William and Kate’s Haunted Home

Ten bedroom Anmer Hall.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s newly remodeled home, Anmer Hall in Norfolk has a resident ghost.

This phantom is of a man who was martyred more than 400 years ago.

During Elizabethan times this home belonged to the Walpole family.

The eldest son in the family, Henry Walpole gave up his law practice and converted to Catholicism. He did this despite the fact this religion was harshly repressed by the English Crown.

Sir Henry Walpole

He studied abroad in 1590 becoming a Jesuit priest. He chanced the danger of persecution and started his journey back to England. He felt he would be able to successfully preach in Norfolk.

But fate intervened. The boat he traveled on was forced by bad weather to land in Flamborough in Yorkshire. Henry was arrested and taken to the Tower of London.

While imprisoned in the Salt Tower
Walpole carved his name in the plaster.
Photo: Richard Neveil

He endured months of torture on the rack while imprisoned at the Tower. In 1595 he was returned to York where at the age of 37, he was hung, and then drawn and quartered.

In 1970, Pope Paul Vl made him a saint.

Although he died far from Norfolk, his spirit appears to have returned home. His is seen wandering the grounds of Anmer Hall.

Witnesses have seen him in the home’s garden and it is said when the wind blows, people hear him calling.

Anmer Hall undergoing renovations.

Amner was a gift from the Queen to the royal couple. Recently it was overhauled to bring it up to date including new roof tiles, and the building of a glass-roofed garden room.

William and Kate like it so much they intend to make it their main home.

They were warned about the old hall being haunted by Sir Henry Walpole before they moved in. The couple took this in stride—for many of the royal residences are haunted.

The couple’s initial joking response to this news was, “No old home would be complete without a ghost.”

Haunted Jesse James Farm

It is said that the James farm in Kearney, Missouri where the notorious outlaw Jesse James grew up is haunted. Jesse James’ parents moved from Kentucky to Kearney in 1842. 

His father was a Baptist minister who wanted his boys to be well educated. However, during a trip to the California gold fields he died leaving his sons without a father, Jesse was just 3 years old. 

His mother, Zerelda lived on this farm for the rest of her life, through three marriages and eight children. 

At the time of the Civil War in 1863, the James’ farm was brutally attacked by Union soldiers. Shortly afterward Jesse age 16 and his older brother Frank became Confederate guerilla soldiers, riding with William Quantrill and “Bloody Bill” Anderson.

Quantrill’s Raiders as they later became known operated out of Missouri. They ambushed Union patrols and supply convoys. They seized the mail and occasionally struck towns on the Kansas-Missouri border. Their primary focus though was against the local pro-Union civilians-- which they tried to drive out of the territory. 

At the end of the Civil War the James brothers, Jesse and Frank, were now officially outlaws. They began to attack trains, banks, and stagecoaches that were controlled by the Northern side, which had instated brutal control to the Missouri legislation.

Jesse and Frank

From 1860 to 1882, the James gang was the most feared band of outlaws in America. Responsible for 20 bank and train robberies they murdered countless individuals that stood in their way. They stole an estimated $200,000. Despite their ruthlessness, they became folk heroes to some. They literally became “legends in their own time.” 

The local citizens of Kearney kept quiet when they were home on the farm during this time. Clay County where the farm is located was in a part of Missouri called "Little Dixie," the entire state was 75% southern sympathizers. 

Both Jesse and Frank were devoted husbands and fathers who spent a lot of time with their families. They were not modern Robin Hoods though, for they kept the money they stole.

Jesse James Dime Novel

In 1869, the gang robbed a bank in Gallatin, Missouri. Jesse shot the banker through the heart feeling he was responsible for the callous murder of Bloody Bill Anderson. 

The James Gang lost some public favor after this. Local newspapers started to call for the capture of “this blood thirty gang.” 

Frustrated at how the locals protected them, Governor Crittenden had the railroad place an enormous price on the James brother’s heads. 

