Welcome to the twenty-eighth edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter. Buckle in, folks, we are in a for quite a ride. There is a tremendous resurgence in Borley interest. It is hard to keep up with all of it, especially when it is not all positive. I imagine this will be like all clamors - it will die down - but not in the foreseeable future.

There is a price for fame, and as this web site becomes more and more popular, it has become the source for more and more stolen material. In consequence, I have taken the material for my books off the Internet and transferred them to CD-ROM. As you all know, I am in the heart of a running battle to protect six years worth of effort from being "borrowed" by anyone who cares to copy it. Not wanting to appear commercial, I started piling everything into my web site, allowing access to first the general public, and then certain areas to only BGS associates. Not being savvy with computers, I first had to learn that anyone with a mouse can copy anything off the Internet they can view on their monitor. Dr. William Vicars gave me some javascript to include in my HTML code to try and slow down the flood. Later, Jamas Enright discovered his search engines were also picking up those pages I had "put aside" only for associates. Dr. Vicars found more code for me to insert in my documents to foil the "robots" looking for key words. Better to close the gate after some of the horses had escaped than to allow all the livestock to leave! Associates in good standing as of this date who desire copies will obtain a 20 percent discount when purchasing the CD-ROMs. New associates joining after today will receive the standard 10 percent discount. For more information, see The Ghosts That Will Not Die, - The Most Haunted Woman in England, and Fifteen Months in the Most Haunted House in England.
I reiterate that this is not a commercial venture. It is not my intention to make money, but these documents must be protected and I need to be reimbursed for my ever-expanding expenses.
The intense pressure of the last few weeks has taken its toll on my health. I will not be offended if associates notify me of errors whilst perusing these pages or the web site. Please let me know of any discrepancies so I can make adjustments.

Are you aware of the article about Harry Price and the Borley Rectory (and in which you are mentioned) that appeared in this month's issue of MAGIC: THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR MAGICIANS?
Cheers,
Tom Ogden

[Tom had no idea what a fascinating repercussion there would be from that one simple sentence! Tom mailed me the article, and I quickly sent the magazine a copy of my review. In the original version of my critique, I congratulated the author for being clever enough to find information reserved for associates of the Borley Ghost Society. I assumed the author of the above-mentioned article had found the exclusive pages quite innocently while doing an Internet search BEFORE I had installed safeguards. That was not the case. I was extremely emotional as the full story came to light.]

Hi Vincent
Stan Allen of Magic magazine sent me a copy of your email. Many thanks for your comments on the article.
There is one point which may be of interest. . . . . Actually it's not quite the magic trick appears. I haven't had access to the members area of your site. What I did find was a copy of the leather bound volume on Marianne Foyster. And it contained transcriptions of the detective's interviews with Marianne. I didn't mention it in the article because I'm not entirely sure of the facts. But I think that there are only supposed to be two copies of this leather bound volume. One was presumably held by Eileen Garrett and the other by Trevor Hall. However, the volume I have seen was given by Hall to another magician as a gift (there was a note inside the volume along with a tipped in photograph of an older Marianne). I presume this is therefore a third copy. It is now in the collection of Barry Murray, a television producer and student of magic. The scan I have attached is of the cover of his copy. I think . . . . Barry . . . . bought the book in auction. As mentioned, it contained a letter from Hall. I'll ask him for a copy of the Hall letter. As I recall it was addressed to Tom Morely, a noted magic collector and (and this is where it continues to become intriguing) it thanked him for his part in getting possession of The Locked Book. By that, I presume he meant the original Borley notes. I'm talking from memory so forgive me if I am confusing some details. However, I'll get hold of the book again and find out what I can for you. It's possible that Barry may have no objection to you posting a scan on your site.
Yet another mystery to add to Harry's files!
How did you get your story?
Best Wishes
David Britland

