Springheel Jack Introduction

PAGE MENU: A Victorian Mothman? • The First Of His Kind?

A Victorian Mothman?

"Spring Heeled Jack", or simply "Springheel Jack" terrorized England during the 1830s. 

Who or what was he?  He was described as a tall, thin, and powerful figure, wearing a black cloak.  The the man could jump 20 to 30 feet vertical.  This was a terror that equaled or surpassed that of even Jack the Ripper.   Sightings of him were reported as recently as 1986.

It was reported that he had large pointy ears and nose, with red glowing eyes, and capable of spitting an odd white and blue flame from his mouth.  Some described him as a half man half animal.  Though people tend to see what they already know, either natural or mythological - so the mythical god "Pan" sprang to mind.

Of special interest, is the similarity to the Mothman mythos.  Humans, being what we are, are prone to embellishment and fantasy.  So much of what was reported may very well have been just that - fantasy (or outright lies).  However, mythographically speaking, all human myth contains kernels of reality.  It is these kernels, when explored using appropriate analysis, that leads to a possibility that Springheel Jack has similar core characteristics to Mothman.

The First Of His Kind?

He was also the first of his kind. While legends of strange phantoms have existed since the beginning of history, Spring Heeled Jack was the first to enter the official record as a real phenomenon, or at least as one whose witnesses could be found and would testify to the veracity of their experience. Part of this may have been due to the changing culture of the early nineteenth century, and the rise of mass printing technology, the first newspapers were largely responsible for the general publics awareness of the events, but there was also something unique about him. There were other similar changes at the time too, for instance the first identifiable witnesses to the infamous ‘phantom horse and carriage’ and the classic ‘haunted mansion’ also date to the early nineteenth century, perhaps for similar reasons, and even the famous Bigfoot was first spotted in Canada in the mid 1830’s according to some researchers, but none captured the public imagination as Jack did. He can in many ways be regarded as Britain’s patron saint of weirdness.

Map shows Bromley by Bow in 1830s, the incident happened at a remote cottage at end of Bearbinder Lane (just off map near Old Ford Village) Note the urbanization along what is now Bow Road and the farmland beyond it. The Morgan Arms Pub is on junction of Coborn Road and Morgan Street. Roman Road runs parallel to Bearbinder Lane to north. The Necropolis under development became today's Tower Hamlets Cemetery

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