Sue Pengelly-Haunted History Tours of Devon

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Sue Pengelly-Haunted History Tours of Devon True stories you didn't know you wanted to know. Crimes, brothels, tragedies and ghosts. They do now. Well behaved dogs are welcome on all tours.

Sue Pengelly, My Haunted History Tours of Devon focus on real local stories – the Murders, Brothels, Strange events, Crimes and Ghosts – a range of North Devon’s gritty and grubby secrets that refuse to stay silent, real people's stories, People who had no voice and because they were poor, they didn't matter.

Torridge house. Bideford.In 1715 a wealthy woman called Ann Prust met and married an Irish baronet who, although charmin...
12/02/2025

Torridge house. Bideford.
In 1715 a wealthy woman called Ann Prust met and married an Irish baronet who, although charming and appeared wealthy, turned out to be a pig to her. They lived in Torridge house.
In those days all a woman’s property went to her husband and Ann had houses and land left to her by her father so she was a very good catch and the Baronet set his sights on her money. Poor Ann was swept off her feet.
Within a year her husband had mortgaged all her property to the hilt and spent the money on wine and women.
When Ann complained he locked her in Torridge house for three years and employed a keeper to make sure she didn’t go out.

Ann’s solicitor eventually rescued her. But her husband had already run off and had married another wealthy woman. He had three children with her then after three years he threw her out and married again. All while he was still married to Ann. I can’t decide if he was addicted to the honeymoon period in relationships, money or had a thing about the number three. Whatever it was it didn't do him any good. Ann remained married to him until her death.

1855. Amelia Western, a pr******te from South Molton, who sold her wares in Barnstaple too, had been in prison four time...
10/02/2025

1855. Amelia Western, a pr******te from South Molton, who sold her wares in Barnstaple too, had been in prison four times for theft. Why any man was surprised to be robbed in a brothel was often a cause for mirth in the courts. Many a man who had been pleasured then robbed, had the pr******te arrested, but when common sense kicked in, he would realise his wife or mother was going to see the court case in the paper and that would cause trouble he could do without. Swiftly realising he better cut his losses the chap would fail to show in court.

‘No show’ cases were then dismissed. Amelia, on the four occasions she was sentenced had failed to check if the men were married before she robbed them. But, there would have been many more times she had got away with theft. Prostitutes, although not keen on prison and especially the hard labour part of their sentence, accepted the risk came with the trade.
Amelia was known as ‘the great western’ because everyone rode her. Other girls were given equally vile names. Charity Collacott...spewing drunkard. Mary Layne...burnt tailed w***e. Rebecca Jones...seed of a w***e. Ann King...a vile and wicked woman as ever lived. Probably named by men who got robbed and couldn’t have the women arrested without incriminating themselves.

Prostitutes were given derisory nicknames by the press and the wealthier element who liked to appear pious and upright pillars of society. This denigrating practise toward the women served only to make such men appear as shallow and as weak as they really were. Few men of that ilk would know what it was like not to eat, not to sleep in a decent bed or to actually work for their money. The women who plied their wares in the town all knew each other and they never forgot a slight done to one of their own. If an opportunity arose to make amends they most certainly would have done so. Even if they had to wait months. One trick to settle a grudge was when the Fair was in town, everyone went to the fair. Everyone except burglars that is.

1873 Derby Lace Factory. Barnstaple.George Curwood, age 15, described as a diminutive child, who could neither read nor ...
09/02/2025

1873 Derby Lace Factory. Barnstaple.
George Curwood, age 15, described as a diminutive child, who could neither read nor write was staying with family at Newington Street. He got a job at the lace factory, long hours, a twelve to fourteen hour day being the norm. Dangerous and back breaking work. Small children like George were handy for crawling under looms to tie broken threads without stopping the loom. Fingers were crushed and head injuries were just considered part of the job.

George, had decided he'd had enough, he collected his wages on the friday and not realising he had to give notice, he left the factory with two friends. Probably at the instigation of their families the two boys went back to work on monday, but not George.
Mr Miller, owner of the factory, couldn't have people just leaving. Upsetting the working of the factory, god forbid that a poor working class child should think for themselves. That behaviour may incite others and had to be quashed.
George was arrested.
In court, George stated he wasn't from Barnstaple, he didn't know the rules, clearly scared to death by being in court, he begged to go back to work.
The magistrates, wanting to send a clear message to any worker who didn't tow the line and know their place, sentenced George to a month in prison with hard labour.

