Victorian Era English Forklore Legend: Spring Heeled Jack

by Regina Jeffers

As a native West Virginian, I grew up on the Mothman prophecies, the story line behind the 2002 movie of the same name, which was intermixed with the unexplained collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The Mothman was a legendary “Devil-like” creature, who made himself known to many of the town’s people – some claiming the ten-foot moth-like man was an alien. Naturally, when I came across a similar Victorian Era legend, I was completely fascinated by the concept.

The first claim of a sighting of Spring-heeled Jack came in 1837 in Sheffield, England. The last reported sighting is said to have been in Liverpool in 1904. An entity of English folklore, “Jack” has made appearances in much of Great Britain, including Scotland. Reportedly, a girl by the name of Mary Stevens was returning to her employment in the Lavender Hill area after having spent time with her parents in Battersea. Passing through Clapham Common, the girl was accosted by a strange figure who leapt at her from a dark alley. According to Miss Stevens, the man held her in a tight grip and kissed her face. He also ripped her clothes and pawed at her with claws as cold as those of a corpse. Her attacker fled when she screamed. Residents could find no such attacker when they searched the area.

The same man supposedly attacked a second woman on the following day, very near to Miss Stevens’ attack. Eventually, the legend changed: the attacker would jump in front of a passing carriage, frightening the coachman and the horses and causing the coachman injury. He would then make his escape over a wall while babbling with a high-pitched laughter. The press labeled the “man” Spring-heeled Jack.

“The attacker was tall and thin, had pointed ears and fiery eyes, and wore a cloak. He tore at his female victims’ clothes and ripped their flesh with hands that felt like iron. When he escaped, he did not run; he bounced away. Those who saw his feet swore he had springs in his boot heels.” (Science: Spring-heeled Jack) 

On 9 January 1838, Sir John Cowan, the Lord Mayor of London, revealed an anonymous complaint at a public session held in the Mansion House. 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.

“At one house the man rang the bell, and on the servant coming to open the door, this worse than brute stood in no less dreadful figure than a spectre clad most perfectly. The consequence was that the poor girl immediately swooned, and has never from that moment been in her senses.

“The affair has now been going on for some time, and, strange to say, the papers are still silent on the subject. The writer has reason to believe that they have the whole history at their finger-ends but, through interested motives, are induced to remain silent.” (Simpson, Jacqueline. Spring-Heeled Jack (leaflet, January 2001) International Society for Contemporary Legend Research.)

The matter was reported in The Times on 9 January, with other newsprints following in the next week. The Lord Mayor received a large number of letters with reports of similar pranks. Stories from Hammersmith, Kensington, Ealing, Camberwell, Vauxhall, Brixton, Stockwell, Lewisham, and Blackheath poured in. The Brighton Gazette printed a like story in April 1838.

Similar entities have been reported around the world. In Chile, one finds “La Viuda” or “the widow.” The Spring Man of Prague, Pérák, is spoken of in Czechoslovakia. Other names include Krampus, London Monster, Owlman, Jiangshi, and Jersey Devil.

“In 1808, a letter to the editor of the Sheffield Times recounted how ‘Years ago a famous Ghost walked and played many pranks in this historic neighbourhood.’ The writer went on to identify this entity as the ‘Park Ghost or Spring Heeled Jack,’ and briefly described its ability to take enormous leaps and frighten random passers-by, but concluded, ‘He was a human ghost as he ceased to appear when a certain number of men came with guns and sticks to test his skin.’”  (The Legend of Spring Heeled Jack) 

Two teenage girls were likely the most famous of the victims. Jane Alsop claimed to have answered her father’s door on the evening of 19 February 1838 to a man claiming to be a police officer. Foolishly, she followed the officer to the adjoining lane because he had requested she provide him a light as part of his investigation. Instead, the “officer” threw off the cloak he wore. The girl reported that the man vomited blue and white flames, and his eyes were upon fire. She also said he wore a large helmet and a white oilskin. He tore her gown with his claws, as well as leaving marks upon her neck and arms. The sudden appearance of one of her sisters sent the attacker fleeing from the scene.

