johnh Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 (edited) I came across a reference to this recently and it brought back memories. Back in the early 1940's in Liverpool, when I was six or seven years old, some of the older lads used to try and frighten us (and succeeded) with tales of Spring Heeled Jack. Records show that it started in 1837 in London but also in various parts of the country and reached Liverpool in 1888. Apparently, Spring Heeled Jack was seen by a large crowd on the roof of St Francis Xavier's church in Salisbury Street. He was also seen in Great Homer Street where, according to witnesses, he jumped from the ground onto the roofs of houses. I was interested in the St Francis Xavier item as when I researched my family history, I found that my great grandfather lived only a short distance of St Francis Xavier church. My grandfather would have been seven years old at the time of this incident. There is nothing in family folklore to say they were part of the crowd, in fact no one ever mentioned it other than the older lads. Don't know what it was all about, some 'experts' put it down to crowd hysteria and exaggerated reporting but there were large numbers of witnesses, particularly down in the south, including a troop of soldiers in Aldershot who fired shots at 'him'. I suppose it was the 'UFO's' of the day. I know we could have done with him going up for corners at Goodison! Edited June 11, 2015 by johnh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 He's mentioned in a few books in Tom Slemen's "Haunted Liverpool" series. That's where I learned of him. Nowadays he'd be in to parkour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddock Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 He's mentioned in a few books in Tom Slemen's "Haunted Liverpool" series. That's where I learned of him. Nowadays he'd be in to parkour. Yes, I read about him in those Haunted Liverpool books. I quite enjoyed those to be fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oztoffee Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 Some have said he was an alien! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veedublin Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 Just last night I watched an episode of Luther (Season 2, ep 1), which has a villain who fancies himself as the new incarnation of Spring Heeled Jack. I bet I hear references to it three more times in the next week. Because Baader-Meinhof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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