Epworth Phenomena
The psychic disturbances of a poltergeist nature at Epworth
Vicarage, England, in 1716 during its occupancy by Rev. Samuel
Wesley, father of Methodist Church founder John Wesley.
The phenomena lasted for several months and were first attributed
to trickery, then to the devil, although Samuels wife, Susannah
Wesley, disagreed with the latter hypothesis. Instead,
she connected it with the fate of her brother who, in the service
of the East India Company, disappeared and was never heard
of again. It was not proved that the rappings were caused by his
discarnate agency, but the members of the family took it for
granted after a while that Old Jeffrey was involved in the
manifestations, which appeared to be connected mostly with
Hetty Wesley. She was noticed to tremble strongly in her sleep
when the knockings occurred.
The main disturbances lasted with intervals for two months,
December and January 171617, and broke out occasionally afterward.
The contention that they still recurred a generation
later is based on a letter by Emily Wesley, dated February 16,
1750, containing this passage Another thing is that wonderful
thing called by us Jeffrey. You wont laugh at me for being superstitious
if I tell you how certainly that something calls on me
against any extraordinary new affliction; but so little is known
of the invisible world that I am at least not able to judge whether
it be friendly or an evil spirit.
The records of the phenomena consist mostly of family letters
and an account written by Samuel Wesley. The disturbances
began with knockings. Susannah Wesley wrote on January
12, 1717
One night it made such a noise in the room over our heads
as if several people were walking; then run up and down the
stairs, and was so outrageous that we thought the children
would be frightened, so your father and I rose and went down
in the dark to light a candle. Just as we came to the bottom of
the broad stairs, having hold of each other, on my side there
seemed as if somebody had emptied a bag of money at my feet
and on his as if all the bottles under the stairs (which were
many) had been dashed into a thousand pieces. We passed
through the hall into the kitchen and got a candle and went to
see the children. The next night your father would get Mr.
Hoole to lie at our house and we all sat together till one or two
oclock in the morning and heard the knocking as usual. Sometimes
it would make a noise like the winding up of a jack; at
other times, as that night Mr. Hoole was with us, like a carpenter
planning deals; but mostly commonly it knocked three and
stopped and then thrice again and so many hours together.
Her daughter Hetty heard something like a man in a loose
nightgown trailing after him coming down the stairs behind
her, and sometimes a shape like a badger was seen under the
bed. The noises answered knock for knock and came in any
part of the house. At family prayers they became very agitated
at the names of King George and the Prince. Samuel Wesley
often tried to speak to them but the only answer he received was
two or three feeble squeaks a little louder than the chirping
of a bird, but not like the noise of rats which I have often
heard.
Another daughter, Nancy, was once lifted up with the bed
in which she sat. She leapt down and said that surely Old Jeffrey
would not run away with her. She was persuaded to sit down
again when the bed was lifted several times successively to a
considerable height. The noise affected the mastiff of the
household. It whimpered in terror and strove to get between
the people of the house. (See also Ashtabula Poltergeist; Cock
Lane Ghost; Drummer of Tedworth; Enfield Poltergeist;
haunted houses; and Eliakim Phelps)
Sources
Clarke, Ada. Memoirs of the Wesley Family. 4th ed. London W.
Tegg, 1860.
Priestley, Joseph. Original Letters by the Rev. John Wesley and
his Friends. Birmingham, England, 1791.
Wilder, Franklin. Good News for Martha Wesley. Hicksville,
N.Y. Exposition Press, 1976.
Wright, Dudley. The Epworth Phenomena. London William
Rider & Son, 1917
