Welcome to the forty seventh edition of the Borley Ghost Society Newsletter. Far from quieting down after all these years, the Borley Legend continues to grow - with new interest and new research multiplying rapidly. It is a challenge to catalogue it all! Two new revelations have been uncovered whilst cataloging the Trevor Hall Bibliography he kept on Borley. He wrote of photographs inside his copy of Lionel Fosyer's Fifteen Months in a Haunted House! Hall also referred to "the penultimate sentence" about Borley, but leaves us with that tantalizing tidbit! What is the "penultimate sentence?" See Bibliography section for more.

I've given much thought to the correspondence between yourself and Edward Babbs and Keld Fenwick. I've also asked my husband for his opinion. . . . . We reached the conclusion that the details of Marianne's life (which shed light on her character and reliability as a witness) may be somewhat important to the story of Borley Rectory, *but* no more so than the lives of the other witnesses to Borley's phenomena. Are Mr. Babbs and Fenwick investigating with equal attention the background and subsequent lives of, say, Captain William Gregson, Harry Price, the Smiths, Ethel Bull, Lionel Foyster, or Sir Sidney Glanville? If one witness' apparent character has bearing on how seriously his/her testimony will be regarded, then this is true for all of the hundreds of witnesses. I have gathered from your correspondence that Mr. Babbs and Fenwick are invested in providing quality research, evaluation and breadth of information on the Borley mystery. I'm glad they contacted you about their intentions, and I hope your feedback gives them another viewpoint to examine in the light of their evidence.
Secondly, we feel that, in the interest of presenting a more balanced examination of the Borley evidence, perhaps Mr. Babbs and Fenwick could allow room in their appendices for a rebuttal by Vincent O'Neil, a noted Borley authority? Surely the incredible wealth of information you have gathered, and your evenhanded presentation of facts and documents (some of which could be used in arguments showing your mother in a more negative light), show a valuable degree of objectivity in your conclusions regarding Borley's haunting, despite your obvious close emotional ties to Marianne?
Thirdly, do Mr. Babbs and Fenwick truly "seek to refute" some of the allegations made against Marianne? How will this fit into the book -- in the main text, or in the appendices? Is this refutation made on objective evidence, or on a well-meaning but subjective desire to defend Marianne's honor (which may do more harm than good, if it is not done in a scholarly and defensible fashion)? Since Marianne's character is obviously a focus here, I would like to see facts and evidence supplied to support conclusions, as you have done in your research, Vince. Otherwise, I think it would be best for the authors not to deal with the topic in any detail, since it truly wouldn't add anything to the already published Borley material. What "professional opinion" regarding Marianne's marriages are they consulting? Again, a rebuttal from you included in the appendices may do much in the interests of fairness and breadth of research.
These are just a few suggestions, in the hopes that you and Mr. Babb and Fenwick might reach a compromise that is agreeable to both "sides". . . .
Sincerely,
Linda Cody

I can't say that I blame you for blasting those guys about your mother's private life, She is just like the celebrities today, "Enquiring Minds want to know" The actors and Sports figures of today catch the same flack, and the public thinks it is their "right" to know Duh!!
Kathy Rageur

I totally agree with you that Edward Babbs section of his book on your Mothers life would serve no purpose whatso ever, as to what happened at Borley, her past life as been written about by many and is widely known by all. I hope that we can dissuade them not to write such material. IT WILL SERVE NO PURPOSE.
Gary Cooke

I loved the correspondence with Edward Babbs and Keld Fenwick. You are absolutely right to question them. (though they are both good people who would not wish to cause offense to anybody) It is a difficalt moral decision that requires some thought, and anyone who writes about Borley Rectory has to be prepared to justify what he writes. My own view, like yours, is that there is no point in any futher delving into poor Marianne's private life unless it directly helps explain what happened at Borley Rectory.
The same applies to the Bulls, Whitehouses and Foysters, and a host of others. That is why I maintain that 'The Enigma' was an offensive book. He published speculation about the Bulls as fact, with no evidence at all beyond seances. Price had this 'seance' information, but he had enough decency and manners to keep quiet.
A chapter on Marianne's liberties with matrimony, or any of her other indiscretions is, I think, wrong. A book that mentions them in the context of the 'haunting' where it is directly relevant, and backed up by evidence, is justifiable. I cannot see why her first marriage at the age of 15 is relevant. It might be, but nobody has explained this.
Please remember that Trevor Hall promised not to publish any of his material in Marianne's lifetime, and he never did.
It would be nice to add general guidelines to the authors guide, that would apply to all participants in the Borley saga. Almost all of them have living relatives.
Andrew Clarke

