The Battersea Poltergeist

The Robinson family’s home in Battersea, South London, was the center of one of Britain’s longest-running poltergeist cases. From 1956 to 1968, the family experienced persistent phenomena including object movements, spontaneous fires, rappings, and apparent communication with an entity. The case was investigated by researchers and documented in newspapers over its twelve-year duration.

The Robinson Family

Frederick Robinson, a pensioner, lived in the house with his mother, son Wally, daughter Shirley, granddaughter Pauline, and various lodgers over the years. The phenomena appeared to center on Shirley, who was fifteen when the activity began.

The family was working-class and had no particular interest in the paranormal before the events began. They sought explanations and help rather than attention.

The Activity Begins

In January 1956, pennies began appearing in the house from nowhere. They would fall from the ceiling, appear in closed rooms, and materialize in front of witnesses. The phenomena quickly expanded to include other objects.

Keys flew across rooms. A clock traveled down a flight of stairs on its own. Furniture moved. Fires started spontaneously, burning bedding and clothing with no apparent ignition source. The family called the fire department repeatedly, but no cause could be found.

Investigation

Harold Chibbett of the Society for Psychical Research investigated the case extensively, beginning in 1956 and continuing for years. He witnessed phenomena firsthand and concluded that fraud could not explain what he observed.

Other investigators came and went. Some witnessed activity; others did not. The phenomena were erratic, sometimes occurring daily and sometimes quiet for weeks.

Communication Attempts

Investigators attempted to communicate with whatever caused the phenomena. Using a code of knocks, they received responses that claimed the entity was the ghost of a French prisoner of war named Louis, who had died in the area during the eighteenth century.

Whether this communication was genuine, a product of unconscious muscle movements by participants, or fabricated could not be determined. The responses were consistent but provided no verifiable information.

Later Years

The activity continued through the early 1960s but gradually diminished. Shirley married and moved away, and the phenomena largely ceased. Sporadic incidents were reported through 1968, but never at the intensity of the early years.

The house itself was eventually demolished as part of urban renewal, taking with it whatever remained of the Battersea mystery.

Assessment

The Battersea poltergeist is notable for its duration and documentation. Twelve years of activity, witnessed by family members, lodgers, neighbors, and investigators, produced a substantial record.

The case fits the classic poltergeist pattern: activity centered on an adolescent female, phenomena that could not be reproduced on demand, and gradual cessation as the focal person matured.

Whether Shirley Robinson was the unconscious generator of the activity, whether a genuine entity named Louis haunted the house, or whether some combination of factors produced the phenomena remains unknown. What is certain is that something troubled that Battersea home for over a decade.