1859 Newport, Barnstaple.Mr and Mrs Hill could hear a child being thrashed in the house next door. Unable to stomach the...
07/02/2025

1859 Newport, Barnstaple.
Mr and Mrs Hill could hear a child being thrashed in the house next door. Unable to stomach the noise of repeated blows and the piteous wailing of the boy they knew lived there, Mr Hill armed himself with a stout stick and followed by his wife and other neighbours who had heard the noise, went next door to thrash the life out of the foreign chap that lived there.
After some repeated angry banging on the door it was opened by the small Frenchman who lived there.

Monsieur Wigole was most indignant to find himself threatened by the neighbours. His military moustache all a quiver he questioned their right to question his honour and pointed out if he was in his homeland he would run them all through with a sword or blow them up for such a smear on his character.
The neighbours, not in the least intimidated by the tiny Frenchman, demanded to see the boy.

Monsieur Wigole, after much protesting, went inside and brought out his nine year old nephew and although tear stained, the boy did not have a mark on him, but appeared unsteady on his feet.
His uncle explained that his nephew, who he was responsible for, had been sent to the public house for a quart of beer, instead of bringing it back to his uncle, the boy had drunk it on the way home and was now tipsy.
Monsieur Wigole had been thrashing the furniture in frustration, not the boy.

06/02/2025

1860 Ebberley Arms, Barnstaple.
Thomas short, a dapper little man from Simonsbath, his overcoat over his arm, walked somewhat unsteadily into the Police Station. He wanted someone at the Ebberley Arms arrested for seducing his wife and he wanted it done now.
As this was not a police matter they suggested he go to his lodging and sleep off the drink. Thomas, not keen on that idea began to kick up a fuss, he had money, he wanted a person arrested immediately! and began to empty his pockets of a significant sum of money. The police, realising Thomas would be an easy target for any thief, locked him in a cell to sleep off the drink.

In the morning, in front of the Magistrates, Thomas denied having been drunk, he had been collecting rents in the Ebberley and was reminded of his wife leaving him. To the alarm of the Magistrates, who thought this would be a five minute hearing, Thomas, his hand on his heart, began to recite a poem of his life, 'a lovely girl from Loxhore' who, apparently, wasn't lovely any more because she left him ten years ago. The poem did not include why and no-one was going to stop him and ask.
The Magistrates, anxious to stem the prodigious flow of dreadful poetry surmised that Thomas had been, and still was, drunk. They fined him five shillings with expenses.

1857. Elizabeth's husband of ten days announced she had to sell herself for his needs, she was to bring the money in, he...
05/02/2025

1857. Elizabeth's husband of ten days announced she had to sell herself for his needs, she was to bring the money in, he didn’t see why he should be working. Elizabeth absorbed this bombshell and taking off her cheap brass ring and placing it on the table, she told Thomas he could keep his name, as that was the only thing he owned. If she was to sell herself it would be for her needs in life. Not his. Taking up her shawl and settling it around her shoulders, Elizabeth left her house and her marriage.

Thomas, gathering his wits, after all this reaction wasn’t in his plan, opened the door and shouted after his wife to come back. Elizabeth, head held high, did not look back. A stiff autumn wind scuttered along the Landkey road buffeting stands of hair about her face, she pulled her shawl up over her head and held it under her chin. Giddy with her own daring and fuelled with the heat of her anger Elizabeth lengthened her determined stride to Barnstaple.
Elizabeth knew just where to go when she got to town. To The Royal Oak she went.

Opening the door Elizabeth was hit by the warmth of fire and song, the bar was crowded. Threading her way to the back she saw two women she knew, bought a drink and sat with them. The women would have cheered Elizabeth's courage and been angered by Thomas Downs attitude and, no doubt, made a mental note to give him short shrift if they were to see him.

In the convivial atmosphere of The Royal Oak the women told Elizabeth the rules of engagement. What to charge for what, who to trust, who not to trust, where she could find lodgings, and anything else she needed to know in order to earn a precarious living on the streets of Barnstaple.

Nineteen years later, in 1876 having supported herself through prostitution for some years and no contact with Thomas, the man himself strolls into the Golden Anchor in Barnstaple and see’s Elizabeth, calling herself Mrs Heard, along with Charles Heard her long-time partner and father of her son. Thomas, full of drink and still annoyed after all these years that his wife had the nerve to leave him, became belligerent and started verbally abusing Elizabeth using obscene language and threatening to beat her.

