The tale of Spring-heeled Jack
A spooky London mystery for Halloween
The legend of Spring-heeled Jack is a fascinating and eerie piece of English folklore. This enigmatic figure, with his bizarre appearance and seemingly supernatural abilities, captivated people’s imaginations during the Victorian era. The various reports and sightings of Spring-heeled Jack, with his terrifying physiognomy: clawed hands, fiery eyes and his penchant for leaping extraordinary heights, contributed to his status as a mysterious and malevolent entity.
Some believe that his origins may have been in earlier accounts of ghosts and apparitions that stalked the streets of London. Spring-heeled Jack's sudden appearance and disappearance in different parts of London, and even beyond, added to the mystique surrounding him.
The reports of Spring-heeled Jack attacking individuals left a trail of panic and fear. The fact that these incidents were reported in newspapers of the time and sparked extensive police investigations suggests that there was indeed a widespread belief in his existence.
The description of Spring-heeled Jack as having a terrifying and diabolical appearance with clawed hands, fiery eyes and the ability to breathe out flames is truly chilling, and contributed to the fear and fascination surrounding this legend. The varied descriptions of his appearance, ranging from gentlemanly to devil-like, highlight the ambiguity and ever-changing nature of urban legends.
The Hammersmith Ghost's appearances in the early 19th century, with its pale, human-like figure preying on pedestrians, suggest a continuity in the tradition of strange, menacing entities haunting the streets of London. These stories may have laid the foundation for the Spring-heeled Jack legend, as elements of the earlier ghost tales can be seen in the later accounts of Spring-heeled Jack's attacks on individuals in suburban London.
In 1837, the first reported sightings of Spring-heeled Jack took place in London, beginning with a chilling encounter involving a young woman named Mary Stevens. As the story goes, Mary was on her way to Lavender Hill, where she worked as a servant, after visiting her parents in Battersea. While crossing Clapham Common, she fell victim to an unsettling experience. From a dark alley, a mysterious figure leaped at her, using a tight grip to immobilise her. This assailant proceeded to kiss her face, all the while chilling her flesh with clawed hands described as "cold and clammy, like those of a corpse." Mary screamed, causing her attacker to hastily flee from the scene. The commotion brought several residents to the scene, but the aggressor had vanished without a trace.
The following day, the same enigmatic character targeted a completely different victim near Mary Stevens' home, introducing a method that would recur in subsequent reports. He leapt in front of a passing carriage, causing the coachman to lose control, leading to a crash that left him severely injured. Witnesses recounted that the attacker, with his high-pitched, maniacal laughter, made a spectacular escape by vaulting over a nine-foot-high wall.
These early encounters marked the inception of the legend. His elusive nature and seemingly supernatural agility contributed to the fear and fascination surrounding this mysterious figure. Subsequent reports further solidified his place in the folklore and popular culture of Victorian London.
Gradually, the news of the strange character spread, and soon the press and the public gave him the name "Spring-heeled Jack".
A few months after these first sightings, on 9 January 1838, the Lord Mayor of London, Sir John Cowan, revealed at a public session held in the Mansion House an anonymous complaint that he had received several days earlier, which he had withheld in the hope of obtaining further information. The correspondent, who signed the letter ‘a resident of Peckham’, wrote:
“It appears that some individuals (of, as the writer believes, the highest ranks of life) have laid a wager with a mischievous and foolhardy companion, that he durst not take upon himself the task of visiting many of the villages near London in three different disguises—a ghost, a bear, and a devil; and moreover, that he will not enter a gentleman's gardens for the purpose of alarming the inmates of the house. The wager has, however, been accepted, and the unmanly villain has succeeded in depriving seven ladies of their senses, two of whom are not likely to recover, but to become burdens to their families."
Though the Lord Mayor seemed fairly sceptical, a member of the audience confirmed that "servant girls about Kensington, Hammersmith and Ealing, tell dreadful stories of this ghost or devil". The matter was reported in The Times on 9 January, other national papers on 10 January and, on the day after that, the Lord Mayor showed a crowded gathering a pile of letters from various places in and around London complaining of similar "wicked pranks". The quantity of letters that poured into the Mansion House suggests that the stories were widespread in suburban London. One writer said several folk in Hammersmith had been frightened into "dangerous fits" and some "severely wounded by a sort of claws the miscreant wore on his hands". Another correspondent claimed that in Stockwell, Brixton, Camberwell and Vauxhall several people had died of fright and others had had fits; meanwhile, another reported that the trickster had been repeatedly seen in Lewisham and Blackheath.
Among the most infamous incidents associated with Spring-heeled Jack are the attacks on two teenage girls, Lucy Scales and Jane Alsop. The Alsop case garnered significant media attention, with numerous reports covering it, including a piece in The Times.
