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From 1762 to 1764 in Cock Lane, London, so-called poltergeist activity both terrified and fascinated onlookers. The story was written down by Andrew Lang and published in 1894 with the title Cock Lane and Common Sense.

It all began in 1760 when a stockbroker, Mr Kent, rented a house in Cock Lane from Mr Parsons, a parish clerk. At the time, a Miss Fanny was Kent’s housekeeper; the two fell in love and decided to make wills naming each other as beneficiaries. Not long after, Kent and Parsons had a disagreement over money. Mr Kent moved out of the house and began legal proceedings against Parsons. In the meantime, Fanny died of smallpox, and Parsons seized upon the chance to get his revenge on Kent. He concocted a story whereby Mr Kent had murdered Fanny for the inheritance, and in 1762 Parsons began to claim that Fanny was haunting the house. He alleged that Fanny had told his 12-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, that she had been poisoned by Kent. Parsons invited a committee of 20 or more men to his house to witness Fanny’s ghost possessing his young daughter. Elizabeth, apparently under the influence of Fanny, declared once again that she had been poisoned and that the only way she could rest would be if Kent were hanged.

Before long Cock Lane was full of the curious – Parsons even took to charging a fee for people to enter the house and listen to the ghost knocking. There were, however, many who were suspicious of the ghost tale, and their suspicions were confirmed when the ghost failed to appear as promised when Kent was brought to Fanny’s vault. Parsons tried to argue that the ghost did not appear because Kent had moved Fanny’s coffin, but Mr Kent countered this by taking several witnesses to the coffin, which he had opened to reveal Fanny’s body. Afterwards, Kent indicted Parsons and his daughter for fraud. Parsons was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison.