The brown lady

The Haunting Tale of the Brown Lady

As a dedicated paranormal researcher, I have delved into countless eerie stories and encountered my fair share of supernatural phenomena. However, one particular case that has captured the imagination of many is the legend of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England. This ghostly apparition, known for her distinctive brown silk dress, has become an iconic figure in the realm of British ghost stories.

According to popular belief, the Brown Lady is said to be the spirit of Dorothy Walpole, who lived from 1686 to 1726. Dorothy was the sister of Robert Walpole, often regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. She found herself entangled in a scandalous affair with Lord Wharton, much to the dismay of her husband, Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend. In a fit of rage, Townshend locked Dorothy away in a room at Raynham Hall, the ancestral family home, where she remained until her untimely death from smallpox in 1726. 

however a less tragic story claims that In 1725, Charles died unexpectedly, leaving Dorothy a widow. She moved back to her family home in Houghton, but her life continued to be plagued by tragedy. Her brother, Robert, was accused of corruption and impeached by Parliament, and her other siblings also suffered financial and personal setbacks. Dorothy's own health began to decline, and she became increasingly reclusive. She died in 1726 at the age of 40, and her body was buried in the churchyard of St. Martin's Church in Houghton.

The legend of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall emerged several decades after Dorothy's death. According to the legend, Dorothy's ghost haunts the halls of Raynham Hall, wearing a brown dress and a veil over her face. The ghost has been reportedly seen by numerous witnesses over the years, including Captain Frederick Marryat in 1836.

While there is no concrete evidence to support the idea that Dorothy Walpole's ghost haunts Raynham Hall, her tragic life and untimely death have contributed to the enduring fascination with the legend of the Brown Lady.

The first recorded sighting of the Brown Lady took place in 1835 during a Christmas party at Raynham Hall. Lucia C. Stone, a witness to the ghostly encounter, recounted the chilling experience. Stone and other guests, including Colonel Loftus and Hawkins, reported seeing the apparition dressed in an antiquated brown gown, haunting the hallways. Loftus, in particular, claimed to have been captivated by the ghost's hauntingly empty eye sockets, which contrasted sharply with her luminous countenance. This sighting caused several staff members to leave Raynham Hall, frightened by the supernatural presence they had witnessed.

In 1836, Captain Frederick Marryat, a renowned author and close friend of Charles Dickens, had his own chilling encounter with the Brown Lady. Marryat, determined to debunk the tales of ghosts and attribute them to smugglers, volunteered to spend a night in Raynham Hall's most haunted room. However, his experience took an unexpected turn. Marryat, armed with a loaded revolver under his pillow, initially saw no sign of the apparition. On the third night, as he prepared for bed, Marryat was joined by two of the baronet's cousins who requested his opinion on a newly acquired firearm. Laughingly, Marryat jokingly remarked, "In case you meet the Brown Lady," as they set off together.

As the trio made their way down the dimly lit hallway, they noticed a faint glow emanating from the other end. The young Townshends whispered to Marryat that one of the ladies must be visiting the nurseries. Seeking to avoid an awkward encounter, Marryat slipped into one of the rooms, followed by his companions, concealing themselves until the lady passed by. Peering through the crack in the door, Marryat observed the figure drawing nearer, gradually discerning the details of her attire, which resembled the famous painting of the Brown Lady. Marryat, finger poised on the trigger, prepared to confront the intruder when she abruptly stopped in front of the very door behind which he hid. The ghost held up a lit lamp, a sinister grin etched upon her face. Overwhelmed by anger, Marryat burst out of hiding, firing his pistol directly at the apparition. The ghost vanished instantly, while the bullet pierced through the outer door and into the panel of the inner door. From that night on, Marryat never dared to cross paths with the Brown Lady of Raynham again.

Captain Frederick Marryat, who was a naval officer and a popular author in the 19th century, visited Raynham Hall in 1836. He was skeptical of the ghostly stories surrounding the house and wanted to investigate them himself. Marryat, along with two other companions, stayed in the house for several days and nights, but nothing unusual happened.

However, on the fourth night of his stay, Marryat encountered the Brown Lady. He saw her floating down the corridor and approaching his room. Despite his skepticism, Marryat was terrified and fled from the room. He later recounted his experience to Charles Dickens, who used it as inspiration for his novel "The Haunted Man."

