Bisham Abbey - Anecdotal Evidence
Incident Board
Paranormal activity- legend
There is a wealth of reported paranormal activity at Bisham Abbey
There are reports of monks in the grounds, an elemental by the lake ponds, and a ghostly old woman in a row boat, and other ghosts that cannot be identified. Little is recorded about these, however, the lady in the boat was witnessed by Two schoolboys. They claimed to have witnessed her ghost sitting in a rowing boat on the river Thames which flows at the foot of the picturesque mansions grounds, as the boys approached her apparition and the boat vanished.
Lady Elizabeth Hoby
The story goes that her son William was not as bright as his siblings, and would frequently blot his copybooks, and struggled to grasp what was being taught, often to the point of becoming subject to his mother's wrath. In her eyes, he was just lazy. It has been reported that Lady Hoby was observed beating young William about the head with her ruler, until he collapsed and fell to the ground, blood streaming from his eyes, nose and mouth. The legend states that one day when it was too cold for lessons outside, they used to have lessons in the Tower Room. On one such occasion, William struggled to grasp the lesson yet again, and his mother's temper was lost again. She beat him until blood flowed, but this time she was not done. She dragged him back to his chair, tied him to it, and put the quill back in his hand to redo the whole lesson, perfectly. She locked him in, and went out for a ride to calm down.
Whilst out riding, she was met by a rider from the court of Queen Elizabeth, requesting her presence. She did not delay and went to court. On her return, several days later, she was surprised to see all her children, minus young William, come to greet her. She asked where he was, and the servants replied 'we thought he was with you'. She rushed to the tower room, but it was too late- young william was dead. She was so wracked with guilt that she lived the rest of her life in remorse, until her death in 1609.
Following her death, she has been reported to have been seen walking through the corridors, trying to wash the blood of her son off of her hands, her voice has been heard sobbing and wailing, and she is reported by a former owner, Vice-Admiral Edward Westby Vansittart, to have materialised out of a painting that hangs in the great hall. In his own words- 'We had finished playing and my brother had gone to bed. I was standing alone in the great hall where Dame Hoby's portrait hangs. Suddenly I felt that someone was standing behind me and I spun round, just in time to catch a glimpse of the spectral Dame. When I looked round to check her description from the portrait, the frame on the wall was empty'. What is interesting is that she reportedly appears in negative. She has reportedly appeared before other guests, tearing curtains from beds and throwing things around rooms. She is thought to be most active around the times of every coronation.
But what of her son? There is no record of her having a son named William. However, looking at the facts, this does not mean that he did not exist. It is possible that his birth has been registered in a different parish altogether, or that just the name is wrong. Perhaps the most compelling mystery of Young William is the incident that occurred in 1840. The house had been let to a Mrs East at the time, and some builders were in, doing some work to the shutters. Between the joists under the floorboards, they allegedly found a large quantity of papers, including some copybooks. Mrs General Vansittart was sent for, and she drove over with her sister in law. Mrs Vansittart later recalled that there were corrections in one of the copybooks and she recalled the name William in one of them. When she left, she wanted to take some of the books with her, but her sister in law thought they should wait until Admiral Vansittart had examined them before removing any. However, on their return, the books had vanished-apparently the workmen had thought that they may be worth something, so liberated them! While it is harder to question the existence of the books, it is the memory of Mrs Vansittart that can be questioned- she only thought the name on the blotted books was William Hoby. However, to muddy the waters further, her youngest son was a Francis Russell, who died in unknown circumstances- is this the so called 'William'?
