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In a fascinating piece of Hull’s paranormal history, MIKE COVELL investigates a lost ghost photo that is said to have captured a ghost
Spirit Photography, or Ghost Photography, was the act of taking a photograph and capturing an image of a ghost or other spirit on film.
Spirit Photography was popular in the late 19th century and was used at the end of conflicts such as the American Civil War and World War I, so show loved ones in images.
Some years ago I had the pleasure of researching a story from my hometown of Hull, England, which claimed that in 1903 there was a photographer from East Hull whose studio, by a strange stroke of luck, was located at the top of my street.
The story appeared in The Hull Daily Mail, dated Tuesday 6 January 1903, which reported:
Put me on the scent of a ghost and I am serenely happy. Psych research is on me like I’m a permanent fixture! I unfortunately wanted to investigate the story of that “ghost” from the Cudworth farm. However, I am on the trail of a real living ghost closer to home. You may not believe in psychic photography.
Since there are no ghosts visible, you could say there can’t be any ghost photos. Don’t be hasty. Before me lies a copy of that extremely interesting organ ‘The Spiritualist’. It contains a portrait of a Mrs. Garnett, of Goole, taken some weeks ago by Mr. J. H. Eley, a photographer whose studio is in the Holderness-road. Now Mrs. Garnett is a spiritualist. About six years ago, Mrs. Garnett’s son had the misfortune to drown. He was a boy of fourteen.
The portrait of Mrs. Garnett, a sturdy, friendly-looking woman, is before me, I say. She stands with her left hand at her side; her right hand rests on the armrest of an easy chair. But there is more than Mrs. Garnett in the picture. Behind her, in the air, over her right shoulder, is THE FACE OF A BOY, and he appears to be about fourteen years old! This is where the spotters will come in.
Being a spiritualist and having a strong belief in spirit photography, Mrs. Garnett wanted to see if she could get a photo of her spirit son onto the photographer’s negative. Her desires were realized – according to ‘The Spiritualist’, and also according to Mr. Eley, the photographer. Until then, Ms. Eley says, the only portrait she had of the boy was taken when he was very young. Now she states that she has a portrait of that son as he was in the flesh at the time of his death.
And besides, the boy’s uncle, a respectable citizen of Hull, declares that it also resembles a real portrait; and is thrilled at the success of Mrs. Garnett’s experiment. There was no other option than to go to the photographer. He is a young man and he seemed candid and straightforward. He had not seen the reproduction of the image in ‘The Spiritualist’.
When I showed it to him, he said it was an exact reproduction of one of the five prints of the negative he “took” from Mrs. Garnett. I asked him if he would assure me on his honor that the negative was not “forged” in any way. He gave me his solemn word that the negative had not been interfered with in any way, either by himself or by anyone else.
“Mrs. Garnett came to me twice,” he said. “The first time, after she was ‘taken,’ she surprised me by telling me that if anything strange appeared in the photo, I shouldn’t ‘rub it off.’ I couldn’t understand her. Then she said she wanted to see if she could get a photo of her dead son. “The idea of something like that made me laugh,” Mr. Eley continued.
“When I developed the negative, there was nothing unusual. But some time afterwards, when she sat down again, I was very alarmed when I developed the spot, and discovered that behind her face was another face—the face which she claims is that of her dead boy. “Since you laughed at the idea,” I said, “you couldn’t have been a spiritualist yourself.”
‘I wasn’t,’ said Mr Eley, ‘but since then I’ve come to think that there might be something in Spiritualism after all. It’s the first one I’ve ever encountered, and I must admit it shook my nerves at first. Since the photo was taken, I have had sessions of spiritualists, but I have seen no traces of spirit portraits in the photos taken.”
I asked Mr. Eley where the negative was, and advised him to cherish it as he would a jewel of inestimable value. He told me it was with a lot of others in a shed behind his studio. He added that the rain had come through the roof and stuck a lot of negatives together. Possibly this mind-negative one belonged to the group; he hadn’t looked. I advised him to take a look at it and take good care of it. He said he would. FATHER HUMBER.