Charles, in defence of his partner got up to fight him. Other drinkers intervened and both men were prevented from fighting while someone fetched a constable and Thomas was arrested. This odious little man clearly wanted his day in court to embarrass Elizabeth further and stated that she was a pr******te. The court said they were not interested in what Elizabeth had or had not done in the past and declared Thomas had committed a breach of the bye law by using obscene language. He was fined one shilling and expenses and given a warning of a more serious punishment should they see him again. Thomas paid the fine saying ‘I think I am over her now sir’

05/02/2025

If you have an amusing, moving or heroic story of your ancestors or even a ghostly experience of them feel free to share it here. It is important that good people, people we have loved or admired, are remembered.

'Honour your ancestors for you are the product of a thousand loves'

1828 Barnstaple.A tradesman of the town was convinced goods were being stolen and decided to lay in wait, at night, to c...
04/02/2025

1828 Barnstaple.
A tradesman of the town was convinced goods were being stolen and decided to lay in wait, at night, to catch the thief. Only he didn't want to do this on his own. He got two friends and a policeman to lay in wait with him. The tradesman, to while away the hours, thoughtfully provided a quantity of 'courage stirring juice for them all. The tradesman and his happy, and getting happier by the hour, trio sat in the house next to his to keep watch.

As the hour approached 2am the constable thought he'd better show willing and go and have a look around the neighbouring yards. Seeing a human form clambering over a wall he ran back to his comrades shouting ' the thief is approaching!!'

The inebriated trio rushed forth to help catch the intruder, cannoned into each other, bounced off walls and woke the entire street. When the irate neighbours were placated and went back to bed the tradesman and his doubtful posse of vigilantes slunk back toward his property and realised what the constable thought was a person clambering over the wall, was in fact, the looming shadow of a chimney.

A local lady called Margaret told me her story of having seen the ghost of a lady in old fashioned clothes pacing up and...
03/02/2025

A local lady called Margaret told me her story of having seen the ghost of a lady in old fashioned clothes pacing up and down an area of the Torrs near the cliff.
At first she thought it was someone in fancy dress until she got nearer and her dog began to whine and tried to pull her back the way she had come, she was struggling with the dog, wondering what had got into him when he began barking furiously.
When Margaret looked back up at the woman she realised she couldn’t see her feet.
She said in that moment she knew she was seeing a ghost, she was so shocked that she couldn’t move for a minute then adrenaline kicked in and her dog had the fastest walk home.

I did some research as I always do and found that in 1928 a lady suffering with a mental illness was at the top of the cliff, she called down to her husband and son on the beach, her husband didn’t hear her. He was busy taking photographs but her young son looked up in time to see his mother throw herself over the cliff and down onto the beach.
I told Margaret what I had found.
Although sad for the lady and her family she was pleased that it wasn’t her imagination because the menopause had been running riot at the time.

1837 Barnstaple Prison.An elderly Margaret Nutt was imprisoned for assault, threatening behaviour and obscene language. ...
31/01/2025

1837 Barnstaple Prison.
An elderly Margaret Nutt was imprisoned for assault, threatening behaviour and obscene language. I don't what Catholics had ever done to Margaret but she detested them with a special vengeance. She would yell abuse at any she recognised and when a Catholic march walked through town Margaret's level of abuse reached new heights of frenzy.

The magistrates tired of jailing Margaret more times than they could remember, thought Australia could have her and put her on the list for transportation.
Four years later the Mayor was startled when it was brought to his attention that Margaret was unwell. Up until that moment the mayor thought Margaret was in Australia. Authorities had forgotten she was still in prison.

The Mayor had a doctor look at Margaret, he was of the opinion that she wouldn't last long and it would be best to release her, after all, it wouldn't look good if she died in prison.

Margaret was released and behaved pretty well for a year. Until, out shopping in Boutport Street, a Catholic march came past. This was just too much provocation for Margaret, she launched into a tirade of abuse at them all and promptly dropped dead in the street.

The Prison on the Square, opened 1828, was just behind and slightly to the left of the fountain. When it was demolished, Albert Place was built on the site.

1850. Barnstaple. Hannah Pugsley, with her customer in tow, was tired of s*x in the parish churchyard. Arse up against a...
30/01/2025

1850. Barnstaple. Hannah Pugsley, with her customer in tow, was tired of s*x in the parish churchyard. Arse up against a headstone wasn’t her idea of a good time, but it paid well. As Hannah and her paramour mounted the steps to the grass, to avoid the worst of the wet grass soaking into her skirts Hannah lifted them with one hand. Throwing her rat-tailed feather boa, her prized possession, over her shoulder with the other hand, she whispered “don’t tell me you want it over your mother’s headstone again”
“Too right I do” came the fiercely whispered reply, “bloody old bitch. I’m going to wear her name off the stone with your arse”
Hannah rolled her eyes, arranged herself to receive him and whispered “I don’t want her haunting me”
Her customer assumed the docking position and breathing in Hannah’s ear said, “well if she does you’ll know who she is because she’ll have fu***ng horns”
Hannah laughed and sensing her customer was approaching his finale replied, “no noise this time you bu**er, you cost me five shillings last time we was caught. Bite on your sleeve for f**k’s sake and if I get chilblains on my arse this will be the last time”

Hannah Pugsley, easily identifiable by the feather boa she always wore, had been arrested for s*x in the churchyard and fined five shillings, she paid it on the spot and went right back to work. Two years later, back in Barnstaple, she was arrested again for stealing a blanket from the workhouse. She had walked from Exeter, hungry, tired and with a heavy cold bordering on the flu, Hannah had stayed in the workhouse Infirmary where she was fed and given medicine until she recovered. Prior to leaving and noticing a blanket on an adjacent empty bed, Hannah, using the workhouse needle and thread, sat on her bed and made a long waist petticoat out of the blanket. It went around her twice.

Hannah left the workhouse looking considerably stouter around the middle than when she had arrived but no-one questioned this until the blanket was missed and a fellow inmate spilled the beans. In court the Magistrates were outraged that Hannah, a ‘common pr******te’ should stand in the dock in a feather boa that was ‘not of her station’ When she was sentenced to four months hard labour for theft, Hannah, with a swish of her boa, declared ‘she wouldn’t care if she got life’

1828. Ilfracombe. Hettie Lavercombe was described as a white witch. She used to comb the hills for herbs and beaches for...
29/01/2025

1828. Ilfracombe. Hettie Lavercombe was described as a white witch. She used to comb the hills for herbs and beaches for seaweed and was known for her healing potions to cure every type of illness.
As popular as Hettie was with locals there were always people who were afraid of her and in their ignorance they would bully and ridicule her.
One such man was Thomas Avery, for weeks, when he saw her in the town he and hi friends would follow Hettie shouting comments and jostling her. Hettie, fed up with this nonsense, turned and faced Thomas, pointed to his crotch and said ‘never again shall thee rise’

Three weeks later a very sheepish Thomas came to Hettie’s cottage laden with cheese, bread and ale.
Witches were always paid in food and drink. It was seen, in ancient times, what we would now call an exchange of energy.

Thomas’s new wife was threatening to leave him because he wasn’t fulfilling his marital duties. He was abject in his sorrow for bullying Hettie and begged her to help him. She took his offerings with a smile, pointed at his crotch and said ‘thee shall sleep no more’

It obviously worked because Thomas went on to have eight children. Whether his wife was thrilled about that is not recorded.
But Hettie was ahead of her time in the psychology business.

1848. Elizabeth Hall, a Barnstaple pr******te, cohabited with John Hill but was sick to death of him coming home drunk a...
28/01/2025

1848. Elizabeth Hall, a Barnstaple pr******te, cohabited with John Hill but was sick to death of him coming home drunk and threatened the next time she would lock him out. A few days later John, three sheets in the wind, rolled home to find Elizabeth had carried out her threat. Not to be deterred, John, circling the house, noticed an upstairs window at the back was open and began to climb up the back of the house.
With all the dexterity of a drunk there were several failed attempts that drew a crowd of amused neighbours full of helpful suggestions. None of which helped in the least as John repeatedly fell back on to the dung heap, all flailing arms and curses.

With a marked determination John eventually, and more by luck than any judgement, grasped the window sill and to applause from the watching crowd, he hauled his sweaty, stinking, self up and fell in through the bedroom window.
Elizabeth, standing there arms folded, had watched this pantomime in disgust then promptly left the house and had John arrested. In court the Magistrates listened patiently, no doubt rolled their eyes and said there was no felonious intent, gave John a telling off and sent him home where Elizabeth probably pinned his ears back even further.

1867 Barnstaple. George Shaddick and fellow workmen were digging out clay from the riverbank at Rolle Quay. It was hard ...
27/01/2025

1867 Barnstaple. George Shaddick and fellow workmen were digging out clay from the riverbank at Rolle Quay. It was hard going and George joked about finding a body. To his shock, within a few minutes he spotted what looked like a human skull. George and the other men, in a state of high excitement, set about finding the rest of the bones. Three feet down in a layer of the embankment they described as being as hard as a turnpike road was a full length perfect skeleton.

One of the men fetched a constable who had all the bones collected up in a bucket, all the men trooped into The Rolle Quay Inn where, much to the landlords disgust, the police officer washed the skull and bones in the sink and then proceeded to arrange the bones on the bar like a giant jigsaw puzzle revealing a perfect skeleton. What was odd about this skeleton was it had a large pelvis of a woman but the skull and jaw of a man.