[Babbs and Fenwick said, "Under our law a legal separation does not end a marriage," but what was the law in 1915? As my mother said, "Dad went to an attorney and had a deed drawn up that Harold and I were separated legally, forever." Since she was not a lawyer, maybe she got the words mixed up. The word "forever" sounds wonderful to me.....ah, official.....At any rate, there must be some paperwork somewhere to verify this. I believe it is vitally important that everyone realize that my mother BELIEVED her marriage to Greenwood was OFFICIALLY over. She was not an attorney, and to her the words "Harold and I were separated legally, forever," means just that - a formal, LEGAL END to their relationship. She was 16 at that time her father took this matter into his own hands, so a personal acqaintance with laws and the like would not have been part of her concern. She married Foyster with a clear conscience. Also, the Shaws were in favor of her marriage to Foyster. They would not have stood behind it if it were bigamous - especially to a man of the cloth who was a family friend who had baptised her! Further evidence that this subject is absolutely irrelevant.] Complete correspondance

Glanville, S. H. "Strange Happenings at Borley Rectory," Fate Magazine, October 1951. pp. 89- ("Full account of England's most famous modern ghost." Cover indicates this is a "condensation," but no explanation is given from what larger work it is taken. Key sentences from this original, on-site researcher include: "At the end of five years in the Rectory, Mr. Foyster's health completely broke down and he was forced to retire." [some writers incorrectly report the haunting drove them away] "Miss Ethel Bull and her sisters Freda and Mabel. . . .assured me. . . they all three simutaneously and quite clearly saw the figure of a nun. . . .although the apparition had been seen many times at dusk, they had never before seen it in daylight." "[The Smiths] had [no] warning or knowledge of its reputation." "The [wall] writing was done with a graphite pencil. . . some of this was flaked off and analyzed." "In October of 1935 [Lionel] closed the door of the Rectory and retired. . . .he died not long afterward." [he died in April 1945] ". . .we were struck by two things, the intense cold for that time of year and the uncanny silence. Other observers agree that they had never been in any building where the intense quiet was so marked." "[Mark Kerr-Pearse] was the only one of us who actually lived at the Rectory during the investigation. This he did for several weeks continuously. . . " ". . . the tin from the mantel-piece. . .had been placed with almost mathematical accuracy on the very small [invisible] mark that we had made on the floor to mark the area where the two ladies [on different occasions] had been so acutely affected [by a feeling of hooror]." "Rev. Eric Smith said to me. . . 'the house was evil from top to bottom and it should have been burned to the ground years ago.'") ** photocopy courtesy of Harry Brown

Hall, Trevor H. "A Catalogue of Books, Documents and other items relating to Borley Rectory in the Library of Trevor H. Hall" Leeds 1957 (Catalogues his Borley collection through that year. Inside the 67 entries are interesting notations and some might find insights into the prejudices of the compiler. Under Lionel Foyster, Hall has written that his copy of "Fifteen Months" is illustrated! No other record indicates photos were attached. Another revelation describes an original letter, ". . . .from Mr. Underwood stating that the papers referred to in the penultimate sentence were found by him in Mr. Price's files." What exactly is the "penultimate sentence?" Points out fourth edition of The End of Borley Rectory used names not printed in the first. Mentions fictionalized account of Death at Borley Rectory by Hall that was never published. Mentions an unpublished play by Frank Harvey. When the collection was indexed, Hall had collected over 600 press cuttings. Indicates MHH did have a second printing.) ** photocopy