Lucy Scales and her sister were approached some eight days later. They were returning home from a visit with their brother, a butcher in Limehouse. As the girls passed Green Dragon Alley, a man in a large cloak spit blue flames in her face, which deprived Lucy of her sight and brought on violent fits. Their brother heard the screams and came to his sisters’ rescues. The difference from the Scales’ report was Lucy claimed the attacker was tall, thin, and gentlemanly in his appearance.

The Times boasted a headline reading “The Late Outrage At Old Ford” on 2 March 1838. It was a report on the Jane Alsop attack. One Thomas Millbank had bragged to his drinking buddies at the Morgan’s Arms that he was Spring-heeled Jack. Millbank was immediately arrested and tried at Lambeth Street court. The arresting officer was James Lea, who had earlier arrested William Corder, the Red Barn Murderer. (See my article on The Red Barn Murder for more details.) Millbank was shown to have been wearing white overalls and a greatcoat on the evening of the attack. The candle he dropped was also located. He escaped conviction only because Alsop swore her attacker breathed fire. Obviously, Millbank could not perform such a “skill.”

Spring-heeled Jack became one of the most popular characters of the Victorian period. He was the subject of several penny dreadfuls, as well as cheap theatricals. In the Punch and Judy shows, the devil was often named “Spring-heeled Jack.” In 1843, a second wave of sightings swept England. Reports of the “devil-like” creature came from Northamptonshire and East Anglia and Teignmouth in Devon. In 1847, Captain Finch was convicted of two charges of assault against women during which his accusers described him as being seen in a disguise with bullock’s hide, a skullcap, horns, and a mask. The legend was linked with the phenomenon of the “Devil’s Footprints,” which appeared in Devon in February 1855. Although sightings have been made into the 1990s, the last major reports came in the 1870s.

No one was ever identified as Spring-heeled Jack. The crimes were never prosecuted. Some believe there must be a logical explanation, while others choose the more fanciful approach. A popular rumor in the 1840s was that “Jack” was an Irish nobleman, the Marquess of Waterford. Waterford was known for his drunken brawls and his vandalism. Reportedly, the marquess was not so beloved by the fairer sex. E. Cobham Brewer, the compiler of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, as well as The Reader’s Handbook, accused Waterford of the stunts, saying the Marquess was known to amuse himself by frightening unaware travelers and others often mimicked Waterford’s efforts. In 1842, the Marquess married and settled in Curraghmore House, County Waterford, and reportedly led an exemplary life until he died in a riding accident in 1859.

“The most recent of a Spring Heeled Jack type creature comes an elementary school in West Surrey. Children only see him there, but they describe him as ‘all black, with red eyes and had a funny all-in-one white suit with badges on it.’ They also said he could run as fast as a car, and would approach dark haired children and tell them ‘I want you.’

“Of course, none of this means Spring Heeled Jack is supernatural, or extra-terrestrial, or anything other than the invention of a few generations of adroit, and lucky, pranksters. Some have claimed that the phenomenon is merely an exaggeration of the activities of an old religious zealot who used to dance on rooftops (i.e., E. C. Brewer). Others have identified possible Jacks: Waterford, a law student named Henry Hawkins, and somebody well connected enough to have a descendant bar the use of his name in connection with the attacks.” (The Legend of Spring Heeled Jack)

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About the Author:

Regina Jeffers is the author of Austen-inspired novels, including Darcy’s Passions, Darcy’s Temptation, Vampire Darcy’s Desire, Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, The Phantom of Pemberley, Christmas at Pemberley, The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy, Honor and Hope and The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy. She also writes Regency romances: The Scandal of Lady Eleanor, A Touch of Velvet, A Touch of Cashémere, A Touch of Grace, and The First Wives’ Club. A Time Warner Star Teacher and Martha Holden Jennings Scholar, Jeffers serves as a consultant in media literacy. Currently living outside Charlotte, North Carolina, she spends her time with her writing, gardening, and her adorable grandchildren. To learn more of Regina's books or her personal appearances visit her website. www.rjeffers.com

The Irish Rebellion

by David Cook

What is that in your hand?
A green bough
Of What?
Of the Tree of Liberty
Where did it first grow?
In America
Where does it bloom?
In France
Where did the seed fall?

