling 339 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: Graham's kids ghost stories and it really frightened the children. 340 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: So Graham thought he would frighten the grown men to retaliate, 341 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,439 Speaker 1: and then it turned out he liked doing it. It 342 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,160 Speaker 1: was fun to scare people, so he started going out 343 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 1: into the graveyard in his ghost disguise. Although Graham had 344 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 1: come forward, a lot of people in Hammersmith were not convinced. 345 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: They continued to believe that something spectral was lurking in 346 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,880 Speaker 1: their neighborhood, waiting to reach out and get them if 347 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: they found themselves in close proximity to it, and there 348 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,880 Speaker 1: were reports that the ghost was cited many times after 349 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: the trial concluded, and John Graham claimed to have been 350 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 1: the ghost. This has given rise to theories that there 351 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: may have been copycats wanting to just keep the prank going, 352 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: but finding any hard evidence about that is just about 353 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: impossible given that nobody else ever came forward, So it 354 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 1: could just as easily be that people thought they saw 355 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,480 Speaker 1: the ghost even if no one was keeping up the prank. 356 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,120 Speaker 1: And some of these sightings, which continued for several decades, 357 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,919 Speaker 1: really upped the ante on the odd details, including some 358 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: accounts that this ghost was seen breathing fire. I love 359 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: that he becomes much more demo on it be as 360 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: time goes on. Now he's got horns, Now he's got 361 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: glass eyes, Now he breathes fire. The idea that Francis 362 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: Smith's murder trial introduced that the British legal system needed 363 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: to be able to handle cases where a person truly 364 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: believed they were acting in self defense or for the 365 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: good of someone else against something supernatural, was actually debated 366 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,719 Speaker 1: for the next one hundred and eighty years, and it 367 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: wasn't until another case in nineteen eighty three that there 368 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: was a definitive ruling on such cases, though it did 369 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: not involve the supernatural, but a case of misunderstanding the situation, 370 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:38,119 Speaker 1: and that was Regina versus Gladstone Williams. So Regina is 371 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: the word often used in British cases to indicate that 372 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:44,399 Speaker 1: the case is brought by the Crown. I think the 373 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: Brits might pronounce it regina. I think so too, but 374 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 1: I don't love that now, sorry to all of my 375 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,239 Speaker 1: British friends. It sounds so much like other things to 376 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: me that I cannot do it in my soul. This 377 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: appellate case is written up with the following information as 378 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:05,120 Speaker 1: its introductory explainer quote On ninth March this year, Gladstone 379 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: Williams appeared in the Inner London Crown Court charged with 380 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 1: assault occasioning actual bodily harm. After a trial, he was 381 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: convicted and was given a conditional discharge for twelve months, 382 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: together with certain financial penalties. He now appeals on a 383 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: point of law against his conviction. The facts were somewhat 384 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,520 Speaker 1: unusual and were as follows. On the day in question, 385 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,959 Speaker 1: the alleged victim, a man called Mason, saw a black 386 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: youth seizing the handbag belonging to a woman who was shopping. 387 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: He caught up with the youth and held him, he said, 388 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: with a view to taking him to a nearby police station, 389 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:50,119 Speaker 1: but the youth broke free from his grip. Mason caught 390 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,879 Speaker 1: the youth again and knocked him to the ground, and 391 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: he then twisted one of the youth's arms behind his 392 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: back in order to immobilize him and to enable him. 393 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 1: He said, what once again to take the youth to 394 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:06,239 Speaker 1: a police station. The youth was struggling and calling for 395 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,439 Speaker 1: help at this time, and no one disputed the fact. 396 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 1: Upon the scene. Then came the appellant, who had only 397 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: seen the latter stages of this incident. According to Mason, 398 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 1: he told the appellant first of all that he was 399 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: arresting the youth for mugging the lady, and secondly that 400 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 1: he Mason was a police officer. That was not true. 401 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 1: He was asked for his warrant card, which obviously was 402 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: not forthcoming, and thereupon something of a struggle ensued between 403 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,680 Speaker 1: Mason on the one hand, and the appellant and others 404 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: on the other hand. In the course of these events, 405 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 1: Mason sustained injuries to his face, loosened teeth, and bleeding gums. 406 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 1: The appellant put forward the following version of events. He 407 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: said he was returning from work by bus when he 408 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: saw Mason dragging the youth along and striking him again 409 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,439 Speaker 1: and again. He was so concerned about the matter that 410 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: he rapidly got off the bus and made his way 411 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 1: to the scene and asked Mason what on earth he 412 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: was doing. In short, he said that he punched Mason 413 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: because he thought if he did so, he would save 414 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: the youth from further beating and what he described as torture. 