Brown Lady of Raynham Hall
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Probably one of the most famous pictures ever taken,and the first ghost photo I ever saw, this was taken by a photographer's assistant, Provand. In 1936, Indra Shira had been commissioned to take some photos of Raynham Hall. He brought his assistant, provand, with him. As they were taking pictures of the oak staircase, Shira saw a foggy vapour appear on the stairs. The vapour began to take the shape of a woman in a veil, and Shira tols Provand to take a picture. Provand did take the photo as Shira fired the flash gun, even though Provand never saw what he was taking a picture of. When the film was developed, the picture did show the outline of a woman. The now famous picture appeared in Country Life magazine on december 16, 1936. Experts examined the picture then and since. No one has ever been able to find any evidence of fraud or fakery on the part of the photographers.
Raynham Hall has a long history of being haunted by the ghost of a "lady in brown". Visitors to the hall have reported encounters with her several times over the past two centuries. It is thought to be the ghost of Lady Dorothy Townshend (Dorothy Walpole), because the brown brocade dress seen on the ghost resembles one worn by Lady Dorothy in a portrait. Her ghost is seen in a more appealing form at Sandringham.
The marriage of Dorothy to Lord Townshend should have been a happy one. Dorothy is said to been in love with the Second Viscount Townshend but her father, who was Lord Townshend’s guardian, refused to consent to their marriage because he felt that it would be viewed by otherss that he was using his guardianship to gain advantage for his family. Lord Townshend married the daughter of Baron Pelham of Laughton, after she died in 1711 he finally married Dorothy Walpole.
Unfortunately, she seems to have moved on with her life as well and had become the mistress of Lord Wharton. He was something of a ne'er-do-well who was compelled to leave England rather suddenly to escape debtors. Lord Townshend knew nothing of this affair until after he married Dorothy.When he learned of her conduct with Lord Wharton, he ordered that she be kept locked in her apartments at Raynham Hall. She died there at age 40, on 29th March, 1726, officially of smallpox but there were many who said that she had died of a broken heart. Some have even whispered that it was really a broken neck from a fall, or a push down the Grand Staircase. It is believed that she returns to Raynham Hall in search of her seven children, from whom she had been parted by her husband, after he had learned about her affair with Lord Wharton.
Most of her appearances were before 1870. She has been chased by a Colonel, who never caught up with her as well as shot at by a captain, who found that thebullets fired went straight through her.
In November, 1926, Lady Townshend was staying for the weekend at Raynham Hall when, with her son and a friend, she saw the Brown Lady on the staircase. Incredibly, none of them had heard of the ghost prior to this but all swore that the woman they had seen was the same one that was in the portrait of Dorothy Walpole.
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