In Ireland
When will the moon be full?
When the four quarters shall meet

United Irish catechism, the "four quarters" being reference to the four provinces of Ireland uniting.

The Irish Rebellion (the second) of 1798 was an uprising against British rule in Ireland lasting from May to September of that year. The first, in 1641, was against Protestant settlers from England and Scotland, which saw great swathes of land given to them from Irish landowners.

The Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group founded in Belfast, 1791, and heavily influenced by the ideas of the American and French revolutions, were the main organising force behind it. Their doctrine was to secure a reform of the Irish parliament and did this by uniting Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, other Protestant "dissenters" into their party.

From the very beginning, Dublin Castle, the seat of government in Ireland, viewed the new organisation with deep suspicion, and with the outbreak of war between Britain (including Ireland) and France in February 1793, mistrust turned to naked hostility. The Society members were viewed as traitors and it was supressed in 1794. Led by Theobald Wolfe Tone, a barrister, he vowed to "break the connection with England" as the group was driven underground and into the arms of the French.

A planned uprising with French military help in January, 1797, resulted in a series of blunders (mainly due to the weather), and so the first invasion faltered and the fleet sailed home.

The government, often criticised as being lazy, corrupt and callous, responded to the widespread disorders by launching a counter-campaign of martial law in early 1798. Its principles used tactics such as planting spies, half-hangings, house burnings, pitch-capping and murder of suspected United oathmen, particularly found in Ulster as it was the one area of Ireland where Catholics and Protestants had achieved a common cause of revolt.

Leaders of Pro-United Irishmen groups began to circulate that every Protestant was an Orangeman, and seeking Catholic blood-letting. The Orangemen were of the Orange Order whose aims were to preserve Crown, Church and Ireland's Constitution, harking back to the days when their ancestors won the Williamite Wars a hundred years before. Rebels impersonated Orangemen, spreading fear and calamity. A plan to take Dublin was thwarted, but just after dawn on 24th May, pockets of insurgents rose and the fighting quickly spread throughout the country over the next five months like a straw-fed fire.

The aftermath of the fighting was marked by the massacres of captured and wounded rebels with some on a large scale, such as at the attack of New Ross and Enniscorthy. Rebel prisoners were regarded as traitors to the Crown, and were not treated as prisoners of war. They were simply executed.

County Wexford, once wealthy and industrious from the large swathes of its corn fields and long coast-line, was the only area which saw widespread atrocities committed by the rebels during the rebellion. After the defeat of the rebel attack at New Ross, the ‘Scullabogue Barn Massacre’ occurred where between one and two hundred mostly Protestant men, women, and children were imprisoned in a barn, which was then burned to the ground. Anyone that managed to break free of that inferno was piked to death by the mob outside. In Wexford town, on 20th June some seventy loyalist prisoners were marched to the bridge and piked by crowds of United supporters.

On 22nd August, one thousand French soldiers under General Humbert landed in County Mayo. Joined by several thousand rebels, they inflicted a humiliating defeat on the British at the Castlebar, mockingly known thereafter as 'the Castlebar races' to commemorate the speed of the retreat. Hundreds of Militia deserted. But the French were then roundly defeated at the Battle of Ballinamuck, 8th September and repatriated to their homeland in exchange for British prisoners of war. For the hundreds of captured Irish rebels, their fate was the hangman's noose, firing squad, or the penal colony of New South Wales.

On 12th October, another French force, including Wolfe Tone, attempted to land in County Donegal near Lough Swilly. They were intercepted by the Royal Navy, and finally surrendered after a three hour battle without ever landing in Ireland. Tone slit his own throat rather than wait for the noose and died a week later. But by then, with most of the rebel leaders dead, imprisoned or exiled, it was all over.

Small fragments of the rebel armies did survive and fought on in a form of guerrilla warfare. It was not until the failure of Robert Emmet's rebellion of 1803 that the last organised force finally capitulated.

