"Welcome, ghosts and bodies": Inside the oldest paranormal investigation group
With over 170 years of history, the Ghost Club has been verified as the oldest paranormal investigation group.
This spooky story dates back to 1855, when a group of students at Trinity College, Cambridge, United Kingdom, began meeting to discuss ghosts and psychic phenomena. The topic was at the forefront of popular culture of the time, following the sensation caused by pioneering American spiritualists, the Fox Sisters, who conducted their first public seances in 1850.
When the organization formally launched in London in 1862, the Ghost Club brought together a membership that included government officials, scientists and even the novelist Charles Dickens.
The original group was dissolved during the 1870s but was later revived on All Saints’ Day in 1882 by A A Watts, a former member of the original club, and the Reverend Stainton Moses, a clergyman and prominent spiritualist. Since then, the club has regularly held meetings and conducted investigations.
An illustration of a performance by the spiritualist magicians The Davenport Brothers, who took the tricks of mediums to new levels with their vaudeville performances in the 1860s and 1870s. The Ghost Club investigated the Davenports but were not much impressed by what they saw. [Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain]
Investigating the unexplained
We caught up with Rosie O’Carroll, Media Officer and member of the Ghost Club, to find out more about the organization.
Rosie told us: “The Ghost Club investigates ghosts, hauntings and other unexplained phenomena. It organizes investigations at haunted buildings and historic sites, where members hold vigils in haunted areas, record unusual activity, and collect witness accounts.”
With 10 meetings each year, the club hosts social events, trips, and releases a quarterly journal with articles, reports, letters and paranormal news.
During paranormal investigations, the group takes a scientific approach. Rosie explained: “We make sure equipment is used correctly, recording results and impressions accurately, and looking for an ordinary explanation before declaring something is 'paranormal'.
“The approach is serious research rather than entertainment, and the club does not perform exorcisms or clearances. Ouija boards are also prohibited.”
The Ghost Club’s approach to evidence also raises an interesting question: how do you measure something that is, by nature, rather difficult to prove?
Spirit painted by French artist George Roux in 1885. As Ghost Club members can attest, the phenomena is never really so clear, well posed or nicely dressed. [Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain]
Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief at Guinness World Records, has a particular love for the relationship between the paranormal and record-breaking. He explained: “The two worlds would seem to be polar opposites, yet both topics are obsessed with evidence, integrity, truth, the reliability of witnesses, and so on.
“Personally, I think it's better to keep an open mind and be ready to embrace the seemingly impossible than pulling down the metaphorical shutters and not showing any willingness to at least collect what evidence might be out there.”
From Enfield to Hampton Court
During Rosie’s time in the Ghost Club, she recalled members carrying out the investigation of the Enfield Poltergeist. This case investigated a series of alleged paranormal events that occurred in a council house in Enfield, London, between 1977 and 1979.
She explained: “In this case, a mother and her family were terrorized by unexplained noises and objects being thrown across the room. It was claimed that one daughter levitated in the air and channelled a voice claiming to be the spirit of the former homeowner, Bill Wilkins.
“Investigators acknowledged that some incidents may have involved trickery, while others remained difficult to explain.”
The main courtyard of Hampton Court Palace, just outside London. This renaissance royal residence is reputedly haunted by a "grey lady" as well as two of Henry VIII's ill-fated wives. [Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0/User:Tilman2007]
Another important location with links to the Ghost Club is Hampton Court Palace, Surrey, UK. This location has ghost stories dating back to the Tudor and Baroque eras, where reports of unusual phenomena have continued for decades. Alan Murdie, Chairman of the Ghost Club, believes some of its evidence to be rather compelling to this day.
Other reported incidents include a harpsichord being heard at Michelham Palace, in East Sussex, a wooden mushroom flying across the room at Eltham Palace, London, and a member of the Ghost Club having her chair pulled out from under her at Ham House in Richmond. The club has definitely seen some spine-tingling things in its time.
More investigation reports can be found on the club’s website.
A record 170 years in the making
On 5 November 2025, the Ghost Club was officially verified as the record holder for the oldest paranormal investigation group.
Rosie said: “It's an achievement to have the club be recognized in this way and to know that the club has maintained its traditions for so many years and continues to thrive and bring people together.”
Future plans of the club include a conference to connect members and guests for a day filled with the paranormal, and in true Ghost Club fashion, the event will be held at a haunted location – sure to send a shiver down your spine.
One of the Ghost Club’s most unusual traditions is the way it remembers members who have died. Rosie said: “During the Victorian period, the names of every member, both living and dead, were solemnly read out loud every year on All Souls’ Day, 2 November.
“The club’s archives even record occasions when members believed that deceased colleagues had made their presence known during the ceremony.
“In the present day, the club’s chair still uses the traditional greeting ‘Welcome, ghosts and bodies,’ at the start of meetings and remains a club where everyone with an interest in ghosts is welcome.”
After more than 170 years of investigations, research, and chilling encounters, the Ghost Club has truly earned its place in paranormal history. With a Guinness World Records title to its name and its door still open to those curious about the unexplained, there is no telling what, or who, might turn up at its next meeting.
Header image: "Psychic Investigator" and Ghost Club Chairman Harry Price speaking at a black-tie gathering of the Ghost Club in the 1930s. [Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain]