Victorian Sunderland: When an angry mob in Hendon got together with torches and even guns to hunt down a nuisance ghost

The year was 1884, it was nearly the time of Halloween.

It was in 19th century that interest in the paranormal and ghosts surged in Britain. There are several reasons why. First, the UK developed into an industrial, urban society during this period bringing drastic changes in how people lived. For the first time in history, books were now being mass produced which led to an explosion of literature and ghost stories.

Second, the invention of cameras during that period increased an obsession with ghostly sightings with many famous hoaxes being created. For the first time, people could “visualise” what a ghost looks like beyond a drawing and thus aim to “see it” themselves.

Thus, it would be in Sunderland’s newly growing suburb of Hendon that a mass hysteria was taking hold. Word had spread that newly built houses in the area were being menaced by ghosts and for whatever reason, local anger was growing.

It is not certain what caused the rumours, but they were spreading like wildfire even to the point Sunderland borough council had to issue a statement denying it.

But the locals didn’t listen and as far as records go, on one night over 1000 people turned up the area what is now “Hendon Valley Road” termed “Hendon Dene” at the time (as the Hendon Burn stream which goes through Backhouse Park was not yet built over), with torches, pitchforks and other tools to hunt down and deal with this pesky ghost for once and for all.

It did not take long, naturally, for an innocent older man to be targeted as a “ghost” and have to flee for his life, being chased by the crowd up towards the town centre.

As the week went on, “ghost patrols” continued to roam the streets of Hendon, armed with weapons and even guns trying to hunt down the alleged spirit.

A butcher soon caused a stir and also became a target after he hung a white sheet over a huge hunk of beef in his store.

Naturally, the ghost patrols ultimately find nothing and as with all bursts of mass hysteria, it all eventually died down, but what a time to be alive, surely! The Sunderland Echo in its historic form reportedly took great interest in reporting this debacle.