On the night of 19 February 1838, Jane Alsop answered a knock at her father's door. The man outside claimed to be a police officer and urgently requested a light, asserting, "We have caught Spring-heeled Jack here in the lane." Jane provided him with a candle and noticed he was wearing a large cloak. However, the moment she handed him the candle, he cast aside the cloak, revealing a horrifying and nightmarish appearance. He vomited blue and white flames from his mouth, and his eyes resembled "red balls of fire." Miss Alsop described his attire as a large helmet and a tight-fitting garment that resembled white oilskin. Without uttering a word, he began tearing at her gown with his claws, which she believed were made of some metallic substance. She called for help, managing to escape and run toward her house. Her ordeal ended when one of her sisters came to her rescue, causing her assailant to flee.
Nine days later, on 28 February 1838, Lucy Scales and her sister were returning home after visiting their brother, a butcher living in a respectable part of Limehouse. As they passed through Green Dragon Alley, Lucy, walking ahead of her sister, noticed a person standing in the alley. This individual was draped in a large cloak and suddenly spewed "a quantity of blue flame" into her face, causing her to lose her sight and fall to the ground in terror.
Lucy's brother, alarmed by the screams of one of his sisters, reached Green Dragon Alley and found Lucy lying on the ground in a fit while her sister tried to support her. Lucy was taken home, and her brother learned about the incident from her sister. Lucy described her attacker as a tall, slender, and well-dressed man with a gentlemanly appearance, dressed in a large cloak and carrying a small lamp or bull's eye lantern similar to those used by the police. Strangely, this person did not utter a word and did not attempt to physically harm them; instead, he quickly retreated from the scene. The police made extensive efforts to identify the perpetrator of these and other similar attacks but ultimately released several individuals they had questioned.
The Times newspaper reported the alleged attack on Jane Alsop on 2 March 1838, under the headline "The Late Outrage at Old Ford." Subsequently, there was an account of the trial of an individual named Thomas Millbank. Immediately after the reported attack on Jane Alsop, Millbank had boasted in the Morgan's Arms that he was Spring-heeled Jack. As a result, he was arrested and brought to trial at Lambeth Street court. The arresting officer in this case was James Lea, who had previously apprehended William Corder, known as the Red Barn Murderer. Millbank had been wearing white overalls and a greatcoat, both of which he dropped outside the house. The candle he had used was also discovered at the scene. However, Millbank managed to avoid conviction because Jane Alsop insisted that her attacker had breathed fire, and Millbank admitted he couldn't perform such a feat. It's worth noting that most of the other accounts of Spring-heeled Jack's exploits were written long after the events, and contemporary newspapers did not mention them.
Following these incidents, Spring-heeled Jack became one of the most popular characters of the era. His alleged escapades were reported in newspapers and became the subject of numerous penny dreadfuls and plays performed in the inexpensive theatres that were prevalent at the time. Spring-heeled Jack even found his way into Punch and Judy shows, where he was portrayed as a devilish character.
In the early 1870s, Spring-heeled Jack sightings were reported once more in various locations, which were distant from each other. In November 1872, the News of the World reported that Peckham was "in a state of commotion owing to what is known as the 'Peckham Ghost,' a mysterious and alarming figure in appearance." The article pointed out that this figure was none other than "Spring-heeled Jack, who had terrified a previous generation." Similar stories were published in The Illustrated Police News.
By the end of the 19th century, reported sightings of Spring-heeled Jack had shifted toward the northwest of England. Around 1888, in Everton, north Liverpool, he allegedly appeared on the rooftop of Saint Francis Xavier's Church in Salisbury Street. In 1904, there were reports of appearances in the nearby William Henry Street.
Then, the sightings of Spring-heeled Jack seemed to stop.
The explanations for Spring-heeled Jack's nature and identity vary widely. Some suggest that he was a normal individual with exceptional acrobatic skills and a penchant for mischief. Others propose more supernatural or paranormal explanations, such as extra-terrestrial origins or demonic summoning.
Overall, the legend of Spring-heeled Jack is a complex interplay of folklore, mass hysteria and urban legend with its origins intertwined with earlier stories of mysterious figures haunting the streets of London.
Over time, Spring-heeled Jack evolved from a sinister figure to a character in fictional works and even a precursor to the superhero archetype in popular culture. He was portrayed as both a villain and a hero in various stories.
In the end, Spring-heeled Jack remains a mysterious and enigmatic figure and his legend continues to intrigue and inspire curiosity, with theories and speculation surrounding his true nature and motives. Whether a real, albeit peculiar, historical character or a product of mass hysteria and sensationalism, Spring-heeled Jack has left an indelible mark on the folklore and popular culture of Victorian England.