In 1803, a ghost was said to haunt the lanes of Hammersmith.
By the time the truth emerged, one man was dead—and another stood trial for murder. This is the story of the Hammersmith Ghost: where fear, rumor, and justice collided in the dark.

Source Materials

Proceedings of the Old Bailey,11 January 1804 – Trial of Francis Smith for the murder of Thomas Millwood.

Burton, Paul J. “The Hammersmith Ghost and the Rule of Law.” SSRN Scholarly Paper, 2015.

Davies, Owen. The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Westwood, Jennifer, and Jacqueline Simpson. The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England’s Legends, from Spring-Heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys. Penguin Books, 2005.

“The Newgate Calendar: The Trial and Execution of Francis Smith.” (Contemporary 19th-century account).

A Deadly Scare? The Hammersmith Ghost Murder Case - Historic Mysteries

The Hammersmith Ghost and a Murdered Man

The Hammersmith Ghost and the Strange Death of Thomas Millwood Crime Magazine

The Case of a Ghost Haunted England for Over Two Hundred Years | In Custodia Legis