Vaughn-Thomas, Wynford. Trust to Talk. London: Hutchinson, 1980. pp. 226-30. (In discussing Harry Price, writes that for three months "the irrepressibly enthusiastic Harry [was] always ready to drag me around that dangerous corner that divides reality from the dream world." During a visit to the ruins, he writes he was witness to the levitating brick, although his name does not feature in any other record of the event. "In the sinister dusk, with a cold wind sighing in from the wide, level marshlands, we walked among the ruins. Suddenly, a dark object rose in front of me, seemed to pause for a moment in mid-air and then fell at my feet. Harry shouted, 'Did you see that? You're lucky. On your first visit, too! You've seen an instance of spontaneous levitation.' The object was nothing more than an old brick, and it had certainly shot into the air. But where exactly was Harry in the semi-darkness? Oh, unworthy doubt, for I immediately featured in Harry's next book; true only in a footnote but there I stand as an unimpeachable witness to the Case of the Levitated Brick." Although the footnote mentioned cannot be found, and the general flavor of these pages is light, they must have some bearing in reality, as the book is autobiographical. The author was a respected BBC corresondent for the BBC during WWII.) ** photocopy of pertinent pages
[This review was expanded upon research into the author's background.]

McCue, Peter A. "Theories of Haunting: a critical overview." Journal of the Society for Psychical Reseacrh. January 2002. Volume 66.1 Number 866. Pp 7, 15, 20. ("In respect of two well-known British cases, Borley Rectory in Essex and Ballechin House in Perthshire, the conduct of the leading investigators, Harry Price and Ada Goodrich Freer respectively, was called into question." Second reference is in a footnote, others are in the bibliography.) **

I would guess that this child is from the era of the 1890s?!?! I'm not just a fan of Borley Rectory itself, but anything to do with the paranormal really!! I always have been since I was knee high!! I find it all so facinating. I never get bored of reading about different experiences people have had over the years. I have had experiences myself, at my workplace as well as at home! I always want to know more! I have been trying to find out the web site for a Rev J Aelwyn Roberts who does ghost huntong etc. all over Wales. As that is where I am from it would be so interesting to contact him! Have you ever heard of him!?!? If so could you help?
SmnthJns
[I have not, but will pass along your request to see if associates of the BORLEY GHOST SOCIETY may have.]

I went for a small 4 day trip to Springerville, Az. It's a little town with basically one main street through the middle of it. I went with a friend to get away from the city for a bit. I've gone several times before and stay everytime at the same motel. It's out in the middle of nowhere and is an old town, settled in the 1800's by the Mormons. As we pulled into town on Saturday night, about 8:40 there was a windstorm. Main street has many older businesses along it, and in one spot near the hotel is an open area on both sides of the street. Across this was blowing dust. We turned from the road we were on to this main street and the minute we did we stopped talking, because only half a block away from us in the middle of the road in this blowing dust was a luminous shape looking like a light without a source. It's shape similiar to a human being. It was very bright, even under the well lit road stood out and could be easily seen from a half a block away. I was speechless, and unable to do anything but stare. My friend said after a few seconds, 'do you see that! It looks like a ghost!' I said I'm glad you see it too. It was about 5 or 6 feet tall, the bottom of it was faded into the dark and it was undulating in the blowing dust but stood stationary. You could see through it. We drove right up to it and it vanished, slowly in front of the car. My thought was 'oh no, am I going to drive right through it? What if it lands in the car? After we passed it I turned the car around and went back to the spot we saw it at. It was just a little ways up, about 2 car lengths or less, from Jewkes Mortuary. I called the mortuary when we got back from Phoenix and told them about it, they said that eve they only had a baby in there. We checked the obituaries in the Springerville paper, there were only 4. Three went to the White Mtns mortuaries, only one went to Springerville, and that was on May 3 through the 5. He was 33, name of John Lee Whiting. I asked the girl at the mortuary if maybe he could still be 'hanging around' she said 'oh I wouldn't be surprised, I've heard all sorts of stories, all sorts, believe me'. She also told me within the week a young man drove into the real estate building across the street diagonally, but he didn't die immediately, it took him a couple of days on the critical list. The whole thing is still amazing to me. Afterward I got to thinking, do ghosts pick their audience? I've had a more than a few encounters with ghosts in my life. Besides all this, on the way up a half hour outside of town is a drive through a deep woods for 45 min. Its dark and scary. I had just said within that last half hour drive 'I wish we could both see a ghost, but not here it's too dark and remote. I wouldn't want to see one of those white figures, or girls in white out here in this dark woods. It's too scary. I'd like to see one where it's well lit and would be not scary'. Did it hear me? That thought has been with me now for several days. It now seems impossible that it didn't hear me, and as we drove into town to our destination it manifested itself for the 'grand show' I requested. It has even occurred to me that perhaps deep in that woods when I spoke my request it was really taken as a command. Could I have summoned the dead? Why do they come again and again to me? Have I done something wrong in my life. Are they waiting for me? Do they know something about me I don't know. Or was it all as my friend said, it would be there to see, no matter who drove down that road at that time. Has anyone else thought of these things or am I just personalizing this too much. Is this a common feeling others who have seen ghosts have had. Was it Marianne's basis for her fears of Borley and her reason for never mentioning it again. Do you have any thoughts on this matter?
Barbara Clements
[She was not afraid. She actually joked with the spirits, and once even cussed them out. They only left because Lionel collapsed in the pulpit, not because of the "haunting." She never mentioned it again to protect me from snoops, and as her way of starting a new - very different - life.]

