The Woman in Black & The Cheltenham Ghost Scare of 1886

Dark Histories

Ben Cutmore

History

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the quiet elegance of 1880s Cheltenham, a spectral presence stirred unease in a grand old family mansion in the centre of town. The ghost—described as a tall, veiled woman in black—appeared repeatedly to the daughters of the Despard family, moving silently through the house and vanishing without trace. Witnessed by multiple family members over several years, the haunting became one of Britain’s most documented supernatural cases, thanks to the efforts of the newly founded Society for Psychical Research, who jumped at the chance to study a haunted house, first hand. SOURCES Morton, R.C (1892) Record of a Haunted House. Proceedings for the Society of Psychical Research, Vol VIII, 1892. London, UK. Mackenzie, Andrew (1970) The Unexplained. Abelard-Schuman. London, UK. Abdy Collins, B. (1948) The Cheltenham Ghost. The Psychic Press. London, UK. Underwood, Peter (1977) Hauntings: new light on the greatest true ghost stories of the world. J.M Dent, London, UK. Cheltenham Chronicle (1875) An Assault By An Errand Boy. Cheltenham Chronicle, 16 Nov 1875, p2. Cheltenham, UK. Cheltenham Examiner (1875) Fooling And Its Result. Cheltenham Examiner, 17 Nov 1875, p3. Cheltenham, UK. Cheltenham Citizen (1886) Superstition. Cheltenham Citizen, Fri 27 Aug 1886, p4. Cheltenham, UK. Cheltenham Chronicle (1886) Solution Of The Suffolk Street Ghost Mystery. Cheltenham Chronicle, Sat 4 Sep 1886, p2. Cheltenham, UK. Gloucester Citizen (1886) The Cheltenham Ghost. Gloucester Citizen, Sat 25 Sep 1886, p5. Gloucester, UK. Pall Mall Gazette (1886) Ghosts And Ghosts. Pall Mall Gazette, Fri 10 Sep 1886, p4. London, UK. Rogerson, Peter (2001) Images of Imogen. Magonia Magazine, Issue 74, April 2001. London, UK. ------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at [email protected] or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Are you earning and investing in the stock market?
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0:09.5	I'm Doc G, semi-retired hospice physician and host of the Earn and Invest podcast,
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0:26.7	you listen to Fine Podcasts. If we want to take an honest look at history, we need to know
0:32.7	about the people writing that history. The work itself can't really be removed from the personal
0:37.4	journey of the person that writes it removed from the personal journey of the
0:38.3	person that writes it. So, on season one of the Historians' Table, we'll be getting to know
0:42.9	historian Dr. Diego Javier Luis as we hear stories from his book, The First Asians in the Americas.
0:48.4	If you want to understand the history of the country, you've got to have Asian American history.
0:52.0	Listen to the Historians Table, a six-part narrative series on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever
0:58.0	you share podcasts.
0:59.9	In the quiet elegance of 1880s Cheltenham, a spectral presence stirred unease in a grand
1:05.8	old family mansion in the center of town. The ghost, described as a tall, veiled woman in black,
1:12.3	appeared repeatedly to the daughters of the Despart family,
1:15.5	moving silently through the house and vanishing without trace.
1:20.0	Witnessed by multiple family members over several years,
	...

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