At first it was thought George and his men had found a victim of murder and it certainly looked that way when the coroner who had been called, pointed out a fracture in the skull that had gone right through the bone.

After further examination it was determined that the bones were too old to have been anyone in any of their lifetime so they were collected up and quietly reburied in a local churchyard.

A few years later George, again digging out the riverbank, further down by the swing bridge, found another skeleton, this time of a man. The skeleton was in what remained of a hastily thrown together coffin of different pieces of wood. This skull also had a massive head injury and was said to be even older than the first.
It was suggested that when a ship had been laying in Barnstaple someone had been murdered and body secretly buried at low tide.

24/01/2025

1856 Torrington. The Bishop of Exeter wanted a wall built in the churchyard to separate the bodies of good Christian people from the nonconformists. He would consecrate the earth but wanted paying to do it.
This prompted a flood of angry letters saying death usually warranted being buried in any churchyard and, to their knowledge, a spirit has never wandered about outraged that their body had been buried next to a Christian.
One angry writer asked if worms could tell the difference between a Christian or nonconformist co**se and how far does the blessing go? 4ft? 10ft? Australia?
The wall idea was quietly dropped and the Bishop had to think of other ways to dupe people out of their money in the name of religion.

1874. Barnstaple maverick. Always the best kind.Ann Isaac and her customer were having a lovely time in bed at Laverombe...
23/01/2025

1874. Barnstaple maverick. Always the best kind.

Ann Isaac and her customer were having a lovely time in bed at Laverombes brothel in Azes lane when the house was raided by the police. This wouldn’t be anything unusual if it wasn’t for the fact that Ann’s customer was a police officer.

Some pious and choked by religion type men of the town were outraged. They wanted the policeman named and sacked. Authorities were reluctant do to this because it would have opened a whole new can of worms.

Ann Isaac wasn’t your average pr******te either, she liked to dress as a man. People complained of her strutting around town in trousers, her thumbs in her waistcoat pockets and, god forbid, standing in her own doorway smoking a pipe. Did Ann care? not one bit. Wearing trousers would have made getting around easier, no cumbersome skirts and no shawl or bonnet to faff with. Ann was ahead of her time and would have been secretly admired for the maverick she was.

Ann not only dressed like a man, she fought like one too. She was sentenced to one month in prison for riotous conduct in Azes lane. Ann didn’t know she had been sentenced because she didn’t appear in court. She took absolutely no notice. No-one chased this up, as she no doubt knew they wouldn’t, because, in court, Ann may have spilled her guts and that wouldn’t be in anyone’s favour.

This feisty woman later moved to Exeter where dressing as a man may have been slightly less shocking than in Barnstaple. But only just.

Bygone Brothel tours www.theploughartscentre.org.uk

1899. South Molton strange event.In the afternoon of 8th October the day began to get very hot, building to an extraordi...
22/01/2025

1899. South Molton strange event.
In the afternoon of 8th October the day began to get very hot, building to an extraordinary heat and there was not a cloud in the sky. Everyone was out making the most of this very unusual day when they began to notice strands of a white substance floating in the air.
Some strands were two feet long, more and more filled the air until it was coating clothing, wrapping itself around hats, draping all the trees and hanging from roofs and chimney pots all over town. Strands of this white cotton like substance covered nearby fields and added drapery to horses, cows and sheep.
To this day, no-one has the slightest idea what this was.

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life. But not as we know it.

I started these tours because I found the social underbelly much more interesting than the glossy top layer. I wanted to know how 19th century pr******tes braced themselves to provide a sweet release for a customer who didn’t resemble Brad Pitt. A penny tremble ( hand job) bought them 29 drops of laudanum is how.

I wanted to know the back stories about cases of infanticide and concealment of birth. No -one ever asked Julia Buckingham if assault resulted in her pregnancy. Instead she was reviled, her character assasinated and the terror of losing her job and her home became a reality because some self righteous woman decided she should be reported instead of helped.

life was brutal if you were poor so you had to be resourceful. During the potato and bread shortage on 1867, 500 local women camped outside a warehouse all night to make sure the owner didn’t ship the potatoes out overnight for a better price. Then they followed the cart to the market the next morning to buy the potatoes because that was all they could afford to feed their men and children. I cheered for them.

A lady was doing her washing in the days of the twin tub, took ages and the spin dryer could shake foundations. She saw the ghost of an old lady watching her from the kitchen doorway and was so afraid to go anywhere else in the house that she stayed in the kitchen and pee’d in a bucket until her husband came home.