The murdered man who still haunts the Bootle street which bears his name
Peel Road, Bootle.(Image: Liverpool ECHO )
Ghost stories have been told for as long as people have shared tales. The eerie encounters have fascinated people for centuries and continue to evolve with each generation. They spark conversations about strange events, local myths and unexplainable phenomenon, Liverpool is one region that has truly embraced stories of the supernatural through the centuries.
With the rise of written literature, ghost stories moved into plays, poems, and novels, and are a focal point of many movies today, such as Paranormal Activity and Patrick Swayze classic, Ghost. Many believe spirits exist and souls continue beyond death, so reports of ghostly apparitions are not uncommon.
In Liverpool, there are many tales of ghosts and strange goings-on that are constantly retold. From the magnificent Croxteth Hall in West Derby being considered one of, if not the most haunted location in Liverpool, to Rodney Street, believed to be among the most haunted streets in the city centre, all sorts of paranormal sightings have been reported here over the years.
Bootle households will be aware of the the tale of Bibby’s ghost, a horrifying account that reflects upon Bootle’s dark past. John Bibby, the founder of the Bibby Line Group in 1807, was killed walking home to his mansion on Linacre Marsh on the evening of July 17, 1840.
In what was a gruesome end to John’s life, the wealthy 65-year-old was found in a pond in Stand Park, north of Aintree racecourse, three miles from his house. His body, recovered from the pond by a farmer with a pitchfork, was “much mangled” according to newspaper reports at the time, and a gold hunting watch had been taken from his wrist.
An inquest took place days later at the Rimrose Hotel, the location where John had begun his walk home, but no verdict was reached.
A coroner eventually recorded his death as “drowning while in a deep sleep”, the Bibby family offered a £500 reward – but the crime was never solved.
According the Liverpool ECHO Murder Files, compiled with the assistance of city historian Steven Horton, arguments raged in Liverpool about his cause of death. Some suggested he had fallen into the pond drunk, but others maintained he must have been robbed and dragged there, pointing to bruises found on his legs and a cut on his face.
John Bibby
The case of this potential murder has never been closed. John’s death left his sons with a prosperous business and together John and James took the helm of the Bibby Line. The company still continues operating today,
The death of the businessman is one of Merseyside’s great unsolved cases and led to the story of The Headless Horseman of Bibby’s Lane in Bootle. Bibby’s ghost, it is said, appears on the last night of the year, driving his coach down Bibby’s Lane, which connects Marsh Lane and Peel Road, carrying his head in his lap.
Some witnesses claimed to have also seen Bibby’s apparition on Halloween night, October 31. Online forum page BootleHistory.com, is a site people from the area can connect with each other. In 2008 forum user Nedsed, who lived at 97 Peel Road in the late 80s and early 90s wrote: “I had been downstairs to make a drink and was returning back up stairs to my bedroom at the front of the house when I heard a strange noise in the distance outside on the road getting louder and closer to my house.
“At this point I was in my bedroom and told my wife to come to the window which I was looking out of. At first I thought it might be a milk float but all I can say is the best way to describe the sound was a horse and carriage with more than one horse on a cobbled road approaching my house.
“I had never heard the John Bibby story before. I was a Netherton lad so had not lived there long and where it sped up [horses and carriage] was facing the junction of Bibbys Lane. I was not drunk and me and my wife both heard it. So vivid, it was weird.”
Lazza wrote: “Does anyone in the Marsh Lane area remember being scared by stories of the ghost of John Bibby? I could never accept the dare to walk down Bibbys lane after dark.
Shaun replied: “I used to go to St Mary’s school just off Irlam road in the 70’s and I always wanted to know what the situation with the Bibby’s Ghost was all about. People used to say if you went up onto the railway at a certain time, span round a few times his ghost would appear. Frightening as a child but laughable now.”
Eddy Lloyd said: “I can recall as a kid that John Bibby after dark would come out on his horse with his head carried under his arm looking for kids to kidnap.
“One night whilst playing in Peel Road park someone shouted John Bibby is coming and we all legged it home terrified. I think it was started by parents who wanted us kids in before it got dark.”