The Whitton Family Haunting

[A YouTube Show, 2018]

Recently, in the cold case department of Scotland Yard, two officers came across a rather odd box from the Victorian Era - one which had not been opened since the 1870s. Both officers were baffled to find a letter inside which insinuates something horrific happened to a family - especially the father and yet, all evidence is circumstantial.

Officers have stated that the letter found contains an address they will be looking into shortly but, as nothing yet has been discovered, it is everyone's guess what will turn up in the coming months.

Our station has access to the letter and we have printed it in this edition of our weekly emails to our subscribers. Subscribe today to get access to the archives where you too, may read this chilling letter.

***

1861, The Times Newspaper

It has come to the attention of officers in London that a young woman had been found dead at the bottom of the stairs of a stately home outside of the city only a few years before this new incident occurred to us. The rest of the family members describe it as being 'like a ghost that was out for revenge' and fled the home the same day.

Officers have stated that they are beyond confused. In all of their thirty-something years the Met Police have seen nothing like it. Could this be a true story of a haunting?

***

April, 1861

Somewhere in London

Dearest Family Whitton and all else who read this,

I have spent my life working in your ranks, first as a kitchen maid and then as a governess. I thanked you dearly for a state education in which I learnt the necessary skills to teach your children. I repaid you with my undivided attention and complete service yet, I never expected to be repaid like this.

For whomever else is reading this, let us give some context to the matter. I became pregnant with the child of the head of the household and, to cover up this birthing - there was a terrible accident. At first, I was allowed to give birth to the child, but after three months the child and I were separated so that its father may take him into town. On the way back, the carriage crashed and the wretched father was quite unharmed but, my dearest baby had died. I had learnt that the carriage had spun on its side and so, there was every opportunity to get my child out of there beforehand. It took him three minutes to die. Three minutes of agonising pain.

After this however, it was not over. I began to argue against having my child buried in an unmarked grave and yet, there was nothing I could do. He was tossed into the ground like a commoner. Ultimately, I knew I was next. It would be only a few days before a trap was set for me for when the family was out so that I may fall and break my neck at the bottom of the staircase. If you are reading this, that is probably where you found me.

Tell the 'father' of my child I will be back. I will not let him sleep. I will wander the hallways of his home at night, keep him awake and make him feel the hellish moans of the afterlife for what he has done. I will drive him insane, as will I do to his family.

Warn them. Quickly.

I will never leave.

***

[A YouTube Show, 2018]

Obviously, it was the 1860s and so, everyone was still into ghosts and stuff, but it's not quite sure what everyone has made of this. The newspapers state it was like a ghost that was out for revenge. But I'm cynical, you know I don't believe in ghosts. Let's do some more digging...

***

1861, The Times Newspaper

Recently, in an abandoned home outside of London City, there has been found a case full of clothes, all belonging to the now deceased woman. The only problem the Met Police are having is the fact that many of the clothes look recently worn rather than gathering dust. After being told about the letter, the family may have fled - but they have also stated that the hauntings have not stopped though the children have since grown up.

***

Late 1861, The Times Newspaper

The head of the Whitton Household of London, Dr James Whitton was found dead from an apparent suicide yesterday evening in the children's nusery. He had hanged himself by the neck until dead citing the ghost of the deceased woman found at the bottom of his stairs months earlier as a possible cause of his madness. Apparently, according to the new kitchen maid, Dorothy Alton, he could be found muttering 'she found me here' over and over again. Alton knows nothing else having taken a few days off to go into London City on for a death in her family. She describes trying to calm the doctor, sitting him down and giving him some tea and biscuits. Though by the evening, she awoke from an afternoon nap to find him hanging in the nursery and screamed. The police were called immediately.

***

[A YouTube Show, 2018]

So I did some research about Dorothy Alton and it turns out her name wasn't Dorothy Alton at all. In a few days I traced her back to a hospital in London where she worked as a nurse for patients who were at the end of their lives. This was really out-there for the time and it seems like Dorothy was really good at it and making a great living, so why take a pay-cut to work for a family outside of the city? Well, that's because Dorothy Alton's real name is Penny Grey, the sister of Lucy Grey who was found at the bottom of the staircase of the Whitton home.

Not only that, Penny and Lucy were identical twins bar their eye colour - Penny had green eyes whilst Lucy had hazel ones.

My only question was: why was Penny going to London every month for a few days to see her family for numerous reasons. Her timesheets for the family were released showing her going back for 'deaths' and 'weddings' for 'sorting things out' and 'helping sell land'. But, looking at the records - Lucy was the only member of her family we were able to trace.

What do you think is going on here?

***

Late 1861, The Times Newspaper

Earlier today, Dorothy Alton was released from questioning in tears. She was confronted about rope marks on her hands that matched the rope around the neck of the doctor and had said that after she screamed, she had frantically tried to get him down to no avail. The matriarch, a Mrs Melanie Whitton, confirms she saw Dorothy trying to untie the rope, but got the girl down fearing she would fall. Shaken, Dorothy was allowed to leave into the arms of the mother of the household who stated Dorothy had done all she could to save the good doctor.

***

[A YouTube Show, 2018]

Welcome back to Part 3 on the Whitton Family Hauntings. It would be a couple of years before the eldest girl got married and moved out of the home. According to records, her name was Alexandra and she was sixteen when she married...it doesn't say. Anyways, she went on to have three children all of whom died mysteriously. Each of the children also died before the age of one.

I'm not saying that Penny had anything to do with this because actually, at the time Penny was away in London and on top of that, did not live with the new couple - she lived in the Whitton family home. My question is, if she did do it: then how?

Unfortunately, Scotland Yard has actually closed the case, but the question remains as to what was going on here. Why did the ghost return to Whitton when James was already dead? Reports of the ghost were going on for at least three or four years afterwards.

Was this really a haunting or is this all just smoke and mirrors?

I might make a Part 4 if I can find anything out. There's rumours out there that Penny's Diary exists but I don't know. What do you think?

***

From the Diaries of Penny Grey, 1900

The doctor has told me I probably have some sort of infection in my lungs and so, I will expect to die soon. It has also come to my attention that the story of the Whitton family is still making the rounds. I have since returned to their old home in London in order to live out my final days where my sister died. I will explain everything to whoever will listen.

My sister had written me a letter concerning the death of her child and distraught, wanted to make the family pay for what they had stood by and let happen. My sister was younger than I was at only twenty one when she lost her child to the Whitton family 'accident'. She also penned me a letter stating that she knew she was next in line to be killed since she could not keep her mouth shut about the incident. When the family had gone out to the races, she had asked me to come over and check for anything they may have left in order to kill her. We searched the house. I heard her fall. I heard her neck break. I saw it all. I then wrote the letter and stuffed it into one of her inside pockets. That way the family would know I would return.

I grabbed my sister's best dress from the attic, fearing it would be sold as cheap fabric if I didn't. I went back to working during the day and wore the dress during the night. I would use a small ladder to stand outside of their windows, tapping lightly. They fled and then I knew my course.

I managed to get myself employed as a kitchen maid at their new home now, because I was older than my sister, I looked a little more haggard and therefore was perfect to pull this off. A lot of people thought we were twins due to all of my photos being myself in this makeup to look like my sister. Also, it's quite simple to pay someone to change your date of birth when you need to be younger to work somewhere. I would wear some other makeup (belonging to the lady of the house) during the day to disguise my actual looks and during the night, I would wear the dress again and taunt the family. I would return to London occasionally to again, going to the attic to collect some more of her things and put back old ones just in case my belongings were searched.

And yes reader, I hanged him.

I got him drunk using whisky disguised as tea and in his panicked state, he didn't know the difference. He became too drunk to function and that's when I did it.

I continued to taunt the family until the mother passed away a few years later of a heart attack.

Now, perhaps my sister and her baby can get some sleep. I have written that I would like to be buried next to my sister and have mapped out the grass where the baby is buried so that he may be relocated and returned to his mother.

I do not care whether god forgives me.