For a number of years, the Guinness Book of Records included an entry for most durable ghosts and in passing mentioned that Andrew Green (1927– 2004) claimed the only known example of “a letter from a poltergeist”. This was sent in 1956 during the course of his investigation of 15-year-old Shirley Hitchings, who became known “the poltergeist girl of Battersea”. Written in a mixture of French and English, the letter purported to come from Louis Capet, the second son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Now, 50 years on, James Clark of Mitcham has revealed the full extent of the poltergeist’s literary output. While Andrew Green received three letters and a Christmas card from the poltergeist – which was variously dubbed “Donald”, “Spooky Willie” and a variety of other names – other people received a far greater volume of letters.

What was described as an “ocean of mailed correspondence” purporting to come from the poltergeist reached a writer named Harold SW Chibbet, who wrote about the case for Fate magazine. Chibbet continued to receive letters as late as 1959. Other recipients included dignitaries, including Lord Brabazon.

The origins of at least some of the correspondence lay with Shirley herself. Although Green did not obtain a full confession, the similarities in handwriting indicated her authorship. Whether she was responsible for all the letters that reached Chibbet is another matter. Despite her insistence that Donald/Louis had penned the letters, she was unable to explain how the entity had succeeded in purchasing stamps and relaying the letters to a post box.

For his part, Green charitably considered that she might have written at least some of the letters in a semi-trance state.