Pinkerton detectives hired by several bankers raided the James farm in 1875 thinking the older brothers were there. They threw a bomb in the window, killing Jesse and Frank’s younger half-brother, Archie as their mother watched. She lost part of her right arm and hand during this struggle.

In one bank robbery, several members of the gang were killed. After this, the Youngers, a part of their group, were sent to prison for 25 years. 

In 1882, the brothers planned one last robbery with Charley and Bob Ford. They did not know these brothers intended to betray them for the hefty price on their heads. 

On the morning they were to commit this robbery Jesse ate breakfast with the Ford’s, he then placed his gun on one of the farmhouse beds and stopped to straighten a picture that hung on the wall. 

Bob Ford shot Jesse in the back of the head. He died instantly and was buried in the side yard of the James’ farmhouse. His remains were later moved to the family plot at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kearney.

James Farm 

The locals did not appreciate what the Ford brothers had done. Bob Ford, who was pardoned by Governor Crittenden was driven out of Missouri known as the coward who had shot Jesse. He traveled around in a Wild West show ironically about the James gang. 

He was shot and killed in Creede, Colorado in 1892. His older brother Charley stayed in Missouri but was shunned. He committed suicide ten years after his brother was murdered.

Frank James gave himself up after Jesse was killed. He was tried several times, but there never was enough evidence to convict him. He lived peacefully for the rest of his life at the farm. In later years he charged tourists money to give them a tour of the place.

The James farm and house has been considered haunted for over 100 years. Located off James Road in Kearney, Missouri the farm is a museum today. Employees at this farm still report odd occurrences. 

After the museum closes for the night many have spotted lights going on and off in the farmhouse. Others report that doors have slammed shut in front of them without cause.

Several witnesses have reported hearing horse hooves stomping outside on foggy nights. When investigated nothing has been found. 

Others have reported hearing whispered conversations inside the house when no one is there. Some have even heard the bomb going off or cries and gunshots as if a Civil War battle is happening outside. 

Many staff at the museum today will not go into the house alone. They state that they feel an unnatural intense presence in the home that scares them.

The Ghost of Dr. John McLoughlin

John McLoughlin is one of the most compelling characters from Oregon’s pioneer history. He founded Oregon City while he was working for the Hudson Bay Company. He is known as the “Father of Oregon”. 

He built himself a large saltbox house in Oregon City, which was in sharp contrast to the typical one-room log cabins of the time. The locals called his home “the house of many beds” because McLoughlin was famous for his hospitality. 

But his kindness and generosity would eventually backfire on him leaving him an embittered man. Some state this is why he still haunts his home today.

McLoughlin was born into a family of farmers in Quebec in 1774. In 1821 at the age of 47 the Hudson Bay Company sent him to preside over the companies new headquarters at Fort Vancouver—this fort was across the Columbia River from Oregon and is today Vancouver, Washington. 

The British who owned Hudson Bay Company did not own the land they sent him to claim as a base of operations for their fur trade. 

McLoughlin a shrewd businessman was also a fair man. He often helped American pioneer settlers who braved the Oregon Trail. He sent many of these settlers south to the Willamette Valley extending them generous credit, food, and supplies so they could survive their first winter. He even rescued many who found themselves stranded on the trail. 

In 1929 he founded Oregon City planning and dividing the city into lots. He generously gave away 300 of these lots to settlers, churches, schools, etc. In 1845 he paid the Hudson Bay Company $20,000 and placed this land in his name--in an attempt to forestall Americans laying claim to the area. A power struggle ensued and McLoughlin was forced to resign from the Hudson Bay Company.

McLoughlin served as Oregon City’s first coroner, physician, and mayor. Always generous the doctor provided loans to many businesses as well as to individuals in the area. Despite his generosity and kindness, many resented McLoughlin because he was wealthy and British. 

He was also Catholic in a city that was mostly Protestant. To add insult to injury the doctor was married to a Chippewa woman. So when the American government disputed his right to the land few citizens in the area took his side.