I am writing to say how mad i am at reading what Jimmie Henshaw said in Comments from web site visitors! Calling Harry Price a Fake! And also Calling Mr.Underwood a load of crap! He should think before he speaks....Because like you and Price...and Underwood. Who have kept the Borley legend Alive for so many years and all the hard work thats gone into it ..only to get somebody whos only just learned to read a book!! to come out with such rubbish! Well anyway keep up the good work.
Do you think it would be any good grid referencing the borley rectory and the church? Then anybody who visits the area could find out the hotspots by what others have reported about ghost sightings, and maybe give others some idea where to look?
Roger Flanagan
[A chart might worth be considering if it would not disrupt the current residents, which seems nigh on to impossible at this late juncture. A map of the nun's appearances WAS included in the 1977 book by Peter Underwood, "Hauntings."]

Our President Jason Karl is appearing as Co-Presenter on the new TV series 'Most Haunted' which launches on May 25th at 8pm on Living TV satellite and digital channel. The show runs right up until Christmas so keep watching!
Wendy O'Connor
Senior Investigator
GHOST RESEARCH FOUNDATION

I, am looking to do a write up for our website. Could you give me some pointers on this property and the best times for photos? [My web site] is a hobby that myself and one of my friends have, it started as a larff but has taken a new twist. I am fly guy and i have started to do reviews, but not on anything in particular. infact the more exciting the better and lets be honest, what could be more exciting that staying in haunted grounds over night ?
Kind Regards
Wayne Bond
[There really isn't anything to see, and camping is out of the question. If you do visit, please review my request to visitors.]

Another photograph that I've taken the liberty of looking at in more detail is the one submitted by Robert Duffy. . . . It is a most interesting picture which, apparently, shows a face looking peering from between a pair of tombstones. Indeed, the eyes, nose, etc. of the "face" are almost clearly discernible. Sadly, however, the picture doesn't stand up to scrutiny. I zoomed-in very close to this "face", whilst compensating for the loss of picture quality that "zooming" brings about.
As you can see from the image I have produced, the details of the "face" (e.g. eyes, nose, even the shape of the head) almost completely disappear at close quarters whilst, at the same time, the outline of the tombstones remains very clear and distinctive. Also, it can be seen that there are twigs or branches in front of the "face", meaning that it's not behind the tombstones at all but probably further back in the picture, possible behind bushes (and if it were behind bushes, you certainly wouldn't see its features). Indeed, it may be the bushes that create this illusion.
If this "face" were really there, its details would remain visible, like the outline of the tombstones remains visible. I'm sorry to say that the "face" is just a trick of the light, etc. A bit like the moon has a "face" - and, of course, the closer you get to the moon, the less it looks like it has a face. The same is true of this picture. Try looking at it close up and then pulling back to see the "face" come into focus!
With best wishes, as ever,
Stephen D. Smith

