15. The Hammersmith Ghost Panic
Early nineteenth-century London was swept by a tragicomic bout of collective hysteria about ghosts. It started out comic enough but ended up on the tragic end of the spectrum. It was kicked off in November 1803, when reports began circulating of ghost sightings in the Hammersmith district of West London. Many thought that the ghost was of a recent suicide buried in Hammersmith’s churchyard. That was in line with a widespread contemporary belief that suicides should not be buried in consecrated grounds because their souls would find no rest there.
Those who claimed to have seen the ghost described it as being very tall, and dressed all in white. Some witnesses added horns and glass eyes to the description. Alarm at the sightings quickly grew to widespread panic, and then mass hysteria, as more and more people stepped forward. New witnesses reported that they had not only seen the Hammersmith Ghost but had been attacked by it as well. In response, fearful citizens took to arms and began patrolling the neighborhood.