In an attempt to retain his property McLoughlin became an American citizen but Congress would not recognize that he owned the land and took it from him—which sadly meant many of the people and organizations that he had given the 300 lots to also lost their property. 

Bitter and disillusioned McLoughlin died in 1857. His house was then used to board Chinese laborers and later was used as a bordello after which it was abandoned.

In 1909 his home was moved from its original location by the river to prevent its demolition. It is now on a bluff overlooking the city. In the 1930s it was restored and opened to the public as a museum. 

In the 1970s McLoughlin and his wife’s bodies were moved to this new location as well. For many years it appears his spirit rested in peace but when the bodies were moved this changed.

A former curator of the museum was working alone late one night when she felt someone tap her shoulder when she turned around no one was there. 

Soon after this encounter others started to see a dark figure moving down the hallway and into the bedroom where McLoughlin slept. Museum employees have heard odd noises and footsteps upstairs when they were alone.

Many witnesses have smelled the scent of tobacco throughout the house despite the fact that smoking is not allowed on the property. McLoughlin was known to enjoy his pipe. 

Voices have been heard in the distance, their origin has never been found and one bedroom in the home is often found in disarray—the bed unmade and the pillow removed. 

It is said on the anniversary of McLoughlin's death a strange glow is seen around a portrait of him that hangs in the home's drawing room. Heavy glass prisms on several lamps have been seen swaying when there is no vibration or wind to cause this movement.

One tourist on a tour of the home who lost a button off her outfit saw it rolling along the floor in a room she had not entered before. 

Yet others have seen a rocker in one of the bedrooms moving as if someone had just arisen from it. 

Another tourist saw a woman in an old fashioned dress standing at the bottom of the stairs, she assumed this woman was a guide until she saw her move away and then just disappear.

All of this strange activity over the years has placed “The McLoughlin House” on many lists as one of Oregon’s most haunted. 

In 1941 it was designated by Congress as a National Historic Site--the first in the West. This museum is open to the public five days a week--Wednesdays through Sundays. In the winter months, it is closed.

Errol Flynn: Haunted Mulholland Farm

Errol Flynn grew up in Australia-- he did not like school and had a strained relationship with his mother. So Flynn left home at an early age and took odd jobs. Ironically, he had his best luck as a “slave trader” in New Guinea.

Flynn by the age of 25, was in Hollywood. Within months he was cast as the star of the first pirate epic, “Captain Blood.” 

Flynn became a favorite action star and romantic lead as he adroitly made his way through a series of classic swashbuckler films including Sea Hawk, The Adventures of Don Juan, and what is considered his best, The Adventures of Robin Hood.

In 1941 at the age of 33 Flynn built his dream home high above the glitzy Beverly Hills homes that were owned by most famous stars of the time. 

He bought eleven and a half acres on top of a ravine off what was at that time a dusty dirt road named Mulholland Drive. 

He built a two-story colonial-style ranch house. The grounds also included a pool, tennis court, barn, and even a casino. He called his home “Mulholland Farm.” His personal name for his home was "playhouse."

The publicity that surrounded Flynn was rarely about his films. He routinely made headlines for his carousing and mischief, which included fistfights, paternity suits and a story about him and Raoul Walsh snatching the body of John Barrymore. *

Flynn was known about town as a “wicked” ladies-man. His girlfriends made up a list of starlets and stars of the time. 

True to his bad-boy image, Flynn had secret passageways installed with peepholes and two-way mirrors at the farm so he could spy on his lady friends as they ** changed into their bathing suits or used the shower in the bathroom. 

The parties he threw were the scandalous talk of Hollywood. They included “live dance bands, nude divers, fencing exhibitions, and plenty of girls.”

The phrase “in like Flynn” was a crude double entendre used to describe Flynn’s success in getting women into bed. ***

One year after Flynn built Mulholland Farm in 1942, two young girls accused him of statutory rape. His trial lasted a month and made newspaper headlines all over the country. 

