Add MS 53015 J

'The ghost of Cock Lane', drama in two acts. Licence sent 6 August 1862 for performance at the City of London. "During the summer season 1862 under the management of Mr. William Travers … Founded on the well known subject or tradition that caused such universal excitement", written on front cover. 'The Cock Lane ghost' was the sensation of London in January 1762, but it was soon discovered that the ghostly activities had been fabricated by Elizabeth Parsons acting under the instructions of her father William, in an attempt to relieve their financial embarrassments. For further details, see Paul Chambers, The Cock Lane Ghost: murder, sex, and haunting in Dr Johnson's London (Stroud, 2006). LCO Day Book Add. 52703 records the stipulation that the character name of "Kent" be changed due to its recent associations with an unresolved murder case This refers to the notorious "Rode House murder" of June 1860, in which a three-year-old boy was taken from his cot one night and found dead with his throat cut the next morning. His young half-sister Constance Kent was arrested on suspicion and released without charge: only in 1865 did she confess to the murder. For further details, see Kate Summerscale, The suspicions of Mr Whicher (2008).

ff. 20.