[Here is what I think I know. Trevor Hall made TWO copies of my mother's notes. One he gave to Eileen Garrett. One he stored for a time at the Harry Price Library at the University of London. While they had the notes, the HPL made a microfilm. I was lucky enough to obtain photocopies made from the microfilm - which I believe is also how Robert Wood got his information for Widow of Borley. The HPL no longer has the original, so I have to assume Trevor Hall retrieved it. From your response, it may be he gave it to Tom Morely - who's estate then put it up for auction which Barry Murray "lucked" into? If the book(s) you saw had original photographs in it (them), it is plausible you have touched one of the TWO originals!
It has been my daily dream since hearing about these notes to one day hold them in my hands and have a good, long, private cry. Whilst Trevor Hall was relentless in his pursuit of us into the heart of the United States, nevertheless, I owe him a debt of gratitude for keeping such a fastidious record. His personality may have been one to frighten my mother to almost committing suicide, but the research he left behind is invaluable. Those five books hold my heritage, and I would be most grateful to all concerned to be able to hold them. I became very emotional when you first told me about your experience with these books, and that deep emotion carries through right now as I write this. I have been unable to think of anything else since receiving your message.]

[There] Certainly has been a lot of interest generated by Mayerling's book. I've done a bit of web-research on one particular person mentioned.
In Chapter 6 Mayerling meets a Prince Feodor. The only Prince Feodor I've found to be around at that time was Prince Feodor Alexandrovich. There is a fair amount about him at:
ChivalricOrders and at
ImperialRussian.
Prince Feodor Alexandrovitch, born at Saint Petersburg 23 Dec 1898; died at Ascain, France 30 Nov 1968; left Russia in 1919; married (non dynastic) at Paris 31 May 1923 (marriage dissolved by divorce at Paris 22 Jul 1936) to Princess Irina Pavlovna Paley with one son, Prince Mikhail Feodorovich born 1924 in Paris; and produced one daughter, Princess Irina Feodorovna outside of marriage.
When Mayerling encounters him it is in Russia in mid/late 1920's, and claims Prince Feodor dies in 1928, he married someone not important enough to be named, and is a woman! Yet at this time, Prince Feodor had married the Princess Paley, had children, was living in France and died 40 years later. (Not to mention that the photo in the book of the Prince, as has been pointed out, bears more resemblence to Mayerling himself.)
Unless Mayerling met a Feodor who affected the title 'prince', this looks like another piece of the puzzle that collapses.
Jamas Enright

Your letter arrived in the same post as a note from Louis Mayerling thanking me for the review that the a Fortean Times published a few days ago.
Regarding THE book, which deserves, I think, major coverage, it is a great pity that Louis [Mayerling] failed to publish a bibliography, for this would have helped dispel a lot of doubts that still remain.
A lady in Halstead, Essex - Molly Alcock - has recently revealed that she is in possession of the diary of one of the daughters of Harry Bull, and is aiming at producing "The Final Answer to Borley" (my title, not hers). She continues to send me copies of correspondence from the Suffolk Free Press relating to Mayerling's book. The last, rather distressing comment, has come from Edward Babbs who claims that he has researched Louis and found that few - if any - of his claims about himself can be confirmed. Another investigator wonders if Lewis has any connection with a 'John May who lived in Suffolk upwards of 50 years ago." It is really getting a marvelous mystery. I am looking forward to reading [your review of the book].
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Green
(non-member)
[On the phone, Andrew indicated he wrote the review with "tongue-in-cheek," and that Alcock found the diary at a yard sale.]

[My review of the Mayerling book in the Bibliography links to several articles, including a new chapter for The Ghosts That Will Not Die.]

