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In 1871 and 1872, there was a series of ghost scares in Peckham, south London, and its vicinity. In November and December 1871, a ‘ghost’ had been breaking windows at night, but this vandalism ceased after the arrest of a ‘foreigner’ with a catapult. In April and May 1872, there was another window-breaking epidemic, which was blamed on a 13-year-old girl named Nott, who was caught red-handed and severely fined the month after.

On October the same year, there were several sightings of a figure dressed in white, who prowled the Peckham lanes, frightening women by making spooky noises, or grabbing them from behind.