Prime Minister William Pitt’s ‘Act of Union’ came into effect on 1st January, 1801, where the red diagonal cross of St Patrick was incorporated into the Great Union Flag. The Irish parliament was abolished. The Act was passed largely in response to the rebellion and was founded by the perception that the rebellion was provoked only by the brutish misrule of the Irish Ascendancy (descendants of the Tudor and Stuart settlers) as much as the efforts of the United Irishmen.

The rebellion caused thousands of deaths. Modern accounts estimate the death toll from ten to as many as fifty thousand men, women and children killed by fighting, starvation and disease.


My debût ebook ‘Liberty or Death’, is an authentic historical story set against the brutal backdrop of the rebellion, the first novella in The Soldier Chronicles series. Here is the description:

It is May, 1798, and Ireland is a country at war.
One hundred thousand peasants have risen up against the Crown to the tales of men, women and children butchered as traitors. It is whispered that the feared and despised ghosts of Oliver Cromwell’s New Model army have returned seeking bloodshed, and no one is safe.
Major Lorn Mullone, a man forged by war and torn by past failures, is sent by the government to apprehend Colonel Black, a dangerous and shadowy figure, who is harming the fragile peace talks with his own murderous retribution.
In a race against time, Lorn must journey across a country riven by fighting, where at the walled town of New Ross, he discovers a new horror.
In the desperate battle for peace, Lorn must survive for the sake of Ireland's future.


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David Cook is from Chandlers Ford, Hampshire, but now lives in Leicestershire with his wife and young son.
David has been interested in history since his school days, and developed a love for the Napoleonic Wars era from his father, who painted and amassed a lead model army of the Battle of Waterloo. From there David became fascinated with The English Civil Wars, The Wars of the Roses and English medieval history, particularly the legend of Robin Hood. David is currently writing a novel entitled 'The Wolfshead', a story of Robin Hood, but based on the original medieval ballads as the source.

David is keen to answer any questions about his stories, or about anything else history related, and can be found on twitter @davidcookauthor and the official Liberty or Death facebook page.

The Red Barn Murder

by Regina Jeffers

In Polstead, Suffolk, England, on 18 May 1827, the son the local squire, one William Corder, shot his lover Maria Marten. The two were reported to have planned an elopement to Ipswich, but after going to meet Corder at the Red Barn, a local landmark, Marten was never heard from again.

The daughter of a molecatcher (Thomas Marten), Maria had had a checkered past, having had two illegitimate children, one the child of William Corder’s older brother Thomas. That child died in infancy, but another child, Thomas Henry, was alive at the time of Maria’s death. She was four and twenty when she and William began their affair.

William held a reputation as a fraudster and a bit of a cad. He sported the nickname of “Foxey,” which indicated his disposition for duplicity. William was known to have sold his father’s pigs without his father’s permission. Later on, he forged a £93 cheque, as well as assisting a local thief, Samuel “Beauty” Smith, to steal a neighbor’s pig.

In shame, William had been sent to London, but he was recalled to Polstead when his brother Thomas accidentally drowned when crossing what he thought was a frozen pond. Over the next eighteen months, William’s father and three brothers died. This turn of events left William the family farm, not a bad thing for a minor son.

Corder reportedly attempted to keep his relationship with Marten a secret, but it became public knowledge when she bore him a child in 1827. Some say the child died soon afterwards, but other rumors suggest the child had been murdered. Corder, according to Ann Marten, supposedly suggested the elopement, claiming he had heard rumors that the parish officers planed to prosecute Maria for the girl’s loose ways.

Originally, the couple was to elope on 16 May, a Wednesday. Corder postponed until Thursday, saying his brother had taken ill. This was questionable for many said his brothers had all passed. On Friday 18 May, Corder called upon the Marten household with the news the local constable had a warrant for Maria’s arrest. In reality, no such warrant existed. He suggested that Maria dress as a man to aid her escape. They would meet at the barn so she might change clothes before they left for Ipswich.