I was wondering if you have heard from anyone that as tried "Electronic Voice Phenomenon" at Borley. I have recently been researching this type of Phenomenon and wondered if anyone as given it at try? I would like to try this at Borley and would like to know your thoughts on it ?
Regards
Gary Cooke
[Just be mindful of the residents.]

firstly congratulations on a great and informative website. I live in sudbury which as i guess you know is about four miles from Borley. I've had some very strange experiences up there as have my friends. It's a fascinating place sadly disturbed by drunken louts at the weekends. I have felt a cold spot (freezing cold) behind the church on a hot summers evening so cold that i could'nt stand there without shivering. . . . . it would be great to have a longer chat and swap experiences!
Best Wishes
Rob Howard

i was readig ur site on Borley and what ever1 has said and witnessed im a 17 year old girl called Emma who is very intressted in ghosts and Borley rectory i would just like 2 know how 2 get there (Borley from leeds area) and also any info on the rectory and the nun and munk would be very apppricated as i am doing a protect on Borley rectory
Thank you
Emma
[Borley Rectory was destroyed by fire in 1939, and the ruins flattened in 1944. There is nothing to see, and new homes have been built on the site. Please see my appeal to visitors. I would be delighted to add your report to the extensive Bibliography on Borley. If you will send me a copy when you are done, I will post it with the other similar reports.] To help you write your report, you will find some tips on the web site.]

I have just finished reading Peter Underwood's book Borley Postcript, and may I say what an excellent book it is. It gives the reader an excellent insight into unseen photo's and unpublished material. With over fifty years of association that Mr Underwood as had with Borley and all the witnesses. And of cause it shows Louis Mayerling for what he really was. I couldn't put the book down from the moment I started reading it. It as reinforced my believe that Borley was and still is a genuine paranormal sight. This is a must for any Borley enthusiast. Best regards
Gary Cooke

I'm researching Borley for possible inclusion in a project I'm working on. I write computer games and novels and typically work with a mixture of fact and fiction. For example, the last "Gabriel Knight" game I wrote was based on Rennes-le-Chateau of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" fame -- don't know if you've ever heard of it. Anyway, the latest "Gabriel Knight" game is going to be about ghosts and I wanted to set it in England. I have been looking for a real life case to base it on -- hence my interest in Borley.
Jane Jensen Holmes
janejensen.com

I hope this little intrusion finds you well. I am an artist living near Atlanta, Georgia, and am working on a line of pieces that might interest you. I create talking boards and pendulum guides from my original photography and pressed botanicals. I realize that not everyone would use such tools for spirit communication purposes, but these can also serve as a unique wall decoration. You can see them on-line.
I'm really enjoying exploring your own Borley Rectory site. I have read accounts about it every since I was a child. Just a thought, I can certainly create a board (strictly with your society's permission) using a favorite photo from your archives.
Best,
Kerri McIntire

In your excellent site, you present a photo of Harry Price's ghost hunter kit. Can give me the references about the book the image comes from. Do you have any idea about what happened to that equipment? In our site we display among the collections a belgian ghost hunter material quite close to that one, dating from a period between 1926-1940. This one was used by a belgian ghost hunter team at that time.
Christian Chelman
Curator of the Surnateum
[The picture is identified at the top of the browser as being from Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter by Harry Price. The book was first published in 1936. It is unlikely the individual pieces survive as a "kit," but some MIGHT be found at the Harry Price Library in the University of London. NOTE: if the URL for this Belgian site is placed inside a google.com search, the option for an English translation will become available.]

