Ghosts: The Watercress Lady

 

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Pluckley, England is home to many hauntings. One of which is of a woman called the Watercress Lady. In the early 1900's likely the 1920's there was a gypsy woman who was living in Pluckley. Now Gypsies at the time were traveling nomads from either Ireland or Eastern Europeans living in wagons and at their stops would either earn money from trading things or working on local farms. This woman made a living gathering watercress and selling it to the villagers.

The old woman was known as an eccentric but harmless person. She was known for smoking her clay pipe and known to enjoy gin from her battered old flask. After the sun would set she would go to the crossroads bridge. She would sit on the walls enjoying the night air smoking her pipe and drinking her gin.

However one unfortunate night she fell asleep while doing so. She would spill her flask on herself and the pipe would fall and light her up. It was said that no one heard her screams. The next day she would be found as a pile of ashes with her flask and pipe nearby. Letting people know it was the Watercress Lady and she had a tragic end.

Even though the Watercress Lady's screams were not heard the night she died it was afterward. Her ghost would be seen many times after her death reliving her death. She would be covered in flames and her heartbreaking screams could be heard. Slowly however she stopped being a screaming ball of fire to a faint pink glow hovering over the place she burned to death.

SOURCES:
London Walking Tours

Ghost Connections

Ghosts Wiki

The 2002 Abernethy Bushfire and the death of Ronald Gillett

Darren Pateman's photograph of the cricket match that took place at Cessnock as the bushfire approached

On October 19, 2002, a fire was set behind the Cessnock racecourse in New South Wales, Australia. The fire would accelerate quickly and then split into two major fire fronts. The flames were large and dangerous as they started doing their damage in Abernathy, Kearsley, and Kitchener. 

13 homes would be destroyed and one life would be lost. Abernathy was hit that hardest. Ronald Gillett who was from Sydney was driving down Kearsley Road when his car was engulfed by the flames. He was the only casualty in the bushfire.

It's unknown who started this fire. A $100,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case.

SOURCES:

New South Wales Government

The Sydney Morning Herald

Cessnock Advertiser

Murder of Willene Chong

 On the morning of September 11, 2008, the home that 76-year-old Willene Chong lived in with her son's family was caught on fire. Someone had deliberately and randomly set the home on fire after setting a series of arsons hours before in their area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The last place they set on fire in their home.

Her son awoke to the fire, and raced through the house. He tried to save his mother, even breaking a basement window to get to her, but Willene would die. It's unknown who set the fires, and who caught the home on fire killing Willene.

SOURCES:

VPD Cold Cases

November 6, 1930 Hardingstone, England John Doe

 

In November 1930, 35-year-old Alfred Rouse met a man outside of a London, England pub. The man would tell him a down-and-out and a hard-luck story, he was looking for work and mentioned he had no family. Alfred would then bring the unknown man to a pub for drinks. He would drink lemonade as he pays for the unknown man's drinks.

Alfred for a while thought of faking his own death for a while. He was fed up with his life and was expecting children from his mistresses. He wanted to start life over again and realized that the man would not be missed and took the opportunity. He would search out for the man on the 2nd or 3rd of November and would find him. Alfred would tell the man that he was going to Leicester on Wednesday and would give the unknown man a lift there. He would make an appointment to meet the man to meet on November 5th at 8 p.m.

On the 5th he would meet the man outside of the pub. The two men would ride in Alfred's Morris Minor. On the drive, the two would talk a lot, and the man would drink the whisky Alfred gave him. When they got to Hardingstone the man would be half dozing due to the whisky. He would grip the man's throat with his right hand and pushed his head against the back of the seat. The man did not resist and just gurgled. 

Around 1 a.m. on November 6th Alfred would then go and loosen the feeding pipe between the petrol tank and the carburetor. He would take the petrol can from the boot and poured it on both the victim and the vehicle before placing it back in the rear of the car and grab his attaché case Standing from a distance he would catch the vehicle on fire. The man was unconscious and burned alive.

His intention was to walk to Northampton and travel to Scottland by train to start his new life. But when he was walking away from the vehicle he would pass two young men. The men noticed the smoke and said something about it. In response, Alfred responded with "It looks like someone's having a bonfire up there." Alfred would then abandon his plan and return home as the men had seen him and he believed that no one would think it was him who was dead. He would then report the vehicle stolen.

The victim was badly burned in the vehicle. He would not be identified. Alfred would be soon arrested for the murder. He would be insistent during the trial that the car was caught on fire due to John Doe's Cigar. That John Doe had been asked to fill the petrol and he must have accidentally lit the car on fire. The Jury would find him guilty and he would be sentenced to hang. 

It wasn't until a few days before his execution on 10 March 1931 that Alfred admitted to the murder. He would write to the Daily Sketch of the events that happened. Alfred would refuse to help the police find the man's identity. He would though give some descriptions of him. He did not know the man's name as he had no reason to ask.

John Doe was between 33 and 40-years-old. He was 5'6" to 5'8". The autopsy revealed that he had worked in an extremely dusty place throughout his lfe. The following descriptions are from Alfred. The man was respectfully dressed in a light-colored overcoat and had an overall appearance of a clerk. He had a slight brogue and had a sporting or boxing tattoo on his right forearm. At the time he was wearing police boots and had told Alfred that London police had given them to him. He had also carried a sports diary. 

In 2012 DNA was taken from the John Doe, but this has not led to an identification yet. 

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Wikipedia

BBC

September 30, 1952, Gilpin County, Colorado Maria Doe

On September 30, 1952, charred remains were found by a man on a hunting trip. He found the body under a 7ft charred log in an unused gravel pit in a wooded area 100 yards from Highway 119 and 35 ft from Clear Creek in Gilpin County, Colorado.

It was found that the body belonged to a woman and that she had blunt force trauma her head. It's unknown if this was the cause of death or if she was still alive when set on fire. A 3 ft stick was found near her body and was possibly used to hit her. She'd been dead between 20 days to a month.

She's a white female between 17 and 30-years-old. She was around 5'7" and had brown/black hair. She would have had a notable overbite. A fragment of a turquoise sequinned blouse, metal rivets of blue jeans, and a sole of a shoe. She was wearing a whinstone necklace and earrings. A purse, small electric razor, and an empty lipstick container. A man's wedding ring with no setting was found near the scene.

This case is often known as Maria or Pyre Case.

SOURCES:
NamUs
Doe Network
Greeley Daily Tribune (October 1, 1952)