Marianne Foyster is an ethereal, saintly figure in 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House', Lionel Foysters second, and most detailed, version of the events that occurred at Borley rectory. Frequently ill, but brave, loyal and long-suffering, she is portrayed as a helpless victim of bizarre and cruel events. One can get the wrong impression. The real Marianne was more human, feisty and resourceful, and determined to exert control over her life.
Lionel Foyster was always careful to describe events as accurately as he could, even when they cast the Foysters in a negative light. However, the characterisation of the participants was so bland and anodyne that it is hard to identify with them at all, or to understand their psychological state.
Nowhere is the strange paradox so neatly illustrated as by the fact that the real Marianne was having an affair with the lodger, Frank Peerless (given the name 'Lawless' in the book). If one is not aware of this, the account of some of the occurrences that took place during the Foyster residency makes little sense.
Frank Pearless, self-styled François D'Arles, was a cockney fantasist who insinuated himself into the Foyster household. We would recognise him as being a small-time conman. He liked people to think that his trade was as a 'master florist', though he turned out later to have little talent or enthusiasm for the job. He had actually sold flowers from a barrow in the street outside one of the London cemeteries.
Pearless's arrival was evidently a result of an advert in the Times. It is unclear as to the nature of the advert but the likeliest reason was Lionel's increasing need for help, and it would seem that the advert was for an odd-job man.
'As I recall, he answered Lionel's advertisement which stated that he needed help at the rectory.'
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
Curiously, Lionel recorded the event rather differently
[Marianne], ever on the look out discovered an advert in 'The Times' of a small boy who wanted a home etc. Correspondence and an interview ensued and eventually a little chap a few months junior to our wee girl came to share our home for a while. Her father, a widower, brought him down.
Lionel Foyster, from unpublished manuscript of 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House'
However it happened, Frank Pearless arrived with his youngest son, Douglas. For some reason, Frank liked to be known as François d'Arles, and his son as François d'Arles Jr. The Foysters were, however, well aware of his real name and he is referred to as 'Pearless' in Lionel's 'diary of Occurrences'. According to Marianne, the offer to let the Foysters foster his child was picked up during the interview, and the original intention of providing a handyman was forgotten.
'I saw [D'Arles] once, then he went away. It was during that time that he talked about his child. As I remember, Lionel said 'Well, that would be good for Adelaide because she was a very quiet and lonely child. D'Arles brought the boy down one Saturday, leaving him there.'
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
Marianne loved children all her life, and Adelaide had given the couple a great deal of happiness. However, they were concerned about Adelaide's apparent backwardness
[Adelaide] we felt needed child company; this she was certainly not getting. Our nearest child neighbour living quite a little distance away
Lionel Foyster, from unpublished manuscript of 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House'
The couple were delighted with the young Douglas (François d'Arles Jr),
He was a beautiful child, a few months younger than Adelaide, and we offered him a month's vacation. But long before that time was up, Lion and I adored him, and so did all who came in contact with him. [He had] big blue eyes and brown curls, and an ever present smile. He was a chubby lad.
Marianne Foyster from 'Marianne's Story' by Iris Owen and Pauline Mitchell
Douglas (François jr) was the result of Frank's short-lived liaison with Kate Fernie in London. He was, of course, not a widower as Lionel had thought. He had left his two families and was yet to divorce his first wife. He had two marriages ahead of him.
Frank didn't return for a month or so and then he spent just the occasional weekend at the rectory, sleeping in the rectory cottage, and doing odd jobs around the house and garden, to pay for Douglas's (François jr) keep.
'At no time did his father pay us anything in the line of cash. The father, François d'Arles, visited him every weekend at first. He did some handy work around the place and was good about the garden'.
Marianne Foyster from 'Marianne's Story' by Iris Owen and Pauline Mitchell
What happened next is uncertain. Nobody ever got to interview Frank, and we have to rely on what Ian Shaw, Marianne's son, said that he heard from Pearless a year after the event.
There can be little doubt that Marianne initiated the affair. There was no romance in the liaison.
Swanson. You felt that you liked him when he first arrived, right?
Marianne: Not particularly, but I was kind of desperate.
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
The Foysters were always a devoted couple, with an affection that never wavered, but the relationship between the rector and his wife was platonic. Marianne was stuck in the country with no friends and almost no social life. She apparently wished for a discreet affair, so that she could make the best of her predicament.
Probably the fairest portrait of Marianne at the time comes from the saintly Rev Clive Luget
'Marianne he found delightful, always cheerful and charming and an
excellent hostess. He said she brought a touch of lightness and merriment
to the rather sombre Rectory. He could not understand why she was not
more popular in the village but thought it might be due to
narrowmindedness at their rector, a member of the Bull family they had
long revered, being married to a much younger woman and in some cases
'just plain envy'…
[Marianne] appreciated being the centre of attention; most callers
simply wanting to see the rector. She was very attentive to him too.
… she had a flirtatious side to her character but this often
helped with visitors and local people who called to see the rector but it
was exaggerated and not understood by some villagers. Lionel Foyster was
essentially a shy and quiet man and Marianne was a considerable contrast
but an important help to him'
Rev Clive Luget in interview with Peter Underwood, in Borley Postscript p118
Marianne has been accused of disappearing off to London to indulge in affairs.
'she found the male of the species to be of interest and the pursuit of this particular interest took her away frequently from Borley…''
Edward Babbs, The Final Solution 1993
In fact, before her liaison with Frank Pearless, Marianne remembered that she only twice went away on holiday, to stay with her family or with relatives of Lionel, as a break from the awful monotony of life at Borley Rectory.
Frank Pearless was a short, dark, stoutish man in his late thirties. It was put about that he was 'in films', an important man at Elstree Studio. He also boasted of having been in the French Secret Service during the war. He was such a facile liar that it is almost impossible to know what to believe of him and his testimony must be held at arms length with a wrinkled nose. Frank Peerless told Ian Shaw how he had stayed in France after WW I. He opened a shoe store in a town named Arles, and later became "Francois d'Arles." He had also used the names "Black" and "Wade" during his life prior to Borley. He was roughly the same age as Marianne.
D'Arles told Ian that Marianne had persuaded him to take her for a ride in his motorbike and sidecar combination. They drove to a lonely part of the country where she asked him to stop as she felt unwell. It was then that she seduced him. Marianne denied this story.
'… He had a motorcycle and I believe I went to Sudbury with him.
In fact, I'm quite sure he had it. He had a side car and I went to
Sudbury and got some groceries. Yes, that's quite true, but Lionel knew
about it. In fact, it was he that suggested it, that d'Arles give me the
ride….
I never went on a field trip with d'Arles. I went from Borley Rectory to
Sudbury and back and I certainly wasn't in a field and I certainly never
had intercourse with anyone in a field.
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
but it is clear that, within weeks of Frank Pearless' arrival at the rectory, they were having sexual intercourse.
'I think it was several weeks before we had sexual relations'
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
Although the relationship ultimately ended in acrimony, it lasted a long time. Douglas arrived in March 1931, but it was not until the spring 1934 that the relationship finally broke down. (Pearless married Jessie Irene Dorothy Mitchell on 4th August 1934). This was no casual fling, and one would have to guess that they started their sexual relationship in May or early June 1931.
June 1931 was the month at which the Foysters were introduced to Edwin Whitehouse. Although both of them were rather taken with Edwin's charm and sympathy, it would seem unlikely that, for Marianne, the relationship amounted to much more. Marianne was probably in the early and exciting stages of her relationship with Pearless, it seems most unlikely that Marianne would ever have lined up Edwin Whitehouse as a sexual partner: Her indignation, and Lionel's amusement, when his aunt, Lady Whitehouse, suggested the idea, seems genuine. If anything, the relationship was rather sisterly.
June 1931 was an interesting time, not only for the coming of Edwin Whitehouse, but because, on June 8th, there came the famous incident which Foyster described as 'The High Water Mark' when Marianne was thrice pitched out of bed amidst a welter of apparent poltergeist phenomena. This led to the Foysters staying at the splendid mansion belonging to Edwin's uncle and aunt, the Churchwardens Sir George and Lady Whitehouse, leaving the rectory empty for a while
Marianne was away on holiday by herself for at least the last fortnight in June, though we do not know where. Marianne later remembered…
'I was away on only two occasions: once when I visited my people in Ireland - just before my grandmother died, and once when I stayed with Hilda…Mrs. Hanbury, Lionel's sister'
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
This was most likely the time that she stayed with Hilda.
Pearless was visiting the rectory whilst she was away, which rather rules out a secret tryst with him.
If Pearless was involved in the Haunting, we need only look at events from April 1931 to May 1932 (when the phenomena ceased). Anything before this date must have been done without Pearless's help. This latter part of the haunting was characterised particularly by the sudden locking of doors, as if by a paranormal central-locking mechanism (the key fob being the blessed relic of the Curé D'Ars), the throwing and rolling of bottles, and the ringing of all the bells at once. One also notices that the wall-writings appeared only after Pearless's arrival. Marianne certainly claims that Frank might have been responsible for some of the 'phenomena' 'I always thought that d'Arles did things because it seems that things always happened when he was around.'
Pearless emerges centre-stage for a number of events recorded by Lionel. When Foyster was writing his book 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House', he changed the names of the participants. Pearless became 'Lawless', a surprisingly apt name (Edwin became 'Edith'). Lionel gamely goes along with Pearless's yarn that he had been in the secret service in the Great War.
Lionel recalls Pearless's first visit to the rectory:
We were rather relieved that there were no demonstrations when he was here, and we did not mention the subject. Since [Adelaide] had never been attacked there was no reason to believe that [Douglas] would be either, and therefore what necessity to say anything about it? When his father, on subsequent visits, did discover the secret of the house he was first absolutely incredulous, and then, when forced to believe, merely curious.
