A 1762 London ghost hoax exposed as fraud by a commission including Samuel Johnson, sparking church controversy and inspiring later literary references.
Key Facts
- Location
- Cock Lane, near Smithfield market, London
- Year of public attention
- 1762
- Key perpetrator
- Richard Parsons, parish clerk
- Parsons' sentence
- Pilloried and 2 years in prison
- Commission investigator
- Samuel Johnson (member)
- Alleged victim
- Fanny Lynes, said to have died of smallpox
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the death of Kent's wife, he lodged with her sister Fanny at Richard Parsons' Cock Lane property. After Fanny died of smallpox and Kent won a legal dispute against Parsons over an unpaid debt, Parsons accused Kent of murdering Fanny and claimed her ghost haunted his home and daughter Elizabeth.
Regular séances were held at Cock Lane to communicate with 'Scratching Fanny,' drawing such large crowds that the lane was frequently impassable. The ghost appeared to accuse Kent of poisoning Fanny with arsenic. A commission that included Samuel Johnson investigated and declared the haunting a fraud perpetrated by Elizabeth Parsons under her father's coercion.
Those found responsible were prosecuted and convicted. Richard Parsons was pilloried and sentenced to two years in prison. The affair became a flashpoint in disputes between Methodist and Anglican churches and was subsequently referenced in works by Charles Dickens, William Hogarth, and other prominent writers and artists.