Spring Heeled Jack - was he a creature, an alien, or a man
wearing some strange costume and a hidden jumping apparatus? During
the 1830's, this 'man' terrorized England. Described as tall, thin,
powerful, wearing a black cloak, the man could jump 20 to 30 feet
vertical. It was reported that he had large pointy ears and nose,
with red glowing eyes, and capable of spitting an odd white and
blue flame from his mouth.
The Early Sightings
The first sighting may have occurred in September of 1837 in
London, England. A businessman was returning home from work late at
night when a mysterious figure vaulted over the railings of a
nearby cemetery. The railings were at least 10 feet high but the
creature effortlessly leaped over the wall and landed directly in
the path of the strolling man. The creature was described as having
pointed ears, large glowing eyes, and a large pointed nose.
A short time later, Spring Heeled Jack was said to have attacked a
group of people - 3 women and 1 man. All ran but Polly Adams, who
was left behind. Spring Heeled Jack tore off the top of her blouse,
grabbed her breasts, and began clawing at her stomach. The attack
knocked Polly unconscious where she lay until being discovered by a
policeman patrolling his beat.
The Mary Stevens Incident
In October of 1837, Mary Stevens, a servant, was returning to her
employer's home on Lavender Hill. While passing through Cut Throat
Lane in Clapham Common, Spring Heeled Jack sprang from an alley,
tightly wrapped his arms around her, kissed her on the face, and
began running his hands down her blouse. When Mary screamed, Spring
Heeled Jack ran from the scene. Local men were alerted by the
screams and quickly arrived on the scene. They searched for the
assailant to no avail.
The next day, Spring Heeled Jack struck again at a location very
near Mary Stevens home. He sprang in front of a passing carriage
causing the carriage to careen out of control and crash. Witnesses
at the scene claimed that Spring Heeled Jack escaped by springing
effortlessly over a 9 foot wall.
Very shortly after the carriage incident. Spring Heeled Jack
accosted a women near Clapham Church. In this particular incident
he left physical evidence. Investigators discovered 2 footprints 3
inches deep. The depth of the prints seemed to suggest some type of
'spring' mechanism in the shoes. Note: A spring apparatus was
tested by the Germans during the war and resulted in a 85% failure
rate (the men broke their ankles).
A few months later, January 1838, London's Lordy Mayor Sir John
Cowan declared Spring Heeled Jack a 'public menace'. A posse of men
were formed to search for the individual responsible for the
attacks. It was during this time that the great Duke of Wellington,
who was now 70 years old, joined in the search. Some sources
indicate that the Duke may have had several close encounters with
Spring Heeled Jack. Unfortunately, Spring Heeled Jack was never
found and in fact, intensified his attacks during the following
months.
The Lucy Scales Incident
On February 20, 1838, Lucy Scales (1
and her sister Margaret Scales were returning home at
around 8:30 PM, from their brother's house in the Limehouse area.
Reports indicate that Spring Heeled Jack jumped out in front of
Lucy Scales and spat blue fire in her face. Written evidence
indicate that Lucy was 'blinded' - whether this blindness was
temporary, permanent, or simply a figure of speech is not known.
After the attack, witnesses claim that Spring Heeled Jack jumped
from the ground to the roof of a house and made his escape.
The Alsop Incident
Two days later, on February 22, 1838, Jane Alsop (1 was in her home on Bearhind Lane in the district of Bow,
when she heard a wrapping on the door. Answering the door, a black
cloaked man exclaimed "I'm a policeman. For Gods sake, bring me a
light, for we have caught Spring-heeled Jack in the lane" (a black
cloak was traditional uniform attire for policemen of this era).
Jane, who lived with her father and two sisters, went to fetch a
light for the man. She returned with a candle and as she was
handing the light to the man, it shone on his face and she noticed
that it was Spring Heeled Jack hiimself. He immediately spat a blue
and white 'gas' into her face. She attempted to run back into the
house but he held on tightly to the back of her hair. One of her
sisters managed to pull her out of his grasps and drug her back
into the house. Spring Heeled Jack continued banging on the door
some time before hastily leaving. Witnesses claim that Spring
Heeled Jack left quickly, dropping his coat in a field by Jane's
home. Another person was seen scooping up the coat and leaving the
area leading police to believe that Spring Heeled Jack may have an
accomplice. The Lambeth police took Jane's statement:
He wore a large helmet and a sort of tight-fitting costume that
felt like oilskin. But the cape was just like the ones worn by the
policemen. His hands were as cold as ice and like powerful claws.
But the most frightening thing about him was his eyes. They shone
like balls of fire.
The following day, yet another incident occurred on Turner Street
near Commercial Road. Once again, Spring Heeled Jack knocked on the
resident's door and when a servant boy answered the door, Spring
Heeled Jack asked to speak to the master of the house, Mr.
Ashworth. The boy turned to call Mr. Ashworth when he noticed, out
of the corner of his eye, that the visitor was none other than
Spring Heeled Jack. With glowing orange eyes and clawed hands,
Spring Heeled Jack waved his fist at the boy and leapt completely
over the houses on Commercial Road. The lad was able to supply an
additional piece of evidence - under his cloak, the lad noticed
that Spring Heeled Jack had an embroidered letter 'W' on his shirt.
Similar to a coat of arms, the Gold 'W' seemed to indicate someone
of royalty.
It was the Ashworth attack and the servant boy's subsequent
description of the attackers monogram that led police to suspect
Henry, the Marquis of Waterford. The Marquis was an Irish nobleman
known for his sometimes cruel and unusual sense of humor. Police
surmised that the Marquis accomplished his leaping feats via
springs hidden in his shoes. This theory was later abandoned when
the Marquis died tragically in 1859 (he was thrown from his horse)
while the attacks continued for some time afterwards.
After the Ashworth incident, attacks continued during the next year
(1839). They stopped for a short while and then continued again in
1843. In 1845, the only known incident involving a fatality,
occurred on a bridge in New York, far across the ocean from the
London attacks. In broad daylight, Spring Heeled Jack jumped
towards a young prostitute, grabbed her by the shoulders, and spat
fire into her face. The stunned girl was then thrown into a sewer
below where she tragically drowned.