…he took possession of the room in which the portrait of the apparition hung, and in which she had been often seen, and slept each night with a loaded revolver under his pillow. For two days, however, he saw nothing, and the third was to be the limit of his stay. On the third night, however, two young men (nephews of the baronet), knocked at his door as he was undressing to go to bed, and asked him to step over to their room (which was at the other end of the corridor), and give them his opinion on a new gun just arrived from London. My father was in his shirt and trousers, but as the hour was late, and everybody had retired to rest except themselves, he prepared to accompany them as he was. As they were leaving the room, he caught up his revolver, “in case you meet the Brown Lady,” he said, laughing. When the inspection of the gun was over, the young men in the same spirit declared they would accompany my father back again, “in case you meet the Brown Lady,” they repeated, laughing also. The three gentlemen therefore returned in company.

The corridor was long and dark, for the lights had been extinguished, but as they reached the middle of it, they saw the glimmer of a lamp coming towards them from the other end. “One of the ladies going to visit the nurseries,” whispered the young Townshends to my father. Now the bedroom doors in that corridor faced each other, and each room had a double door with a space between, as is the case in many old-fashioned houses. My father, as I have said, was in shirt and trousers only, and his native modesty made him feel uncomfortable, so he slipped within one of the outer doors (his friends following his example), in order to conceal himself until the lady should have passed by.

I have heard him describe how he watched her approaching nearer and nearer, through the chink of the door, until, as she was close enough for him to distinguish the colors and style of her costume, he recognised the figure as the facsimile of the portrait of “The Brown Lady”. He had his finger on the trigger of his revolver, and was about to demand it to stop and give the reason for its presence there, when the figure halted of its own accord before the door behind which he stood, and holding the lighted lamp she carried to her features, grinned in a malicious and diabolical manner at him. This act so infuriated my father, who was anything but lamb-like in disposition, that he sprang into the corridor with a bound, and discharged the revolver right in her face. The figure instantly disappeared - the figure at which for several minutes three men had been looking together – and the bullet passed through the outer door of the room on the opposite side of the corridor, and lodged in the panel of the inner one. My father never attempted again to interfere with "The Brown Lady of Raynham".^[4]

Harry Price, a famous paranormal researcher who investigated the haunting of Raynham Hall in 1936, almost a century after Marryat's encounter believed believed that the Brown Lady and other ghostly apparitions at Raynham Hall were actually the work of smugglers who used the house as a base for their illegal activities. He speculated that the smugglers used trickery and illusions to scare people away from the house and avoid detection.

However, Price's theory has been widely criticized and dismissed by paranormal researchers and historians. There is no historical evidence to support the idea that Raynham Hall was ever used as a base for smuggling activities, and the ghostly sightings at the house date back to long before the era of smuggling.

In fact, the legend of the Brown Lady predates the 19th century and was already a well-known ghost story by the time Marryat visited Raynham Hall in 1836.

Marryat's encounter with the Brown Lady is often cited as one of the most credible sightings of the ghost. His reputation as a respected naval officer and author lent credibility to his account, and his initial skepticism made it all the more convincing.

Lady Townshend, the wife of the then-owner of Raynham Hall, claimed that the last sighting of the Brown Lady occurred in 1926 when her son and his friend spotted the ghost on the grand staircase. Their description of the ethereal figure perfectly matched the portrait of Lady Dorothy Walpole displayed in the haunted room at the time. Since Marryat's encounter, the number of reported sightings has diminished, and some believe the Brown Lady now roams the nearby Houghton Hall and Sandringham House, extending her spectral presence to new locations.

The fame and notoriety of the Brown Lady reached its pinnacle in 1936 when Captain Hubert C. Provand, a photographer working for Country Life magazine, captured a remarkable image of the ghostly

apparition. Alongside his assistant, Indre Shira, Provand was conducting a photo shoot at Raynham Hall when they claim to have witnessed the gradual materialization of a vaporous form resembling a woman descending the staircase. Shira swiftly removed the lens cap, while Provand, responding to his assistant's urgent gesture, triggered the flash. When the negative was developed, the world was introduced to the now-famous photograph of the Brown Lady. The eerie image, along with the eyewitness account of the encounter, was published in Country Life magazine in December 1936, captivating readers' imaginations and sparking a renewed interest in the haunting of Raynham Hall.

Naturally, skeptics emerged, questioning the authenticity of the photograph. Some suggested that Shira may have tampered with the lens by applying grease or similar substances to create the illusion of a figure. Others proposed that accidental double exposure or light leakage within the camera could have produced the ethereal image. Notably,

Finally, critics pointed out that the woman's face bore a striking resemblance to statues of the Virgin Mary found in Catholic churches, highlighting similarities in pose, lighting, and the platform upon which the apparition stood.

While debates surrounding the legitimacy of the Brown Lady photograph continue, her haunting presence at Raynham Hall remains embedded in the annals of paranormal lore. Whether the tale of the Brown Lady is a chilling testament to the afterlife or a blend of legend and human imagination, her enigmatic story continues to captivate those drawn to the mysteries of the supernatural.