Hey hey, my lore-loving weirdos… grab your lanterns, your lace bonnets, and your emotional support gin — because tonight, we’re heading back to 1803 London, where a ghost panic got so real it ended with an actual murder trial. Before the Tube, before streetlights, and definitely before therapy, the sleepy village of Hammersmith found itself haunted — not by one restless spirit, but by a whole lot of mass hysteria. It started with an elderly woman scared literally to death near the churchyard… then a brewer’s servant named Thomas Groom who got hands-on with the ghost (and lived to tell the tale)… and a pregnant woman whose brush with the apparition nearly sent her into early labor. Cue the fog, the fear, and a full-blown neighborhood patrol of armed ghost hunters. One of them, Francis Smith, set out to catch the phantom — and instead, shot a very real man named Thomas Millwood. Welcome to one of England’s strangest true crimes — the first time someone in court tried to argue: “I thought it was a ghost.”From hysteria to homicide, from gossip to the Old Bailey, we’re unraveling how superstition, fear, and a good old-fashioned case of “maybe don’t shoot the undead” turned London upside down. So grab your torches, charge your crystals, and let’s step into the fog… because this is Loreplay: where haunted gets hot and bothered with history. 📜 Show Notes & Sources 🧩 The Real Story The Hammersmith Ghost panic began in late 1803, when reports surfaced of a white-shrouded figure haunting the Hammersmith churchyard in West London.The Elderly Woman reportedly collapsed in terror after seeing the apparition and died days later (The Times, Jan 1804).Thomas Groom, a brewer’s servant, claimed the ghost grabbed him by the throat while walking with a friend near the churchyard (Annual Register, 1804).The Pregnant Woman was said to have been attacked by the ghost, collapsing in fright and falling dangerously ill — possibly going into early labor (Morning Chronicle, Jan 1804).Night Watchman William Girdler later chased the ghost down Beaver Lane, claiming it “threw off its shroud and disappeared.”Francis Smith, believing he was protecting the town, fatally shot Thomas Millwood, a 29-year-old bricklayer wearing white work clothes — mistaking him for the ghost.The case went to the Old Bailey in January 1804, where Smith was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.His sentence was later commuted to one year of hard labor, after public outrage.The verdict led to ongoing debates about “mistaken identity” and the legal definition of intent, influencing English criminal law for decades.📚 Primary & Historical Sources The Times (London), January 1804The Morning Chronicle, January 1804Annual Register of 1804: “Extraordinary Occurrences”Old Bailey Proceedings Online (Trial of Francis Smith, 1804)London’s Ghosts: Strange Tales from the Capital by Peter Ackroyd (2007)Curious Cases and Ghostly Tales of Old London by Charles Mackay (1858)The Hammersmith Ghost and the Law of Murder — The Criminal Law Review (1958)💀 Loreplay Deep Dive Topics Victorian ghost panics & moral hysteriaEarly 19th-century policing in London (pre-Metropolitan Police)The legal concept of “malice aforethought”Ghost lore in the Age of EnlightenmentThe class tension behind “working men with guns”The legacy of the Hammersmith case in modern criminal law🔮 Fun Facts Some historians believe the “ghost” was actually a shoemaker named John Graham, who confessed to dressing up in a white sheet to scare apprentices.The story inspired numerous stage plays and penny dreadfuls in the 1800s.The Hammersmith ghost legend was revived again in the 1820s — because London loves a sequel.