Corder left shortly after the incident, and to cover his trail, he sent letters to Marten’s family, claiming that she was too ill to respond to their letters, that they were now living on the Isle of Wight, that she had injured her hand, etc., but she would return soon for a visit. Unfortunately for Corder, after Maria’s stepmother, Ann Marten, claimed to have had a dream where Maria’s ghost showed the woman her gravesite, Maria’s father dug up his daughter’s remains in the Red Barn on 19 April 1828.

At an inquest, members of her family identified Maria’s badly decomposed body. In addition, evidence was presented to indicate Corder’s participation in Maria’s death. His green handkerchief was about Maria’s neck.

Corder was found to be living in London at a ladies’ boarding house, Everley Grove House, in Brentford. William had married Mary Moore, whom he had met through a newspaper advertisement. He ran the boarding house. One of the investigators, James Lea, posed as a father seeking appropriate housing for his daughter, and was admitted to the house, where he took Corder into custody. Supposedly, a search of Corder’s residence turned up a pair of pistols and a passport, courtesy of the French Ambassador.

The authorities returned Corder to Suffolk. The trial took place at Shire Hall, Bury St Edmunds; it was a grand affair with spectators vying for a chance to view the proceedings. It also received much attention in the media of the day. The judge, Chief Baron Alexander, spoke out often against the craziness. (William Corder)  Corder pleaded not guilty. Despite an exact cause of death not being discovered, the indictment charged Corder with “murdering Maria Marten, by feloniously and willfully shooting her with a pistol through the body, and likewise stabbing her with a dagger.” (William Corder) He was also charged with forgery.

The prosecution suggested that Maria had knowledge of William’s “shady dealings,” and that was reason he had lured her into the belief he would marry her. William claimed Maria had committed suicide after they had argued. He pleaded for leniency in the case, but it took only 35 minutes for him to be found guilty. He was sentenced to hanging. With the encouragement of the prison chaplain and from his wife, William finally confessed to killing Maria. However, he claimed the incident had been an accidental shooting during their argument over her “disguise” as a man.

On 11 August 1828, Corder was hanged before some 7000+ spectators. Finally, Foxton, the hangman, who claimed Corder’s trousers and stockings as part of his payment, cut down his body. The corpse was returned to Shire Hall, where it was slit open along the abdomen. Over the next couple of hours, crowds were permitted to file past the body. “According to the Norwich and Bury Post, some 5000 people queued to see the body.” (William Corder)

The next day, the body was dissected and an autopsy conducted before a group of students and physicians from Cambridge. “A battery was attached to Corder’s limits to demonstrate the contraction of the muscles, the sternum was opened and the internal organs examined.” (William Corder)

“Since the skeleton was to be reassembled after the dissection, it was not possible to examine the brain, so instead the surgeons contented themselves with a phrenological examination of the skull. Corder's skull was asserted to be profoundly developed in the areas of ‘secretiveness, acquisitiveness, destructiveness, philoprogenitiveness, and imitativeness" with little evidence of "benevolence or veneration.’

“The bust of Corder held by Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St. Edmunds is an original made by Child of Bungay, Suffolk, as a tool for the study of Corder's phrenology. The skeleton was reassembled and exhibited in the West Suffolk Hospital.

“Several copies of his death mask were made, a replica of one is held at Moyse's Hall Museum. Artefacts from the trial and some which were in Corder's possession are also held at the museum. Corder's skin was tanned by the surgeon George Creed, and used to bind an account of the murder.

“Until 2004, Corder's skeleton was on display in the Hunterian Museum in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, where it hung beside that of Jonathan Wild. In response to requests from surviving relatives, Corder's bones were removed from display and cremated.” (William Corder)

Plays incorporating the gruesome details of the murder were performed while Corder awaited trial. Authors took up the tale, and the story became a staple of the penny gaffs. James Catnatch sold over a million broadsides following the execution. The single sheet newspapers contained details of the execution and of Corder’s half-hearted confession. The accounts also contained a maudlin ballad, reportedly written by Corder. All the drama surrounding the murder, the capture, the trial, and the execution makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction.