The phrase “in like Flynn” which had once flattered, now made him the brunt of many cruel jokes.

Flynn was acquitted of the rape charges, but his credibility as an artist was lost. Finding the damage was irreversible, Flynn at one point even considered suicide. 

Within a short ten years, Flynn fled the U.S. owing half a million in back taxes and alimony to two ex-wives. 

To ease his pain, he started to drink and use drugs. 

He continued to work as an actor in Europe, but he never regained his early success. 

He died in Vancouver B.C. in 1959 of a massive heart attack at the relatively young age of 50.

After Flynn’s death Stuart Hamblen, who was one of America’s first singing cowboys, on the radio, purchased Mulholland Farm. 

Over the twenty years, he owned the farm, several unusual occurrences were reported. 

When singer-songwriter Ricky Nelson, who was a big fan of Flynn, bought the farm in 1980 the activity became even more pronounced. 

Nelson’s daughter Tracy experienced several unexplained events.

Tracy often felt a presence in the house. One night when she arrived home late from work, she spotted a male figure standing in the dining room. Nelson thought it was her father, but his car was not in the driveway. 

Another time she thought burglars had broken into the house. She heard people throwing things at the walls and breaking chairs and glass as she hid in her bedroom. 

Surprised the next morning, she found everything untouched except for one room which had been locked from the inside. When she spoke to her father about what she felt and heard, he replied, “Oh, that’s only Errol.” 

Tracy moved out of the house after this. 

Months later her father called her and described that he and his girlfriend had heard the same smashing of glass and furniture in the same room--they too had thought that someone had broken into the house. When they inspected the area only the door was locked from the inside, nothing else had been touched. 

After her father died in a plane crash, Tracy stated that she felt all the unexplained activity at Mulholland was Flynn’s ghost trying to warn them of an impending disaster.

Tracy's brother Gunnar also had an experience with Flynn's ghost. He saw Flynn's reflection in one of the mirrors in the home. 

Character actor Harv Presnell (he sang the song "Mariah" in Paint Your Wagon) was married to one of Stuart Hamblen's daughters. He and several Hamblen family members encountered Flynn's ghost. 

The Hamblen children and their friends felt the Casino building was haunted and would not enter it. 

The Hamblen's and Nelson's agreed that most of the activity in the house centered around the wing of the house where the den was. In this wing, both the first and second floors were active. This area was where Errol spent most of his time when he lived at the farm.

David Niven and Olivia de Havilland both were close to Flynn when he was alive. Both stated that after his death, they felt his presence near them. 

Niven even mentioned that he and Flynn conversed after Flynn's death. He said that Flynn helped steer his career in the 1960s. Flynn was restless in life, and it appears his spirit remained active after death.

In 1988 Flynn’s notorious farm was torn down after a group of homeless squatters set a fire that burned part of the house down. 

Another home stands in its place and is owned by Justin Timberlake today.

*  Some researchers do not believe that Flynn and Walsh could have actually snatched the body of Barrymore and taken it to Mulholland Farm where they supposedly propped it up in Flynn’s favorite chair, drink in hand. Others state the two were just crazy enough to do it.

** Flynn’s two-way mirrors were an “open secret.” As for his female visitors, most knew about his wicked ways and wanted his attention. But it still leaves one to wonder how many of these women were unknowing victims of this voyeurism.

One biography about Flynn speculates that his behavior was a result of the fact his mother instilled in him at an early age that sex was sinful, and that his genitals were nasty. She was known to beat him. 

At the same time, she flirted with her various boyfriends openly, craving their attention. This sent a confusing mixed message to her young son.

*** Some debate the phrase “in like Flynn” would have been too risqué for the 1940s but it was actually the phrases double meaning that allowed it to become apart of the common vernacular of the time.

I place this video here because it has images of Mulholland Farm--it reflects Flynn's movie persona, not his real-life...