My only connection with the Borley Rectory story is that as a very junior librarian in 1974-5 I worked for a time in the reference library of the University of London Library, under the tutelage of Mr Alan Wesencraft, who also looked after the Harry Price Library. I visited the library many times - mostly to fetch and return books for researchers - and had a chance to look at the collection myself. Mr Wesencraft told me the Borley story, and lent me Harry's own copy of "The most haunted house in England", which I duly read.
Mr Wesencraft probably knew as much as anyone about Harry Price and Borley, having daily access to so much of Harry's own material. My recollection is that he (AW) maintained a healthy scepticism about the whole business - he mentioned to me once that HP had been discovered faking the evidence (throwing gravel at a window to mislead visitors), and that the fire that destroyed the rectory was no accident. I believe that Alan Wesencraft is still around, although he must be in his late 80s by now. Certainly the Harry Price Library is still there, although I have no idea who the curator is now.
Please forward my good wishes to him the next time you are in touch. I very much doubt if he would remember me - I was one of three "Sconul trainees" in 1974 at ULL, doing a gap year between graduating and going to library college. He may however remember his "bete noire" at the time - an elderly female researcher who camped out in the HPL to such an extent that she installed an electric kettle and toaster! My other abiding memory of the HPL is the way the wind howled along the pipes on that floor of the building - it seemed somehow appropriate given the subject matter of the material!
John Welford
Library Services Manager
Marconi Communications
Coventry, UK

I am an art student and I was hoping that you would let me use one of your photos from your website about Borley Rectory. I've always been extremely interested in the sites and stories; and would love to incorporate some of your images into my painting/drawing! Thank you!
Ryan Roemerman
[I would very much like a copy of the finished print. I will add it to the collection, and give you proper credit, of course!]

I have been to Borley Village several times. There is, as you know, no trace left of the old rectory; in fact, they seem to have built modern bungalows all over the place where it was. I found the local people very touchy - they get really fed up with gongas of tourists and students descending on them, hoping to see the ghost. One man described how he was woken up at 3 A.M. by a group of youngsters who wanted to keep watch in his garden! I don't blame them for being touchy - I think Borley is the last place I'd want to live. In the days when your mother was there, it must have been a strange, lonely place."
John L. Randall
(non-member)

I am currently reading the Mayerling book - I'm finding it tedious, appallingly badly written, and in places it really doesn't make a lot of sense. I don't know what your impressions are but it feels pretty much like a waste of space to me.
I also read your fascinating essay about pizza in Paradise - you raise some very interesting questions. My own view is that our vision of Heaven is formed very much by our own very limited experiences of space, time and the human production chain. Perhaps these things don't exist in Heaven, Perhaps you simply think of something you want and it appears, as it sometimes does in dreams. It may sound implausible, but why should Heaven conform to the norms we know? I have thought in the past about writing a book about Heaven - looking at all the thousands of reports we have of near-death experiences, finding the commonalities and pulling it all together into one volume. It might be an interesting exercise - as ever, all I need is the time!
Andrew Collier
[After my mother died, I wrote 545 pages on "Death: Then What?" Some of the chapters have been posted on the web site.]

I just spent the last three hours reading a lot of the history of the Borley Rectory and the church, the people, the floating brick, etc. In one of the writings there was a mention of book called "The locked book of Borley" Has this book ever been found in America? I would possibly consider joining the Borley organization concerning ghosts, etc. I am interested in the subject, but never really gave it much thought until now. I am an American who has lived in England for the past five years and I had never heard of Borley Rectory before. I live not far from Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire and that place seems to be haunted as well.
N. Spencer
[Please see the bibliography for a reprint of the Locked Book from the files of Peter Underwood.]

Your last newsletter is very interesting. A few weeks ago I've got the Louis Mayerling book. I'm not sure what I should think about it. I don't think that all the phenomenons were faked. There are lot of things between heaven and earth we cannot explain. I experienced some of them in my familiar surroundings (when relatives died) and I remarked a few odd things at Borley churchyard. One is for sure: Life goes on after death but some people do not know that they have died and so their souls feel committed to earth - sometimes because of their material life, sometimes because they were bad people like murderer or so. I'm looking forward to your next newsletter - they are great work!
Birgit Brenner