“Pieces of the rope, which was used to hang Corder sold for a guinea each. Part of Corder's scalp with an ear still attached was displayed in a shop in Oxford Street. A lock of Maria's hair sold for two guineas. Polstead became a tourist venue with visitors travelling from as far afield as Ireland; Curtis estimated that 200,000 people visited Polstead in 1828 alone.

“The Red Barn and the Martens' cottage excited particular interest. The barn was stripped for souvenirs, down to the planks being removed from the sides, broken up and sold as toothpicks. It was planned to be demolished after the trial, but it was left standing and eventually burnt down in 1842. Souvenir hunters eventually chipped even Maria’s gravestone away to nothing. Pottery models and sketches were sold and songs composed, including one mentioned in the Vaughan Williams opera Hugh the Drover.

“Corder's skeleton was put on display in a glass case in the West Suffolk Hospital, and apparently rigged with a mechanism that made its arm point to the collection box when approached. Eventually, a Dr. Kilner, who wanted to add Corder’s skull to his extensive collection of Red Barn memorabilia, replaced the skull. After a series of unfortunate events, Kilner became convinced the skull was cursed and handed it on to his friend Hopkins. Further disasters plagued both men and they finally paid for the skull to be given a Christian burial in an attempt to lift the supposed curse.

“Interest in the case did not quickly fade. Maria Marten; or The Murder in the Red Barn, which existed in various anonymous versions, was a sensational hit throughout the mid-1800s and may have been the most performed play of the 19th century; Victorian fairground peepshows were forced to add extra apertures to their viewers when exhibiting their shows of the murder to cope with the demand. The plays of the Victorian era tended to portray Corder as a cold-blooded monster and Maria as the innocent he preyed upon; her reputation and her children by other fathers were airbrushed out, and Corder was made into an older man. Charles Dickens published an account of the murder in his magazine All The Year Round after initially rejecting it because he felt the story to be too well known and the account of the stepmother's dreams rather far-fetched.

“Although diminished, the fascination continued into the 20th century with five film versions, including the 1935 Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn, starring Tod Slaughter, which was only released in the U.S. after some scenes were cut. A fictionalized account of the murder was produced in 1953 for the CBS radio series ‘Crime Classics.’ The incident has inspired a number of contemporary musicians: No Roses by the Albion Country Band, released in 1971, included the traditional song ‘Murder of Maria Martin’; more recently, ‘Murder in the Red Barn,’ a song by Tom Waits (co-written with his wife Kathleen Brennan) from his 1992 album Bone Machine, and Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman's ‘The Red Barn’ on the 2004 album ‘2’ have commemorated the event. The song "Maria Martin" included on the folk album White Swans Black Ravens was recorded live in Moyse's Hall Museum. Swavesey Village College Theatre Company produced a stage adaptation in 2000, and later revived the production in 2006. The latest revival toured to theatres and received critical acclaim.

“In November 2007 a report of a fire that nearly destroyed Marten's still-standing cottage was on the front page of the East Anglian Daily Times. Firefighters saved 80% of the thatched roof at Marten's former home after a chimney fire threatened the ‘iconic Suffolk cottage,’ now run as a bed and breakfast.” (William Corder)

Other Sources of Information:
Curtis, James (1828). The Mysterious Murder of Maria Marten. London: William Clowes. Hindley, Charles [1869] (1969). The History of the Catnach Press. Detroit: Singing Tree Press.

About the Author: Award-winning author, Regina Jeffers writes Austen-inspired novels, including Darcy’s Passions, Darcy’s Temptation, Vampire Darcy’s Desire, Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, The Phantom of Pemberley, Christmas at Pemberley, The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy, Honor and Hope and The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy. She also writes Regency romances: The Scandal of Lady Eleanor, A Touch of Velvet, A Touch of Cashémere, A Touch of Grace, A Touch of Mercy, A Touch of Love, A Touch of Honor and The First Wives’ Club. A Time Warner Star Teacher and Martha Holden Jennings Scholar, Jeffers often serves as a consultant in language arts and media literacy. Currently living outside Charlotte, North Carolina, she spends her time with her writing, gardening, and her adorable grandchildren.