In Scandals and Legends of Barton-upon-Humber, Book 2: Ghosts, Money and Love (1999), Karen Maitland and Jeannie Bishop tell the story, well known locally, of the ghost of a little boy at Providence House (until quite recently used as the town library). ‘The supernatural activity always increases each year’, they write, ‘in the few days before October 31st, and dies away again soon after.’ Light footsteps, like those of a child, are heard in the hall, running through what was subsequently a locked glass partition, as are the sounds of a child crying. Doors are reported to swing open or to seem held shut, lights come on, and book stands swirl around with nobody near them. Maitland and Bishop note that the manifestation has been reported for a long time, but that the true story of the boy has only recently been discovered. ‘He means you no harm’, they write: ‘he only wants a friend’.

Maitland and Bishop note that the building was an orphanage in the 1920s, and that in addition to orphans it housed children whose parents could not care for them. One was Sidney Conway, aged six in 1922, whose mother lived across the river in Hull. The sad story goes that a nurse assistant was running a bath, and left it unattended. Sidney fell in, and was so badly scalded by the water coming from the hot tap that he passed away four days later.

What is claimed to be a photograph of the ghost child was taken in 2023, and can be seen here.

Words by RORY WATERMAN, with information by TIM DAVIES

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The project is deeply grateful to Tim Davies for bringing this to our attention.