The Suffolk Free Press did a whole-page review of Louis Mayerling's book [Nov 2nd] implying that it was fact, rather than fiction. In return , I wrote a letter pointing out the obvious inconsistencies. The paper filled an entire 'Borley Rectory' page with three letters. As well as mine, there was one from somebody who said they felt spooky walking past the site and heard a rumbling noise in the church, or something like that, and there was another one, appealing to sightseers to leave Borley alone, and also pointing out that Harry only had one step-daughter, Constance, and not a huge bevy of young children. The following week, there was an excellent letter from somebody who discovered that a 'George Carter' had been born on the precise day of Louis stated date of birth, and at the address that Louis claimed were his lodgings.
I re-read your Book to check up on the Guy L'estrange business. It struck me how well written, and full of 'human-interest' it was. It set me thinking again. One thing that never came out in Trevor Hall's writing was the admiration that Trevor had for Marianne. When I talked to him about her, it came across strongly.
Of course, he had a rather censorious attitude to her occasional misdeeds, which is unsurprising from a Yorkshireman of his time and upbringing, but when he spoke to me, it was apparent that it was her intelligence, resilience, resourcefulness and personality that fascinated him. She was quite different to the others involved in the business. I feel very sorry for her. She made no profit from the Borley Rectory affair, nor attempted to; She was not responsible for the publicity; She did not exploit the situation; She was a devoted partner throughout her long marriage to Lionel. What she did in wartime must be understood in the context of the times (and should have been forgotten afterwards). She does not deserve the publicity she has suffered. On the other hand, her own account of her life at Borley is fascinating. It seems quite possible, on re-reading it, that Louis could have got a lot of his material from your book. If only Trevor Hall had taken the trouble to get Marianne's confidence, and had resisted ferreting around, investigating her private life where it was irrelevant to Borley, he would have had all the leads he would have needed to tease out the true story of what really happened. An opportunity lost, and years of worry for poor Marianne.
When Trevor [Hall] and I discussed Borley, what he objected to was not the belief in spirits, but the unsystematic and unscientific way that Borley Rectory research was done and statements were made. Trevor liked to cross-check everything. His training as a surveyor always emphasised that precision and accuracy was everything. This, rather than 'scepticism', is what caused the split within the SPR. There were members who wanted to study so-called paranormal phenomena scientifically. Price and his cronies showed little understanding of the scientific method. They seemed to be playing at science, using the trappings of science to bolster their prejudices. A whole group at the SPR were trained scientists and were horrified by what was done at Borley, even down to the casual way that Price took witness statements. Feelings within the SPR were already running high by the time of the start of the Foyster Incumbency, which is why they approached Lionel Foyster to warn him of Price.
My sympathies are with the scientific wing of the SPR. As a psychologist, I would have loved nothing better than to be able to prove the paranormal beyond doubt. Give me a ghost that is verifiable, and I shall be famous. I've interviewed many people who have 'seen apparitions' but no paranormal explanation has ever been required, though I have often had cause to marvel at the power of subconscious processes and the complexity of the mind.
The Borley Rectory business was too important to make into a Halloween stunt. On one hand, if it was real evidence for a 'spirit world' then we should study it until we are completely confident about what happened. If it was nothing but a series of hoaxes, then we should know about it. If it was a remarkable demonstration of the subtleties and intricacies of human behaviour under intense emotional stress, then we must be aware of it. If one reads all the way through your site, one will find enough indications and material there that Harry Price misled his readers. It is not a matter of bias at all, the facts speak for themselves. Your mother's testimony, in particular, is most valuable. The more we know and understand about Borley Rectory, the less likely we are to be 'taken in'. Your site is therefore most valuable, and the more source material you can get hold of, the better it will be.
Keep up the good work. It is important.
Andrew Clarke

Loved your essay on Heaven. What gets to me is thinking about "For Eternity." Fifty years has been a long time. I have no concept of "Forever" how long is that. That is why Reincarnation makes since to me, although I don't really believe it. That is a lot of wasted time for one soul to spend only one small handful of years on earth. and then be in heaven , hopefully, "FOREVER." I just hope we don't have watches. LOL
Kathy Rageur

