By Noel F. Busch – A Who’s Who of English Ghosts. Life Magazine. 22 September, 1947., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128144418
In 2004, a small team out of Warwick, Rhode Island, premiered a new series on what was then the Sci-Fi Channel. Aptly titled Ghost Hunters, the series followed Roto-Rooter employees Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson as they explored the otherworldly in hopes of capturing undeniable proof of the paranormal.
On the heels of the show’s fame, you could argue that The Atlantic Paranormal Society sparked the rising popularity and public interest in ghost hunting. Surprisingly, though, the practice is quite a bit older than these spectral pioneers.
Not only were Hawes and Wilson far from the first to televise their spooky exploits, but they are also over half a century removed from being the first ghost hunters. That honor goes to a Victorian-era influence who has long been dubbed the “Original Ghost Hunter.” Harry Price may not be a household name, but without his early work, it’s quite possible the landscape of the ghost hunting industry would be quite different.
While the rise of Spiritualism around the world during the early 20th century led many intellectuals to look deeper into the feasibility and existence of a “spirit world,” one individual in particular introduced scientific instruments and his knowledge of magic as tools to test the veracity of claims of ghostly activity. Harry Price became a pariah in the field of psychical research for his sensationalized reports, but through his work, he also laid the foundation for what we now know as a “ghost hunter.”
Ghost Hunters Through the Ages
The term “ghost hunter” has roots in 18th-century literature, and though the goal of these spectral surveyors hasn’t changed, their methods have. The contemporary concept of a ghost hunter, credited to Harry Price, is an individual who investigates claims of the supernatural using scientific instruments.
Ghost Hunters may have popularized the hobby, but many well-known names predate the TV series. Ed and Loraine Warren, who many recognize from The Conjuring series, often used electromagnetic field (EMF) meters and cameras.
Hans Holzer, another father of ghost hunting who emerged just after Price, implemented reel-to-reel recorders and cameras.
As for the London native, while he did eventually add technical equipment to his studies, the basis of his interest in the otherworldly had quite a surprising start.
Harry Price Discovers Magic and the SPR
Every fascination has a beginning. For Harry Price’s attraction to the strange and the unknown, it all began with simple parlor tricks and magic. There’s a mysticism to magic that he latched onto during a performance in 1889.
Immediately after, he started stockpiling books on illusions, amassing an impressive library.
About 7 years after seeing his first magic show, Price was drawn to the world of the psychical. It led him to learn more about conjuring, during which his appreciation for the spirit realm deepened.
Claims of the eerie and unsettling circulated around an old manor nearby, and it became the site of his first investigation. Along with a friend, he stayed the night. Save for disembodied footsteps, it was a fairly tame evening.
Though trying to capture evidence of ghosts was merely a hobby, in 1908, he married his ticket to stardom. Constance Mary Knight was a wealthy heiress who funded her husband’s early years as an independent ghost hunter.
By 1920, when he joined the Society for Psychical Research, he shifted to using his understanding of magic tricks to debunk mediums and others he believed to be fraudulent in their claims.
With the support of the SPR, he went after a man with a peculiar career.
The First Ghost Hunter Versus William Hope
While Price established himself as a trusted name in ghost hunting, William Hope had a booming business of his own. As a medium and photographer, Hope produced images of the undead, earning praise and admiration from the Spiritualist community.
Come 1922, though, a sharp tongue publicly admonished the medium’s work.
On his quest to find proof of an afterlife, Price used everything he knew about illusions and sleight of hand to expose suspected con artists taking advantage of the Spiritualist movement. Hope fell in his sights, despite many defending his authenticity.
The skeptic attended one of the spirit photography sessions, leading to allegations that Hope used photographic plates that already had spectral forms added to them.
When those plates were used to take a new photograph, it looked as if an apparition manifested. The discovery, which Price made public, launched a public feud between the two.
Those who supported Hope felt that since his vocal opponent set out to prove the spirit photographer was lying, his claims weren’t trustworthy, especially since there was little physical proof to support them.
Who was Stella Cranshaw?
Price may have launched his pursuit for the truth with William Hope, but attention was drawn elsewhere months later. In early 1923, he happened upon a young nurse who, he believed, displayed authentic mediumship.
Already looking to distance himself from SPR by developing the National Laboratory of Psychical Research, the forefather of spectral investigations convinced Cranshaw to participate in a series of sittings.
Despite still being skeptical of many mediums, Price approached his sessions with Cranshaw with the intent to showcase her authenticity. During each session, he used scientific instruments to prove that she exhibited real powers. Included in his kit were:
- Thermometers
- Telekinetoscope
- Shadow box
- Custom trick table
The Tools of the First Ghost Hunter
In his ghost hunter’s toolbox, Price kept a thermometer to track changes in temperature during the seance. Some of his other devices were a bit more inventive, though, like the telekinetoscope that tested the medium’s ability to interact with an electric telegraph key housed in glass and covered by a soap bubble.
Additionally, the innovator devised a shadow box that used a Zeiss telephoto lens and Wratten ruby filter to cast a thin beam of light on a screen. This would catch any spectral tendrils or arms that interacted with a bell or trumpet.
Maybe his most famous invention was his custom table, which prevented mediums from “levitating” the table with their legs, a common trick used to deceive onlookers. The design was simple and used a cage to keep the sitters’ legs from going under the table.
There was another variety that featured a shelf enclosed in mesh. On this shelf, Price placed items like a bell or musical instrument. The theory was that no corporeal being could manipulate the objects on the shelf without disrupting the mesh barrier, so if they rang or sounded, it must have been a spirit’s doing.
In a 1940 book chronicling one of his most famous investigations, Price also noted that he typically carried:
- Screw-eyes
- White tape
- Small electric bells
- Pencils
- Bowl of mercury
- Cinematograph camera
The Investigations of Harry Price
While working with Cranshaw, Price continued to utilize his expertise to perform investigations on a number of haunted locations, alleged mediums, and mysterious objects. His sittings with the young nurse strained his relationship with the SPR, but the American Society appointed him as a Foreign Research Officer.
With this title, the original ghost hunter set out to explore claims of the strange and unusual around the world. From 1925 to 1936, this included:
- Medium Lotte Plaat-Mahistedt
- Medium Helen Duncan
- The Indian rope trick/fire-walking of Kuda Bux
- The Battersea Poltergeist
- The Poltergeist Girl, Eleonore Zugen
While these marked interesting notches in Price’s career, there was one key location that elevated him to global infamy.
The Borley Rectory Investigation
Out in rural Essex sat a forgotten ruin, an antiquated piece of history that had become known as one of England’s most haunted houses. The Borley Rectory was merely a decaying building to some, but for Harry Price, it was the pinnacle of his hunts.
Drawn to the potential for spectral activity, he rented the rectory for a year to conduct a series of investigations. His intrigue into the rectory lasted for years, spurring several books, including The Most Haunted House in England (1940), where he revealed his complete ghost hunter toolkit, and The End of Borley Rectory (1946), which was released after the building fell victim to a fire in 1939.
Price brought in volunteers to help record incidents at the recotory. Shortly after the lengthy investigation began, he claimed the building came to life with creaks, knocks, and cold drafts that seemed unnatural and unlikely to happen without a spirit’s intervention.
After the investigation concluded, the team’s findings were published and presented in lecture halls around England.
Of everything that allegedly happened in the rectory, the ghost hunter spoke often of the unverified tale of a nun who had been buried alive within the rectory’s walls for breaking her vow of chastity.
Curiously, near the end of the rectory’s legacy, after it had been completely torn down, Price changed his tone from a believer to a harsh skeptic. Despite the new approach, his career as a believer and ghost hunter had already drawn heavy skepticism and ridicule.
Who Were the Biggest Critics of Harry Price?
The original ghost hunter may have started as a member of the Society for Psychical Research, but by the end of his life, members of the society stood at the center of his biggest critics. He was accused of sensationalizing his experiences and even potentially staging activity that he then presented as proof.
One SPR member, Eric Dingwall, butted heads often with Price. The two had established a “frenemy” relationship, neither submitting to the practices and beliefs of the other.
Even the Borley Rectory investigation fell under heavy scrutiny. After his passing in 1948, Dingwall collaborated with Price’s former secretary, Mollie Goldney, and published The Haunting of Borley Rectory: A Critical Survey of the Evidence.
Goldney was particularly driven to discredit her former boss, continuing the complex relationship they had while he was still alive. Claims of witness manipulation were particularly damning, but the ghost hunter’s reputation remained largely unphased.
Like the spectral investigators of today, he had gained too much acclaim and solidified himself as a pioneer of paranormal research.
In 1939, Price chronicled the entirety of his life as a spectral researcher in Fifty Years of Psychical Research: A Critical Survey. Even through just a surface overview of his exploits, though, it’s evident that he had a strong influence on the modern ghost hunter. Beliefs and methods may have changed over the years, but the essence of his work still exists at the very core of what it means to be a paranormal investigator.
https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-stories/harry-price-the-first-modern-ghost-hunter/