On the afternoon of 19 September, 1936, Captain Hubert C. Provand and Indre Shira were taking pictures at Raynham Hall in Norfolk for an article in Country Life magazine. The two photographers had set up their camera at the foot of the main staircase of the hall when Shira suddenly noticed a strange vapour on the stairs. As he watched the vapour started to take the form of a woman and he immediately instructed Provand to remove their camera's lens cap. He then activated the flashlight and captured the bizarre manifestation on film.
The resulting photograph is perhaps the most famous ghost photo of all time. It depicts a misty, somewhat translucent, hooded female form. The photo was first published later that year, in the December issue of Country Life and has since been much debated. Sceptics have predictably come up with a variety of theories, such as claiming the photo is a double exposure or that there was grease on the lens. However, they have never succeeded in effectively debunking the ghost photo.
Provand and Shira weren't the only people to have witnessed this mysterious figure, as several sightings have been reported, dating back to the early 1800s. The figure has allegedly been seen by numerous members of the Townshend family, who have owned Raynham Hall for the past 400 years. It has also been sighted by a number of guests staying at the hall. Dubbed the 'Brown Lady', on account of the brown brocade dress that eyewitnesses have described her to be wearing, this unearthly female is one of the most well-known real life ghost sightings ever.
In 1836, Captain Frederick Marryat - a novelist and friend of Charles Dickens - was staying at Raynham. He was aware of the Brown Lady stories and had specifically requested he be put in the room where she was rumoured to appear, sleeping with his trusty revolver close by in case of any nightly visitations. Returning to the room late one night with his revolver, Marryat was walking along a dark unlit corridor when he suddenly noticed a faint light approaching from the opposite direction. He could make out the form of a woman and as he was somewhat underdressed, decided to secrete himself behind the door of a nearby room.
Marryat couldn't resist observing the figure as it drifted past from the safety of his hiding place. However, it stopped directly at his door, and, as it slowly turned to face him, the novelist was stunned to see it grin at him in what he described as the most malicious and diabolical manner. He demanded the woman identify herself but she refused. This angered Marryat immensely, such to the extent that he leapt out and fired his revolver directly in her face. However she vanished into thin air, the bullet embedding itself in the door directly behind her.
The previous year, a Colonel Loftus and his friend Hawkins had also encountered this terrifying spectre. Loftus gave a ghastly description of the phantom, emphasizing that there were only two gaping black holes where the eyes should have been.
So who exactly is, or indeed, was, this mysterious woman. A theory claims that she is the ghost of Dorothy Walpole, the sister of Britain's first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole. In 1713 Dorothy married Charles Townshend, a man notorious for his violent temper. She had previously been in a relationship with a Lord Wharton and when Charles found out, he locked her up in her apartments at Raynham, and prevented her from seeing their children. Dorothy died in 1726; the official verdict stating smallpox, although some suspect that she may have broken her neck after falling down the hall's main staircase. A portrait of her once hung in the room she was reputed to haunt.
Real GHOST caught on tape after fatal car crash... by zakismoker07
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7610032
The resulting photograph is perhaps the most famous ghost photo of all time. It depicts a misty, somewhat translucent, hooded female form. The photo was first published later that year, in the December issue of Country Life and has since been much debated. Sceptics have predictably come up with a variety of theories, such as claiming the photo is a double exposure or that there was grease on the lens. However, they have never succeeded in effectively debunking the ghost photo.
Provand and Shira weren't the only people to have witnessed this mysterious figure, as several sightings have been reported, dating back to the early 1800s. The figure has allegedly been seen by numerous members of the Townshend family, who have owned Raynham Hall for the past 400 years. It has also been sighted by a number of guests staying at the hall. Dubbed the 'Brown Lady', on account of the brown brocade dress that eyewitnesses have described her to be wearing, this unearthly female is one of the most well-known real life ghost sightings ever.
In 1836, Captain Frederick Marryat - a novelist and friend of Charles Dickens - was staying at Raynham. He was aware of the Brown Lady stories and had specifically requested he be put in the room where she was rumoured to appear, sleeping with his trusty revolver close by in case of any nightly visitations. Returning to the room late one night with his revolver, Marryat was walking along a dark unlit corridor when he suddenly noticed a faint light approaching from the opposite direction. He could make out the form of a woman and as he was somewhat underdressed, decided to secrete himself behind the door of a nearby room.
Marryat couldn't resist observing the figure as it drifted past from the safety of his hiding place. However, it stopped directly at his door, and, as it slowly turned to face him, the novelist was stunned to see it grin at him in what he described as the most malicious and diabolical manner. He demanded the woman identify herself but she refused. This angered Marryat immensely, such to the extent that he leapt out and fired his revolver directly in her face. However she vanished into thin air, the bullet embedding itself in the door directly behind her.
The previous year, a Colonel Loftus and his friend Hawkins had also encountered this terrifying spectre. Loftus gave a ghastly description of the phantom, emphasizing that there were only two gaping black holes where the eyes should have been.
So who exactly is, or indeed, was, this mysterious woman. A theory claims that she is the ghost of Dorothy Walpole, the sister of Britain's first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole. In 1713 Dorothy married Charles Townshend, a man notorious for his violent temper. She had previously been in a relationship with a Lord Wharton and when Charles found out, he locked her up in her apartments at Raynham, and prevented her from seeing their children. Dorothy died in 1726; the official verdict stating smallpox, although some suspect that she may have broken her neck after falling down the hall's main staircase. A portrait of her once hung in the room she was reputed to haunt.
Real GHOST caught on tape after fatal car crash... by zakismoker07
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7610032
