Two London Ghosts and Messages from Beyond the Grave

There’s a particular branch of ghost stories that sees the dead appear to warn the living of their own impending death. They act as a form of death omen. It’s not the same as those ghosts of the living that appear to family at the point of their death. These ghosts appear to offer help from beyond the grave.

Yet these tales still display differences, to create variety even within this trope. London has many such tales, but two of them caught my eye for different reasons. In one, a third party in a position to give aid sees the ghost. In the other, the dearly departed appears to their loved one to keep a promise.

Let’s investigate these tales of the returning dead!

Seeking Help From Beyond the Grave

This particular story was related by Charles Harper, though because those involved were apparently “people of the highest social position”, he never actually names them (Westwood 2005: 478). Helpful, I know. This version comes from The Lore of the Land by Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson.

Still, let’s take a look at the story. It all begins at a church in Kensington. The vicar is locking up one evening after choir practice when a woman rushes into the churchyard. She’s in a state of extreme distress, although the vicar has no idea who she is. She begs him to attend a dying man at a nearby house. According to her, the man is worried about his soul, and wants to see the vicar before he dies.

The vicar agrees to go with her in the taxi she has waiting. They arrive at the house, and the vicar goes on ahead to ring the bell. When the butler answers the door, the vicar explains who he is and why he’s there. The butler asks if the vicar is in the right place. After all, his master is perfectly well. The vicar turns to check with the lady, only to find that both she and the taxi have gone.

Luckily, the man of the house comes to the door, and the butler explains what has happened. He admits that while he is well, something is troubling him, and he had intended to speak to a clergyman. The vicar offers his services, presumably to avoid a wasted trip, and the pair speak for an hour. As the vicar leaves, the gentleman promises to continue their conversation the following morning at the church.

You can probably see where this is going.

The following morning, the gentleman doesn’t turn up, so the vicar goes to his house. He arrives to find it draped in black, and the butler sadly tells him the gentleman died the night before. It seems he died ten minutes after the vicar left.

The vicar goes into the gentleman’s bedroom to pray for his soul, and he notices a portrait on the wall. He asks the butler who it is, explaining that she was the woman who had visited him in the church the day before.

The butler explains that she was the gentleman’s late wife, who’d died fifteen years before.

A Post-Death Missive

Our other story of a London ghost comes from St James’s Palace. It originally came from an account by T. M. Jarvis in 1823. It doesn’t give any specific dates, though it does give us names, so Jacqueline Simpson and Jennifer Westwood place it in the 18th century (2005: 483).

We go back to the 17th century, to 1688. James II has been deposed, and his mistress, Madame de Beauclair, has moved into St James’s Palace. The Duchess of Mazarine, the former mistress of Charles II, also lives there, and the pair become firm friends.

Aside from their status as royal mistresses, they share an interest in the afterlife. The women promise that whoever dies first will appear to the other, to tell her what death is like.

The Duchess renews her promise the day before she dies, although Madame de Beauclair is disappointed that the Duchess’ spirit doesn’t appear as promised.

Years pass, and Madame de Beauclair still receives no sign from the Duchess. As she reaches old age, she loses her belief in the afterlife.

Yet it seems that the duchess instead had a knack for timing.

A younger friend of Madame de Beauclair receives an urgent message. She must go to see the madame, or they’ll never meet again. At first, the younger woman refuses since she’s not feeling well, so Madame de Beauclair sends a second message and some jewellery to sweeten the invitation. The younger woman agrees and is surprised to find Madame de Beauclair in fine spirits and good health.

Except Madame de Beauclair is convinced she will die the following day. How does she know this? Because the Duchess of Mazarine has told her so, of course. Madame de Beauclair tells the young woman that the Duchess appeared in her room, walked around a little, and stopped. She turned to Madame de Beauclair and told her that between midnight and 1 am, they would be reunited.

Madame de Beauclair naturally wanted to ask her questions, but the moment she opened her mouth, the Duchess disappeared.

It was almost midnight when Madame de Beauclair finally finished her story. She cried out that she was “sick at heart”, but despite the best efforts of the doctors, died half an hour later – between midnight and 1 am (Westwood 2005: 483).

What do we make of these stories?

There are plenty of tales of people appearing to someone else when they’re on the point of death. This often seems to happen when the person who is about to die is many miles away (and I have an entire article about the phenomenon here).

What’s fascinating about these two stories is that the person who appears has been dead for some years. The ghost in the first story appears so she can fetch help for her husband’s soul, only a couple of hours before he actually dies. Meanwhile, the duchess appears mere hours before Madame de Beauclair dies, apparently so she can fulfil her promise of coming back. We’ll ignore the fact she doesn’t actually tell Madame de Beauclair anything about the afterlife. The only thing we can glean from her words is that the duchess is convinced they’ll be reunited.

Is it true?

Of course, we don’t really know where this story actually came from. Yes, it has names involved which seems to confer a degree of authenticity. But we don’t know who actually first recounted the story. T. M. Jarvis claimed that an unnamed narrator accompanied the younger friend to see Madame de Beauclair, and it was this narrator who related the story, but we’ll never know. Jarvis insisted that others who were alive at the time the narrative was first published also authenticated it (Ian 2018).

But bear in mind, Jarvis published his Accredited Ghost Stories in 1823. The Duchess died in 1699, and Madame de Beauclair must have died sometime in the first half of the 18th century. So I’d be fascinated to know how Jarvis came across it in the first place.

I went looking for a little more information, and according to the Paranormal Database, both Madame de Beauclair and the Duchess of Mazarine have been seen since (2023). This complicates the story a little. In both tales, a dead loved one makes an appearance before someone important to them dies. The first story sees the dead wife seek spiritual help for her husband before he dies, though there’s no suggestion the gentleman sees her himself. The second story sees the duchess appear specifically before Madame de Beauclair.

Yet for Madame de Beauclair and the Duchess to appear to others adds an extra layer. Are they coming back to ‘spread the word’ about the afterlife to others? Or are they simply reliving their time at the palace, and other people happen to see them?

What do we make of these London ghosts?

What we can take away from these two stories of London ghosts is the abiding concern with what happens after you die. Both stories have some indication that the dead do continue to look after their loved ones from the other side, and they continue to play a role in your welfare. Obviously, they can’t prevent you from dying.

In the case of Madame de Beauclair, the ghost at least provides comfort, because Madame de Beauclair seems thrilled she has finally heard from the Duchess even though the Duchess is saying, “you’re going to die soon.”

Then in the story from Kensington, the wife is so concerned about the state of her husband’s soul that she wants to make sure he gets whatever it is off his conscience actually off his conscience before he died. She’s demonstrating care and attention, albeit from the Other side.

That’s what these two stories have in common, which is a comforting thought. Even though these people may be physically gone, they haven’t completely left your life. You may not be aware of them, but they’re still keeping an eye on you to some degree.

London is a backdrop, rather than a main character in these stories. But I think that the fact that you get these two stories in London is more a testament to the way that humanity rubs up against each other in such a vast sprawling and ancient city. Where London appears in these stories, it’s as a backdrop because of the accumulated psychic landscape.

Have you ever heard any stories like these from where you are?

References

Ian (2018), ‘St James’s Palace’, Mysterious Britain & Ireland, https://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/hauntings/st-jamess-palace/.

Paranormal Database (2023), ‘Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana of London’s SW1 District’, Paranormal Database, https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/hotspots/SW1.php.

Westwood, Jennifer and Simpson, Jacqueline (2005), The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England’s Legends, London: Penguin.