Ghost Stories from the Archives: Curator Resigns Over Museum Ghost

From the Yorkshire Post in 1954 comes the story of a haunted museum ....
Ghost Stories from the ArchivesGhost Stories from the Archives
Ghost Stories from the Archives

Controversy surrounding the Edwardian ghost which is supposed to appear at the Yorkshire Museum, York every month, is believed to be one of the reasons why the curator of the Museum, Mr. G. F. Willmot, has resigned.

The resignation is expected to be discussed at a meeting in York today of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, the controlling body of the Museum.

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Mr. Willmot’s resignation is thought to have followed a difference of opinion within the Society as to whether the alleged monthly apparition should be scientifically investigated.

Leeds members of the Society for Psychical Research were to investigate the report on January 10, but the investigation was deferred.

The manifestation was first said to have been seen by the caretaker, Mr. G. L. Jonas, and strange things have been reported to happen in the Museum Library on every fourth Monday for 12 weeks.

A local investigation committee which included a doctor and a solicitor said they saw a book move from a shelf of its own accord and then fall to the ground.

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On December 15 Mr. H. E. Harrowell, chairman of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, said there would be no official investigation, and added,

“1 would not waste time on such tripe.”

It is understood that the Leeds members of the Society for Psychical Research will be visiting York when the ghost is due to make its next appearance.

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