Mr Eley’s photographic studio was at 293 Holderness Road, and on Wednesday 2 September 1903 he advertised in The Hull Daily Mail for a young lady to work in the premises.
Number 293 Holderness Road is on the north side of Holderness Road and is located between Buckingham Street, which is to the west, and Severn Street, which is to the east, opposite Holland Street.
Previously the premises were occupied by Mr William Lofthouse, who was closely involved in the accounting of Hull City Council, when he worked from the site as an accountant and auditor in September 1897. He advertised his business in The Hull Daily Mail of Thursday 23 September 1897.
After Mr Eley’s photographic shop established itself in the premises it was taken over by Mrs Alice Maud Gibson, who was registered in the 1912 Kelly’s Commercial Trade Directory of Hull, where she is listed as a photographer.
Today the original premises are no more, the Luftwaffe bombs destroyed the shop and its neighbours, with the site lying empty for many years and later replaced by modern shops, with the premises today being the RSPCA Charity Shop.
Not everyone is convinced by ‘ghost photo’
At the time, not everyone was convinced, and such an article appeared in The Hull Daily Mail, dated Wednesday 7 January 1903, which stated:
It is suggested that when a man thinks he sees a ghost, he should move one eyeball with his finger, creating a cross eye. If vision is not affected, it is clearly a vision of the brain.
The Hull Daily Mail, dated Tuesday 13 January 1903, carried a follow-up article on the boy’s alleged ghost photo, with a letter from someone calling himself Infidel; there stands that:
As I expected, a lot of people blinked when they read the story of the “spirit portrait” mentioned in this column last week. I don’t wonder. But you know, there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy; and ghosts do not figure in the philosophy of any of us.
A correspondent who signs himself “Disbeliever” expresses his surprise that the photographer was not surprised! That is a very obvious and reasonable position. Most of us amateur photographers would have had a fit if, while developing on the plate, we had seen the figure of someone who was not there at the time the picture was taken; but when he recovered from our temporary collapse we should have taken very good care of the ghost recording negative.
‘Disbeliever’ would be happy – and I should be happy – if the Holderness Road photographer of paranormal phenomena would let us know whether, knowing of the interest which the story had aroused, he had put that box of records in his workshop took a look, and discovered whether the negative containing the report of the ghost boy’s presence was actually under the lot that had been damaged by the rain.
I will do everything I can to help Mr. Eley prove his case. A sight of the negative would interest me – and others – very much. I invite Mr. Eley to respond and say whether he has yet found the beautiful negative. Meanwhile, “Disbeliever” asks if he can write a letter to prove that the photo behind the lady is not the portrait of that of the lady’s deceased son. In any case, “Disbeliever” forwards it. I would like to see some arguments from correspondents, for and against. WHITE FORMER.
The Hull Daily Mail, dated Friday 30 January 1903, contained the last letter relating to the ghost boy’s spirit which was allegedly caught on camera, it said;
EAST HULL “GHOSTS.” Writing in reference to ‘the East Hull Spirit’, Mr H. Abba, Victoria Studio, Holderness-road, sends us a photograph taken in his studio, which shows (he adds) that ‘it is still in this district’. The ‘it’ is of course the ‘mind’. Mr Abba adds: “I think you’ll agree with me that I captured it quite well this time – not a fake, keep in mind, because I knew I was shooting it the whole time, and you are free to see it negatively if you wish.”
The writer adds that he will take the utmost care to ensure that the negative is protected from moisture and humidity, and that he will “cherish it as one of his most prized productions.” We certainly believe that Mr Abba has the right to do this. The “ghost” in this case seems very intelligent, and has made a very intelligent appearance! He is a very modern mind and will perhaps be recognized in the ‘Daily Mail’.
MIKE COVELL runs Great Hull tourswhich contains fantastic insights into the dark side of Hull
