What Happened in Hammersmith?

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A shoemaker called James Graham was arrested on a charge of committing a public nuisance. He said his aim had actually been to cause fear and terror of some local apprentice lads who had apparently been bullying and terrorizing his children. And so his idea was to dress up as a ghost and basically terrorize these wayward teenagers and teach them a lesson. After Smith's arrest and trial it seems that the Hammersmith Ghost proper ceased its activities. Nothing much about its activities were claimed for a very long time afterwards.

In the winter of 1803, residents outside of London reported strange encounters with a ghost. Some said it looked like Napoleon Bonaparte, or a horse without a head. Others said the ghost breathed fire and smoke. By Christmas, there was a “full-scale phantom panic.” Shortly after the New Year, one man decided he’d stop the ghost once and for all.

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