That guy with the time warp stories was fascinating. And to have experienced it at such an early age.
Wayne showed me a scripture in the Bible that I had never thought about but it proved that Mediums were legitimate. It is about Samuel and Saul. Samuel dies and Saul goes to a "witch" who is able to bring back Samuel to where Saul can talk to him and he seems perturbed that he is disturbed. The point was not that it was acceptable, but that it was possible. The only difference I see in that and John Edward is that she contacted Samuel where as JE seems to need to wait until they contact him. But in a way he must be contacting them or how would he get the right families together???? One of those imponderables that we will have to ask the "Big Guy" If we make it...
Kathy Rageur

Re: "Monk" photo
I presume, from what you say in your message, that the "monk" was seen after the photo was developed? In other words, you didn't see the monk and take a photograph specifically of him? I have to say that, on the balance of probability, what we are looking at in the photograph is nothing other than a trick of the light, an optical illusion. I say this for a number of reasons: [analysis]
Stephen D. Smith

Well done to Shaun Copple for capturing a genuinely intriguing photograph. What interests me most about it is that the distance between (what Shaun describes as) the "bright red eyes" is about the same as the distance between the eyes of his friend peering out from the bushes. This means that whatever these "eyes" are attached to was roughly the same distance from the camera as his friend. So, why isn't the owner of these "eyes" illuminated by the camera's flash, like his friend is illuminated?
The answer might be that the "eyes" are not eyes at all, but perhaps the headlights of a car. However (since I don't know exactly where the photograph was taken and which way it faces), it's difficult to say for sure. I tend to think that they're not headlights because they're not bright enough, although maybe car side lights are a possibility? It might be two separate cars a long way off; but what are the chances of the two of them being on the same level (as in the photograph)? Slim, I think. Nevertheless, I guess it just might be pure coincidence that they are both on roughly the same level and that they are the right distance apart to give the impression of "eyes" at about the same distance from the camera as Shaun's friend.
However, as Shaun says, there appears to be a red tinge to the "eyes" and I don't think this is something one would expect from head lights or side lights (a blue tinge or even a green tinge, yes, but a red tinge, no). The "red eye" phenomena seen in photographs is the result of light from a camera's flash passing through a person's pupil and iris and reflecting off the myriad of blood vessels at the back of the eyes. This means there has to be the suggestion that the "eyes" in the photograph maybe just that, a pair of eyes! If this is the case, it is puzzling that the camera's flash has caused the "red eye" effect but has not illuminated any other part of that "person".
If there is a logical explanation for this photograph, I have yet to fathom what it is, but that doesn't mean to say that the answer lies in the supernatural. Nevertheless, it is, as I have already said, a most intriguing photograph, and one that may well be another of Borley's mysteries.
With best wishes,
Stephen D. Smith

Many thanks for another excellent news letter. I have studied the photo submitted of the Borley monk(?) and although it does give the appearance of a face if you could put the size of the face in respect to the size of the leaves and twigs of the trees it would be a very small face, I believe it is just an illusion of and the formation of the tree. It as the same colouration as the branches and if it was anything else other than that it would be of a different colouring? so in my opinion it is just an illusion of the branches.
Gary Cooke

Isn't it odd that the articles defending Harry Price seem to be rather ruder about him than the ones attacking him. Nandor Fodor's book has some quite vitriolic quotes about poor Harry. It never ceases to amaze me just how quarrlesome the psychic researchers were to each other.
The exposure of Harry Price, and its aftermath, reminds me very much of the exposire of Sir Ciril Burt, the founder of the profession of Educational Psychology in the UK. He was, after his death, found to have tampered with the results of some of his research. There was much anger in both directions at the time, and national headlines, and then his entire life's work quietly disappeared off the record. Eventually everybody comes to realise that, in any scientific discipline, one can only ever stand on one side or other of that line.
Andrew Clarke

could you please let me know if it was.HARRY BULL? OR WAS IT HENRY BULL?. the reason why i am asking is that on the borley photos list it says a picture of HARRY BULL but on the bottom of the picture it clearly says HENRY BULL. I am totaly confused about it...yours sincerly.
Roger Flanagan
[Both father and son were named Henry, but the son was nicknamed "Harry." The I.D. on the photo has been clarified. Thanks!]

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