415 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 1: So the cliff notes, a person claiming to be an 416 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: off duty policeman saw a kid stealing a woman's bag 417 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,560 Speaker 1: and chased and tackled him, and a passerby thought that 418 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: the kid was being attacked by this person who said 419 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: they were an off duty policeman and interceded, But that passerby, 420 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: Gladstone Williams, thought he was protecting an innocent person because 421 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: he did not have all the facts of the situation 422 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: when he acted, and there was that confusion where it 423 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: was claimed that he was a policeman and he wasn't. 424 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:52,400 Speaker 1: And Williams, the one who interceded, thinking he was saving 425 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: this kid, was charged and convicted of assault, but Williams 426 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:01,879 Speaker 1: appeal led to a ruling that established precedent regarding charges 427 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: where people use force but can establish that their intent 428 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: and understanding of the situation was inherently lawful. That ruling reads, 429 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: in part quote, in a case of self defense or 430 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:17,160 Speaker 1: the prevention of crime is concerned, if the jury came 431 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 1: to the conclusion that the defendant believed or may have believed, 432 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,399 Speaker 1: that he was being attacked or that a crime was 433 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,120 Speaker 1: being committed, and that force was necessary to protect himself 434 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:30,359 Speaker 1: or to prevent the crime, then the prosecution have not 435 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: proved their case. If, however, the defendant's alleged belief was mistaken, 436 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: and if the mistake was an unreasonable one, that may 437 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: be a peaceful reason for coming to the conclusion that 438 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 1: the belief was not honestly held and should be rejected. 439 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: Even if the jury come to the conclusion that the 440 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: mistake was an unreasonable one, if the defendant may genuinely 441 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,879 Speaker 1: have been laboring under it, he is entitled to rely 442 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: upon it. I'm so sorry all of that legal discussion 443 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 1: landed in your basket, but also legal discussion that I 444 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: hate for the record, Like, what do you mean if 445 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: I am understanding this correctly? This is the kind of 446 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,639 Speaker 1: argument that's used to justify people being like I shot 447 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:24,159 Speaker 1: that guy. Oh, yes, one hundred percent. We should talk 448 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,080 Speaker 1: about this on behind the scenes. Yeah but yeah, yeah, yeah, 449 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,639 Speaker 1: we should talk about it behind the scenes. Although the 450 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: law may have become a settled matter according to some locals, 451 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: Thomas Millwood has not, because now there are reports that 452 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,639 Speaker 1: Milwood has, in his ghost form, been haunting the Black 453 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: Lion Pub on the street where he died. The pub 454 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,680 Speaker 1: has been there since the latter half of the seventeen hundreds, 455 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: although specific dates on its origin do seem to vary. 456 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: The pub would have been one of the primary public 457 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:57,919 Speaker 1: places where the Hammersmith Ghost would have been discussed and debated, 458 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 1: and Millwood's body was taken there for examination by mister Flowers, 459 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 1: who worked for the Coroner's office after he had been shot. 460 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,399 Speaker 1: There have been employees of the pub who have claimed 461 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,880 Speaker 1: over the years that they see Thomas frequently. In two 462 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: thousand and four, the Ghost Club, which was founded by 463 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,479 Speaker 1: Charles Dickens in eighteen sixty two, had a meet up 464 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: at the Black Lion Pub to mark the two hundred 465 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:24,480 Speaker 1: year anniversary of the shooting. There is a plaque outside 466 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,159 Speaker 1: the pub that mentions the ghost. It reads quote the 467 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: Black Lion, formerly known as the Black Lion spelled with 468 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: a y, A public house has stood on the site 469 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: for well over two hundred years. Originally a piggery, it 470 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,600 Speaker 1: is reputed that the pig farmer started brewing beer for 471 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:43,520 Speaker 1: himself and his friends. This proved so popular that it 472 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: overtook his agricultural interests as his main occupation. The Hammersmith 473 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: Ghost started haunting Black Lion Lane in Saint Paul's Churchyard 474 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: in eighteen oh four. One night in Excise, Officer Francis 475 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: Smith filled his blunderbuss with shot and him self with 476 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: ale before killing an unfortunate white clothes bricklayer, Thomas Millwood, 477 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: whom he had mistaken for the ghost. It was at 478 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: the Black Lion that the body