I am interested in ghosts and the history of ghosts. I am a film maker and am very much interested in Borley and its grounds. I don't know if you can help me but I am interested in producing a documentary about Borley. This would mean filming on Borley's grounds. If you could send me any information relating to this I would be most grateful. I would also be grateful if you could answer any of these questions concerning Borley..
1. Is there any of Borley rectory still standing or any ruins remaining?
2. Do I need permission to film on Borley's grounds or church grounds? and if so who's?
I am genuinely interested in all supernatural occurrences, this is not a hoax. Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
David Prendergast.
[There are no ruins since 1944 when it was razed. All remaining ruins were utilized during W.W.II. Three private homes now occupy the grounds. You need to contact the church wardens and the property owners, but my past experience is they will not give permission. The rest of the village is also against publicity. Villagers adamantly insist the place is not haunted. Your request is not the first. Thank you for asking up front. Please refer to my appeal to visitors, and you will get a feel for what is happening.]

Thanks for replying so promptly... I can understand the privicy the landowners request... However, Borley and the legend of Borley entices much investigation from sightseers and people who are interested in the phenomena, perhaps they should have considered this before moving into the area....(just a thought) I recently produced a documentary on the village of Chipping of which I am sure you have heard....again many of the locals did not want to talk or associate themselves with the legend of Elizabeth Dean, (even those who have claimed to have seen her).
Many thanks for your response...
David Prendergast

I'm writing to tell you I've lived in England & Italy, working. But hunted houses are real. I know because I lived in one as a child. I'm not one to believe in UFOs or Yeti, but I've lived through this. Yes its real. The footsteps walking about upstairs, when everyone's on the first floor. And you know it isn't possible for anyone to have gotten up there to play a prank. Also the knocking on of doors .Which would start at the front door - you would answer it, no one was there. It then would travel through the house going to all doors. There is much more to tell, but I won't get into that. This isn't because of All Hallows Eve. The house I'm speaking of still stands. It's a physical address. Also it remains unoccupied more then occupied. Families have moved in remodeled and tried to make it homey, but some have left quickly grabbing their clothes or what they carry. Put their furnishings on the lawn, swearing they would return to retrieve them. But never returned Thank you for your time.
Jeaqu, someone whom really knows.

Thanks for the latest Newsletter. I read the sidelight essays with interest - may find the time to contribute something myself. I saw the mention of the group Porcupine Tree (and their "Light, Mass & Prayers" track) and, despite being a strictly Wagner, Beethoven and Brahms man, I do - incredibly! - happen to have heard of this group. As you know I listen to Radio 4's "Home Truths" programme (to which my earlier email about the scribbling monk referred) and they mentioned this group last week. The presenter, John Peel, when reading out a listener's letter said he'd never heard of them and thought the name might have been fabricated to make him sound foolish on air. Lo and behold, he received a communication from their accountant, of all people, this week verifying that they do exist. I enclose Home Truths URL in case you wanted to write and enquire. I don't know of what value contacting them would be as I suspect it would have little, if anything, by way of new light to shed!
Richard Lee-Van den Daele
[I'm trying - so far without success - to find out why the drummer was so moved to write the lyrics. PLUS, I simply must have a sample for my collection of Borelyania!]

Please let me say thank you for the excellence of your research and the site content itself. I have had an interest in the rectory for a number of years with my friends and colleagues alike not believing a word spoken of the numerous sittings etc told to them. With purchasing a PC I have opened a new world in which I can Basically prove my doubters wrong. Thank you very much and continue the good work.
Best Regards
Steve Wood

Stewart Evans has given me some beautiful color reprints of five excellent articles which I have posted on the Internet. He also presented me with a copy of The Art of Folly by Paul Tabori. It is fun to share an interest with someone who also enjoys finding obscure references tucked away inside unsuspecting volumes! The copies from his personal collection include: