Frederick Temple Blackwood (1826 – 1902) was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society. He was the third governor general of Canada between 1872 and 1879 and governor-general of India between 1884 and 1888.
One day, he related that a ghost saved his own life … This incredible story can be read in the newspaper ‘Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate’ in 1902:
“Lord Dufferin used to tell is creepy ghost story, which he averred was absolutely true. Nearly 20 years ago he was studying it at country house in Ireland. While dressing for dinner one evening he heard wheels on the gravel, and looking through the window he saw a hearse drive up to the front door. He was struck by the face of the driver, a fat, unpleasant, saturnine face. Assuming that a servant had died in the house Lord Dufferin mentioned the matter to his host, who informed him that there had been no death, and that the hearse was the ghost of the house. Its appearance was supposed to be a warning of danger to the man who saw it. A little while later Lord Duifferin went to Paris for the Exhibition, and stayed at the Grand Hotel. Entering the lift, he saw with a shock of alarm that the attendant had the face of the man on the hearse. He got out and walked downstairs, and immediately afterwards the lift smashed, and all the occupants were killed. The attendant was never identified. He had entered the service of the hotel only that morning, and nobody claimed his body.”
Grand Hôtel, by MOSSOT - Own work, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia
- Lord Dufferin’s ghost story, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 05th April 1902
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