Ghost Walks In London
The Black Lion. Black Lion Lane. Chiswick.
The Hammersmith Ghost. In 1803 Black Lion Lane and its vicinity was much troubled by the appearances of the so-called “Hammersmith Ghost.” This fearsome phantom would emerge from the shadows to moan, wail and writhe before terrified witnesses. On one occasion a pregnant woman was so shocked by the phantom that she died within two days of encountering it. Another appearance caused a wagoner to leap from his vehicle in fright, much to the consternation of his sixteen passengers who were almost killed when the horses bolted. By January 1804, the ghost’s nocturnal activities held the area in a grip of terror, and thus local excise officer, Francis Smith, decided to do something about it. One night, having ‘filled his blunderbuss with shot, and himself with ale,’ he set out to hunt down the fearsome spectre. Unfortunately he mistakenly shot dead a white-clothed plasterer, Thomas Millwood, who was innocently making his way home from work. The subsequent inquest was held at the Black Lion Pub, located at the end of the Lane where the tragedy had occurred. A verdict of wilful murder was returned against Francis Smith and at his subsequent trial at the Old Bailey he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. However, given the accentuating circumstances of his crime, a stay of execution was granted and later his sentence was commuted to just one year in prison.
Meanwhile the tragedy had spurred the relatives of the real ghost into bringing him to justice. It transpired that he was a shoemaker named Graham whose motivation was revenge against his apprentices who had terrified his children by telling them ghost stories. As The Times explained, “He expected to check them of this disagreeable bent of their minds to the prejudice of his children, by presenting them as they passed homewards, a figure of a ghost, which, it seems, he managed very successfully.
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