Old Jeffrey of Epworth Rectory
For two months, the family of the founder of Methodism lived with knocks, groans and footsteps they nicknamed Old Jeffrey.
What was reported
In December 1716, the rectory at Epworth, home of the clergyman Samuel Wesley and his large family, began to fill with noises: knocking on walls and doors, groans, the sound of footsteps on the stairs and of coins being poured out, and a noise like a bottle being smashed, though nothing was broken.
The family kept careful letters and notes. The children nicknamed the presence 'Old Jeffrey'. It seemed to answer knocks, and was said to object loudly to prayers for King George. By the end of January it had faded away.
Explanations offered
Suggested explanations range from a prank by servants or neighbours, or one of the children, to rats and the old house settling. None has been proven. Samuel's son John Wesley, who went on to found Methodism, collected the family's accounts and published them, and the case is one of the best-documented of its era.
- When
- December 1716 – January 1717
- Where
- Epworth, Lincolnshire, England
- Witnesses
- The family of the rector, Samuel Wesley
- Status
- Unexplained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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