The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

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3 Responses

  1. PERVIN ROHINTON KAVARANA says:

    Re: The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall
    Maybe the photograph of the Brown Lady at the Raynham Hall should be given a Christian Burial so that her soul can depart from this world and spiritually progress to a relevant realm in the next world. Hail Mary Full Of Grace……..Amen !

  2. Stephen Clementson says:

    Re: The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall
    Such apparitions usually repeat themselves at some stage, yet this one didn’t.  Surely this kind of partially opaque apparition would result in a reduced light level within the ghost area?  If it is as genuine as the report implies, then this photograph equally implies that the phenomenon is generating its own luminescence, and doing so at a fairly high intensity.

    Assuming, therefore, that the photo is entirely genuine, what manner of apparition is it really?  Where is it sapping it’s energy from?

  3. Ian Topham says:

    Re: The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

    The following account is from The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain, by John Ingram (1897).

    Rainham, the seat of the Marquis Townshend, in Norfolk, has long been noted for its ghost known as " the Brown Lady." Mrs. Crowe, and many other writers on apparitions and kindred themes, have alluded to the circumstance of this family residence being haunted by a spectral woman, but their references are very slight and the particulars they give exceedingly meagre. Mrs. Crowe, indeed, mentions that many persons have seen" the Brown Lady," and speaks of a guest who one day inquired of his host, " Who was the lady in brown that he had met frequently on the stairs? ‘ But the most circumstantial account of the appearance of this apparition would appear to be that given by Lucia C. Stone, in Rifts in the Veil. This record she states she received from an eye-witness, and as a proof of its authenticity draws attention to the fact that the names of all parties concerned are given in full. The time of the incidents, however, cannot be given any nearer than between 1835 and 1849.

    According to this narrative a large party had assembled at Rainham, in order to pass the Christmas there. Lord and Lady Charles Townshend were the host and hostess on this occasion, and among the assembled guests were Colonel and Mrs. Loftus, and Miss Page, a cousin of the latter. Colonel Loftus was a brother of Lady Charles and cousin to Lord Charles, being a Townshend on his mother’s side.

    There was a tradition in the Townshend family that at certain intervals the apparition of a lady attired in brown brocade had been seen flitting about the building; but nothing had occurred for some long time past, and the old stories respecting the hauntings had been well-nigh forgotten.

    One night Colonel Loftus and a gentleman named Hawkins sat up rather late over a game of chess; they went up-stairs, and were bidding each other " goodnight," when Mr. Hawkins exclaimed, "Loftus, who is that standing at your sister’s door? How strangely she is dressed." Colonel Loftus, who was near-sighted, put up his glass and followed the figure, which went on for some little distance, when he lost sight of it. A second night she appeared to him, and this time, to prevent her escape, he went up a staircase which would bring him face to face with her. There, in a full light, stood a stately lady in her rich brocade, a sort of coif on her head, the features clearly defined; but where there should have been eyes were nothing but dark hollows.

    "These were the two appearances he described to me," says Lucia Stone, (e and he sketched her afterwards. I saw the sketch just after his return from Rainham. The lady was seen hy several others, and I have heard the stories, but not from their own lips, so I forbear to give them ; but perhaps I should mention that the cousin of Mrs. Loftus, Miss Page, whom I knew very intimately, asked Lord Charles if he too believed in the apparition? He replied, ‘ I cannot but believe, for she ushered me into my room last night.’

    The servants were frightened, and one after the other gave warning. Lord Charles Townshend, thinking that, perhaps, after all, it might be a trick on the part of someone in the house, had various alterations made in the way of bolts, locks, and so forth. This proving useless, he engaged some of the London police force to come down, and made them assume his livery ; but they were unable to discover anything during their stay at Rainham.

    There does not seem to be any known legend connected with the appearance of the apparition of "the Brown Lady."