Epworth Rectory

‘The Wesley ghost’ is one of the best attested instances of a poltergeist haunting prior to the twentieth century. There were apparently twelve people living in the Parsonage House (pictured), Epworth (Lincolnshire) at the time of the disturbances, disturbances that centred on the period December 1716 to January 1717: three servants, the Wesley parents and seven daughters. In that time ‘Jeffrey’, as he came to be called by the family: (i) created noises, ranging from simple knock to bizarre animal and windmill sounds; (ii) was seen and felt in various forms, including as a headless badger and a fall of coins; and (iii) moved objects in the house, particularly the door latches and the focus of his hate, the pater familias, Samuel Wesley. Wesley was the local Anglican vicar and it might be worth remembering at this point that in the seventeenth and eighteenth century while demonic ‘possessions’ took place in monasteries and, particularly, nunneries in Catholic countries, they (or poltergeist equivalents) took place in religious households (like the Wesley’s) in Protestant countries.

The most important people in this case were John Wesley, the central figure in the Methodist movement, and his brother Samuel Wesley (the younger). John, aged 13, was at this date away at school, and Samuel aged 26 was in London but they both took a keen and continuing interest in ‘Jeffrey’ and crucially they recorded the happenings both during and after the event. Samuel wrote letters to his family demanding information while the haunting was ongoing; John, meanwhile, took detailed accounts from members of the family and the household in 1820 (aged 17). These documents were subsequently published in two places. A summary of the events was brought out by John Wesley in three parts in the Arminian Magazine1784 (late reprinted in vol. 7 of John Wesley’s Works); the original letters, diary entries and accounts from family members were included (and indeed took up much of) Priestley’s Original Letters by John Wesley in 1791.

It goes without saying that this proved an important episode in John’s spiritual life, confirming him and, by extension, many of the radical early Methodists in their belief in supernatural agency including devils, witchcraft and spirits. In terms of proof for a paranormal event (or outright fakery) we have detailed accounts from most of the twelve individuals who lived through the haunting: in their own words or curated by John and Samuel Wesley.

The accounts are surprisingly coherent: this is no Rashomon. In the thousands of words dedicated to the case there are some disagreements between witnesses in terms of dates, in terms of locations, and in terms of motivations for the haunting. But generally speaking the accounts hold together: it is not worth losing sleep over whether the haunting began at the end of November or on 1 December. Was this because the events described were perceived similarly by all participants; or because conversations within the house led to a shared view of the haunting? In eight posts, including this one, Beach will look at the Wesley haunting in detail.

Samuel Wesley was an Anglican churchman who had been given in the late seventeenth century, through royal favour, a living at Epworth in Lincolnshire. He was married to Susanna with whom he had nineteen children: including perhaps the two most important figures in early Methodism, Charles and John Wesley. At the time of the haunting there seem to have been three servants at the parsonage: though servants are notoriously invisible in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century accounts. Of these three we can name Robert Brown and Nanny Marshall. There were seven of the Wesley children at Epworth at the time: Emily, Hetty, Kezzy, Molly, Nancy, Patty (Martha) and Sukey (Susanna). (Note that tracing the ‘minor’ daughters is sometimes difficult because many of Susanna’s children died young and she seems to have reused names.)

The Wesley household may or may not have been typical of a clergyman’s family in the early eighteenth century: but by modern standards it was pretty bloody miserable. A great deal of attention was given over to the Christian education of the children, girls and boys, who learnt to read and write in English at a very early age and were then expected to move on to Greek and Latin: they were also regularly tested on their lessons by their parents. Then even if the wee sprites got their homework done before evening Gospel readings relations between Susanna and Samuel were not particularly easy. Samuel had, in 1701, actually left his wife for a year over an argument about prayers (though one that perhaps had a bearing on the haunting, watch this space…). As the girls reached adolescence and began to have entanglements with local boys, their parents had forthright opinions about this propriety of this or that match and often, as it turned out, worse judgement than their children. Not a single one of the Wesley children seems to have had a truly happy marriage.

In 1716 the sisters were 7, 10, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 21: in short the house was a firestorm of estrogen. Samuel had literary pretensions, but he seems not to have been equal to his own ambitions: he also had problems supporting his large family and frequently had money difficulties. Susanna, on the other hand, was a forthright and effective individual, who was equal to the caprices of her husband. She, for example, dictated the terms of their reconciliation after their year apart. If polts are actually just family dynamics enacted by ‘spirits’ then this family had quite a lot of angst to burn off: think of a glass of meths and a lit match.

There follows a list of the personalities involved in the theatrical events of Dec-Jan 1716-1717

Emilia Wesley: Daughter of Samuel and Susanna, aged 14.

Jeffrey: the name given to the polt.

John Wesley: Son of Samuel and Susanna, away from home at boarding school, aged 13.

Hetty (Mehetabel!) Wesley: Daughter of Samuel and Susanna, aged 19.

Kezzy Wesley: Daughter of Samuel and Susanna, aged 7.

Molly (Mary) Wesley: Daughter of Samuel and Susanna, aged 20.

Nancy Wesley: Daughter of Samuel and Susanna, aged 15. [note contradictory information about age, trusting John Wesley here]

Nanny Marshall: house servant, aged ??.

Patty (Martha) Wesley: Daughter of Samuel and Susanna, aged 10.

Robert Brown: Samuel’s man servant, aged ??.

Samuel Wesley (the elder): the father, vicar and poet, aged 54.

Samuel Wesley (the younger): Son of Samuel and Susanna, aged 26.

Suky (Susanna) Wesley: Daughter of Samuel and Susanna, aged 21

Susanna Wesley: matriarch, aged 47.

There were certainly two maids in the house, one of them Nanny. Unfortunately we do not know the second name: perhaps Betty Mass (165)? We learn that two of the servants were new: ‘we had both man [Robert] and maid new this last Martinmas’. Now bring on Jeffrey…

The tag for these posts is Wesley Ghost.

Anyone interested in the original documents they have been usefully put together in a single pdf document. There are about sixty pages and the file weighs in at about 15 mb.