was taken and an 479 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: inquest held later. So, in a bit of historical irony, 480 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: a man mistaken for a ghost and shot because of 481 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:22,720 Speaker 1: that mistake has now become a ghost in his own right, 482 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: at least according to local lore. And that is the 483 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 1: last of our halloweeners for the year. Do you have 484 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: some email that may or may not be Halloween related, 485 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: has nothing to do with Halloween? Oh well, it's a suggestion, 486 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: but also one that I have had a lot of 487 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: people ask me about this lately. Even it came into email, 488 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: and I have been doing a number of book signings 489 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: at conventions lately for Killer Cocktails, and several people have 490 00:29:58,000 --> 00:29:59,480 Speaker 1: asked me if we were going to do this topic. 491 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: So I feel I should just tell people wear them 492 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: at on it. This is from our listener Samantha, who writes, Hello, 493 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: all have loved your podcast for many years and was 494 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: excited and surprised to look through the catalog and not 495 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: find anything on this particular subject. Perhaps I missed it 496 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 1: but maybe it would be a fun upcoming episode. My 497 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: six year old daughter asked to understand the history of 498 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 1: stuffed animals, and in our research we found how interesting 499 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 1: the life of Margaret Steife, the German seamstress turned toy 500 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: maker was. Perhaps something was mentioned during the many different 501 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,840 Speaker 1: Teddy Roosevelt pods, but I could not find anything particularly 502 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 1: about her life and experiences. Would love to know your thoughts. Sam. Okay, Sam, 503 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: here's the scoop. It's always on my list. I'm always 504 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: poking at it. And because I had been talking about 505 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 1: in the last year my Koala project that talked about 506 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: ad nauseum on the show, a lot of people have 507 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: been like, ooh, is this part of a lead up 508 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: to do a maybe? Is the answer kinda yeah. Part 509 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: of it is that I want to be thorough. And 510 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: there are instances of stuffed toys of a variety of 511 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:05,960 Speaker 1: types going back way deep into history, and some of 512 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: those are a little bit tricky because plushies like clothing 513 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,920 Speaker 1: are made of things that degrade really easily compared to 514 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,560 Speaker 1: things like oh yeah, metal and whatnot. So there's a 515 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: lot of theoretical we think this may have been a 516 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,920 Speaker 1: toy or maybe it's just a piece of cotton wadding 517 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 1: that we were confused by. There's a lot of those, 518 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 1: but I'm it's always in the back of my head 519 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 1: and it's one I would love to do. It's a 520 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:36,200 Speaker 1: slow burner, that's the answer. But the introduction of Margaret 521 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: Stiffe is a subject is actually a great idea. So 522 00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:40,640 Speaker 1: that may be the thing that turns the corner at 523 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:45,040 Speaker 1: least a little bit, because I love plushies. Yeah, when 524 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: I read this email, I'd like, did a super quick 525 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:50,239 Speaker 1: google and I was like, oh, that does sound very 526 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: interesting because I like, I know about Stife, I know 527 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,720 Speaker 1: about the company, but I do not know about this person. Really. Yeah, 528 00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 1: there are a few kind of heritage stuffed toy companies 529 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,600 Speaker 1: would be fun to talk about as well as there's 530 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:07,240 Speaker 1: another really cool initiative regarding recycling stuff toys that I 531 00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:10,720 Speaker 1: would love to talk about. So it's on my list, 532 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,000 Speaker 1: my love list, and hopefully I'll get to it sooner 533 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 1: than later. Maybe that would make a good holiday episode 534 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,479 Speaker 1: this year, because who doesn't listen. Plushes are very near 535 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:20,400 Speaker 1: and dear to my heart. I am a grown adult 536 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: woman who carries a plush with me everywhere I go. Listen. 537 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 1: Peeps rides in my carry on bag on all my trays. No, 538 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,440 Speaker 1: he's been all over the world with us. I just 539 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: love them anyway. Thank you so much, Sam for that idea, 540 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: for reminding me to think about this in a new way. 541 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,080 Speaker 1: And the answer is, hopefully I will meet your six 542 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: year old's history needs, but I don't know when. Sorry, 543 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 1: that's not more substantial of an answer. If you would 544 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,480 Speaker 1: like to write to us about stuffed animals or anything else, 545 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: you can do that at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 546 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,680 Speaker 1: You can also subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, 547 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:07,920 Speaker 1: where you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed 548 00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more 549 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 550 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,440 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.