Psychical research / by Sir W.F. Barrett.

  • William F. Barrett
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Psychical research / by Sir W.F. Barrett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    open, but stumbled over a grass-tussock, and when he looked again the figure had disappeared. He found the gate locked, and could see her nowhere in the churchyard. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was 9.20. On reaching home, he told his wife, as she testifies, that he had seen Mrs. de Freville. On that afternoon, about seven hours earlier, Mrs. de Frfcville had died very suddenly in London, but this wras unknown in Hinxton until the next day. This case, which was carefully investigated for the S.P.R., rests on strong evidence with respect to the character of the percipient, a highly intelligent and trust- worthy man, and the closeness of the coin- cidence. Its weak points are : (1) that he might have already heard of the death—this, however, is very improbable; (2) he saw the figure two hours after sunset on a moonless evening, when, unless there was unusually bright starlight, or an unusually prolonged after-glow, it must have been very dark; (3) he said himself that he half thought he had imagined it; (4) churchyards suggest fancies of the kind. The term “ haunting ’2 is usually restricted to those cases where quasi-human phantoms are seen at different times by different persons in a particular locality. Neither the last case nor the next are hauntings in this sense, but the following is interesting theoretically, for the supposed ghost was alive at the time; this case rests upon excellent evidence. In December 1896, Mrs. Blaikie was staying
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