Claims eerie photo shows ghostly spirit of widower’s wife hovering over him during family portrait
The spooky snap was believed to have been taken in the Edwardian era of a widower who wrote about spirits
A GRANDAD has been left spooked after on old family photograph he restored appeared to show the ghostly figure of the subject's dead wife.
William Robinson, 66, was handed the old glass negative and decided to get it professionally restored to recover the photograph.
But when he got it back, he was stunned to see a black and white image of a seated Edwardian gentleman - with the ghostly head of a woman hovering above him.
William has now turned detective to track down the origin of the creepy photo after his family were unable to identify the man.
He believes the ghostly figure is the late wife of family friend Frederick C. Sculthorp, who wrote a book about spirits.
The grandad of three, from Morecambe, Lancs, said: "I remember my mother, Doris Robinson, had an old, physical copy of the photograph when I younger and it had the figure of a woman in the background on that.
"But I know that the image originally came from her parents - my grandparents.
"I've done a little digging myself and a gentleman called Frederick C. Sculthorp had a newsagents at the end of my grandparents' road.
"He wrote a book called Excursions into the Spirit World and had a wife called Doris Bright who died in her 30s.
"I think that image might have come from Fred. It might even be Fred. I know that my grandparents, Alfred and Minnie George, used his shop regularly and were quite good friends.
"If we can get this image out to a greater audience, it may be that somebody recognises the gentleman in the picture."
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The retired retail worker said his family believes the man in the photo had been pictured alone, but when it was developed the spooky figure appeared.
He said: "When I asked photographer Steve Pendrill to restore it, he was really fascinated.
"Steve told me that the graining around the ghostly figure is the same as the graining around the gentleman and, therefore didn't think that figure could have been added after.
"He didn't think it was a fake."
Restorer Steve Pendrill, a former newspaper snapper, said this image recovery was particularly unusual in its content.
He said: "I get asked to digitally restore customers' creased or damaged old photos quite often as part of my work, but never before had I been asked to restore a photo which included a ghost.
"It has certainly become a talking point - it was fascinating, if a little unnerving, especially as the photo looked quite genuine to me."
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