Difference between revisions 123501062 and 123501063 on dewiki

{{Use British English|date=April 2011}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2011}}
[[File:Cock lane ghost.png|250px|thumb|alt=A monochrome illustration of a narrow street, viewed from a corner, or intersection. A large three-storey building is visible on the right of the image. The ground floor has three windows, the first and second floors have two windows each. The roof appears to contain a row of windows, for a loft space. The word "KING" is written between the first and second floors, and a sign, "(contracted; show full)ped after the couple moved out, but following Fanny's death from [[smallpox]], and Kent's successful legal action against Parsons over an outstanding debt, they began again.  Parsons claimed that Fanny's ghost haunted his property, and later his daughter.  Regular séances were held to determine "Scratching Fanny's" motives, and Cock Lane was often made impassable by the throngs of interested bystanders.

The ghost appeared to claim that Fanny had been poisoned with [[arsenic]]
, and Kent was publicly suspected of being her murderer, but a commission whose members included [[Samuel Johnson]] concluded that the supposed haunting was a fraud.  Further investigations proved the scam was perpetrated by Elizabeth Parsons, under duress from her father.  Those responsible were prosecuted and found guilty; Richard Parsons was [[pillory|pilloried]] and sentenced to two years in prison.

(contracted; show full)[[Category:History of the City of London]]
[[Category:Crime in London]]
[[Category:18th century in London]]
[[Category:18th-century hoaxes]]

{{Link FA|fr}}
[[fr:Fantôme de Cock Lane]]
[[ja:コック・レーンの幽霊]]