The Moberly-Jourdain Incident

On August 10, 1901, two English academics walked through the gardens of the Petit Trianon at Versailles and apparently stepped into the past. What they experienced—figures in 18th-century dress, buildings that no longer existed, an oppressive atmosphere of dread—would become one of the most famous and debated cases of possible time displacement in paranormal history.

The Witnesses

Two Respectable Women

Charlotte Anne Moberly (1846-1937) was the daughter of a bishop and the first principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford. She was highly educated, deeply religious, and not given to fantasy.

Eleanor Jourdain (1863-1924) was a scholar, headmistress, and academic who would later succeed Moberly as principal of St Hugh’s. She was known for her sharp intellect and skeptical nature.

These were not credulous occultists or sensation-seekers. They were two of the most respected women educators in England.

August 10, 1901

A Visit to Versailles

Moberly and Jourdain were visiting Paris together—their first meeting outside academic settings. On August 10, they decided to tour the Palace of Versailles and its gardens.

After viewing the palace, they set out to find the Petit Trianon, a small château on the grounds that had been a favorite retreat of Queen Marie Antoinette.

The Experience

Walking through the gardens, both women began to feel “a strange depression.”

Moberly’s Account: “Everything suddenly looked unnatural, the trees flat and lifeless, like a wood worked in tapestry. There were no effects of light and shade, and no wind stirred the trees.”

What They Encountered:

The Farm Buildings: They passed farm buildings and saw workers. Two men in long grayish-green coats and tricorn hats appeared to be groundskeepers. Jourdain asked them for directions. The men pointed the way without speaking.

The Kiosk and the Sinister Man: They came upon a garden structure (kiosk) near which sat a man whose appearance disturbed them both. He wore a heavy dark cloak, his face was “repulsive” and pitted (possibly by smallpox). He stared at them with an expression of menace.

The Running Man: A man ran up behind them, calling out urgently in French. He wore buckled shoes and a dark cloak. He pointed them toward a different path, then ran off.

The Lady Sketching: Near the Petit Trianon, Moberly saw a woman sitting on the grass, apparently sketching. She wore an old-fashioned summer dress, a pale fichu (neckerchief), and a light-colored hat. Her expression was sad.

The Petit Trianon: They finally reached the building and entered through a door that—they later learned—had not existed since the 18th century.

The Departure

Once inside the normal tourist areas, the oppressive feeling lifted. They completed their visit and returned to Paris.

The Discovery

Comparing Notes

Neither woman mentioned the strange experience to the other for a week. Finally, Moberly asked: “Do you think the Petit Trianon is haunted?”

Jourdain replied: “Yes, I do.”

They compared their memories and found they matched in most details—but with interesting differences. Both had seen the men in green coats, the sinister man at the kiosk, and the running messenger. But only Moberly had seen the sketching woman.

The Investigation

Over the following years, Moberly and Jourdain researched extensively:

What They Found:

The Date: August 10, 1789, was the day a revolutionary mob marched on Versailles—a day of great terror for Marie Antoinette.

The Costumes: The clothing they described matched late 18th-century fashion precisely—details the women had no expertise in.

The Buildings: Maps from 1789 showed structures they had passed that no longer existed in 1901.

The Door: The entrance they used had been sealed since the Revolution.

The Sketching Woman: Based on descriptions and the location, researchers (including the women themselves) concluded this might have been Marie Antoinette herself, who was known to sketch in the gardens.

The Sinister Man: His description matched the Comte de Vaudreuil, a figure known to have been at Versailles and whose smallpox-scarred face was documented.

The Book

An Adventure (1911)

Moberly and Jourdain published their account under pseudonyms in 1911 as An Adventure. The book caused a sensation.

Their Conclusion: They believed they had somehow witnessed an event from 1789—possibly a psychic imprint, possibly an actual timeslip. The date of their visit (August 10) matching the anniversary of the revolutionary march seemed significant.

Critical Response

The book was both celebrated and attacked:

Supporters pointed to:

• The witnesses’ impeccable credentials
• The historical accuracy of details they couldn’t have known
• The psychological distress both women reported
• The corroborating details in their separate accounts

Critics argued:

• The women might have encountered a costume party or theatrical rehearsal
• They could have unconsciously absorbed historical details
• The decade between experience and publication allowed for memory contamination
• Some details in later editions contradicted earlier versions

Theories

What Happened?

Time Slip: The most dramatic explanation: Moberly and Jourdain physically or psychically slipped back to 1789 and witnessed actual events.

Stone Tape: The gardens retained a psychic “recording” of traumatic events that the women somehow perceived.

Misidentification: They encountered a historical reenactment and their memories were shaped by subsequent research.

Folie à Deux: A shared delusion between two closely associated people.

Deliberate Hoax: The women fabricated the story—though this seems inconsistent with their characters and they never profited from it.

Later Investigations

Researchers have continued to examine the case:

Supporting Evidence:

• Maps confirming buildings they described
• Fashion historians validating costume details
• No record of any theatrical event that day

Problematic Evidence:

• Discrepancies between early and late versions of their account
• Some details might have been available in guidebooks
• Memory is notoriously unreliable over long periods

The Legacy

A Classic Case

The Moberly-Jourdain incident remains the most famous claimed timeslip:

• It has been studied by psychical researchers for over a century
• It inspired numerous books, films, and TV programs
• It raises fundamental questions about the nature of time and perception

Versailles Today

Visitors to the Petit Trianon gardens still occasionally report:

• Feelings of oppression in certain areas
• Glimpses of figures in period costume that vanish
• A sense of being “somewhere else”

Whether these are genuine anomalies or the power of suggestion inspired by a famous story is impossible to determine.

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On a summer afternoon in 1901, two sensible Englishwomen walked through the gardens of Versailles and into mystery. What they saw—or believed they saw—has never been adequately explained. Did they slip through time? Did the past somehow bleed into the present? Or did two rational minds share an impossible hallucination? The Petit Trianon keeps its secrets, just as it did in the terrified days of 1789.