Ghost Stories for Christmas- The Bank of England’s Black Nun

Christmas time is here again, and I have delightful chunks of coal for all your players. At the intersection of Victorian Fiction and Christmas, lurk ghost stories. For December, we’re looking at dolorous hauntings of the British Isles and their weird, wonderful, uses in role-playing games. As before, my primary source is “Gazetteer of British Scottish & Irish Ghosts” by Peter Underwood, a ghostly guidebook full of interesting facts and folklore ready to be plugged into a Victoriana scenario.

During the Napoleonic wars, the Bank of England issued low denomination notes for £1 and £2 to cover the coinage shortage. Cashiers authorized the notes with their signature. Counterfeiters quickly mastered their replication. Philip Whitehead, a cashier for the Bank of England, was arrested for forging banknotes, in 1811. For his crime, Philip hanged.

The shock of his execution unhinged his sister, Sarah. Unwilling to accept her brother’s shameful death, she visited the Bank persistently, asking employees and bystanders about her brother’s whereabouts. Sarah wandered the bank every day, dressed all in black with a black crepe veil.  Stories about Sarah say she was well cared for by the Bank, and looked after like a widow. Other stories say, she grew crazier and caused so many harassing disturbances at the Bank, they paid her to never return.

Sarah Whitehead died in the late 1830s, twenty some years after her brother’s execution. The bank allowed her body to be buried on their property. After her death, a familiar apparition dressed in black walks the Bank of England’s corridors, asking passersby for help finding her brother before disappearing. She became known as the Black Nun, for her appearance and innocent demeanor.

Adventure Ideas

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. If there is a ghost in the most prestigious bank in the British Empire, a robbery must be in the works. Maybe the ghost is fake, a cover for the thieves’ presence during elaborate preparations. The ghost wears a black veil, perfect for someone wanting to hide their identity.

The ghost could be real, helping the thieves strike a blow against the institution she blames for her brother’s end. Or more sinisterly, she may be supernatural security for the Bank’s vaults full of gold bullion.

It could be fun for the ghost to be a complete innocent bound to the harsh world of finance. She naively tries to help by badly filling out forms, or cause a little too much money to be included in a withdrawal. Some otherworldly good will could cause serious problems for such an important establishment.

Given that the ghost searches for her brother, I pity any poor soul she mistakes for him. Imagine the trouble a new clerk named Philip Whitehead might have once the ghost latches on.

Sarah Whitehead’s shock at her brother’s conviction could have been justified. If Philip was innocent, he may have been framed because he saw too much.  Those responsible for his execution could still be out there 40 years later. Sarah could lead the way to unveiling a sinister plot in the heart of the Bank.

If you need more ghosts, skeletons, or just plain undead, you’ll be happy to know the Bank’s garden is an old graveyard. After the Bank moved to its current location in 1734, they bought and demolished St Christopher le Stocks church to make room for expansions, but kept the graveyard intact to become the Bank’s Garden Court.
Also of interest is William Daniel Jenkins, one of the bank’s clerks. After his death in 1798, his friends received the Bank’s permission to bury Jenkins in the Garden Court. They worried Jenkins’s 6’7” corpse would be a tempting target for grave robbers. Large specimens could go for large prices. So, there was a “giant” buried in a secure grave at the Bank of England. Do I really need to make any suggestions on what to do with this in a Victoriana Adventure?