Lionel Foyster, from unpublished manuscript of 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House' p76
Lionel then goes on to document Frank's first experiences with the haunting:
"Mr [Pearless], [Douglas]'s father, was down for the day, planning to go
back to London quite late on his motor cycle. We were going upstairs
together, when all of a sudden ---"Bang."
"Hello," he exclaimed "Who is that throwing stones?"
…"It is a ghost we have"
"A ghost? And how can a ghost throw stones?"
"Well our ghost does anyway," I answered…"Haven't you heard of
the [Borley Rectory] ghost?"
"Heard- of course I have heard; but one does not believe everything one
hears in this life"…
During the war, Mr [Pearless] was in the Secret Service. His
professional interest was at once aroused.
"This needs investigation" he mused, more to himself than to me,
"Serious investigation."
Lionel Foyster, from unpublished manuscript of 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House' p96
Frank then achieved fame by being the only person in the Borley Legend to be hit by a ghost.
Opening his eyes one night, he discovered he was not alone for he
suddenly saw [a] shadowy form, The room was dark but still it was
visible. At once it moved and finally disappeared through a door over
which a curtain was hung, but without disturbing the curtain.
He determined if he had another chance, to make a fuller investigation
of this mysterious phenomenon. The chance came.
Once more on another night, opening his eyes he saw this strange
unearthly visitor. Quickly he jumped out of bed and made for it - his
hands in front of his face in the attitude of a boxer. But he was not
quick enough; it was away before he could get there and was soon through
the curtain.
But on another night a third chance presented itself. This time, it
seems, he was out of bed quicker than before. Good, he had got it. But-
what a surprise. His hands went right through the apparition and he
encountered nothing except the wall.. Yet this was not all; he touched
nothing it is true, but something touched him. A teriffic smack in the
face is what he got for his pains. A loud cry rang through the silent
house and disturbed the quiet of the night. Next morning Mr [Peerless]
appeared at the breakfast table with a black eye.
Lionel Foyster, from unpublished manuscript of 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House' pP146
It is interesting to note that, by this time, Frank had insinuated himself into the house far enough to have breakfast with the Foysters, despite Marianne's later recollection " he didn't take all of his meals in the Rectory. If I'm not mistaken, he had a mid-day meal in the Rectory".
According to Marianne, her relationship with Pearless was always a stormy one and was quite violent, particularly in the early stages. > 'After is was started, I realized that I had made a mistake - because I didn't really - we fought like cats and dogs; that's quite true.' A night-time bruise would certainly have required an explanation. Frank, as always, was inventive.
This same inventiveness was called into play a bit later on when Lionel returned unexpectedly to the house to find the couple in the bedroom. This time, the excuse was worthy of Chaucer
I was out of the house before breakfast and when I returned I found quite
a commotion going on caused by some apparition. Mr Pearless had once more
been our guest for the night.
"What has happened", I asked. "Tell me" said [Marianne]
"I was out on the landing just outside the chapel door when I saw the
'shadow' again", [Pearless] replied. "It came along the bathroom passage,
turned to the right at the corner, and then proceeded down the landing
until it came opposite your bedroom door where it turned in. The door was
partly open."
"And what happened then?" I asked,
"I was asleep," put in my wife, "and so saw nothing. All I know is that
I was woken up by a great commotion put up by Mr [Pearless] out on the
landing."
"well," the latter apologised," I am sorry, but I didn't know what the
thing was going to do and thought it was best to acquaint you with the
fact that it was there."
Lionel Foyster, from unpublished manuscript of 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House' pP146
Strangely, this was written long after Lionel knew about his wife's affair with Pearless, but it is clear that he still believed this supernatural explanation for Frank's noisy presence in the bedroom with Marianne.
Frank was a useful accomplice for the haunting. When Harry Price visited the Foysters, along with his 'council', they investigated the manifestations and concluded that Marianne was responsible. The told Lionel and Edwin Whitehouse so. They pleaded that the council should stay on another night at the rectory and see if there were any poltergeist effects whilst Marianne was in the room under surveillance. Nothing happened for a long time until, to Marianne's relief, a hand bell started ringing.
Later that evening…
"The front doorbell rang. It was [Douglas]'s father Presently he came in
to where the company was.
"Mr [Pearless]", said [Harry Price], "I understand that you have been in
this house at different times. What is your opinion of it?"
"One thing I do know," he replied, "and that is that it can be neither
Mr or Mrs [Foyster] who is responsible. I have heard noises in the night
and have got up and looked in at the door of their bedroom which happened
to be open and seen them both sound asleep in bed"
Frank certainly rescued the day, and could certainly have been around the premises earlier on in the evening to ring the hand bell.
Harry Price was not really convinced by the hand bell ringing demonstration of the poltergeist, and reported that 'the supernatural had played no part' in the evening's events.
We can be fairly sure that Frank Peerless decided on an end to this era of pretence, where the haunting was used as a cover for much more earthly activities. The next year, Frank Pearless told Marianne's son, Ian Shaw, that the poltergeist effects had been faked by Marianne and himself and that Frank had advised Marianne that things were getting out of hand. The arrival of the Marks Tey Spiritualists Circle to exorcise the ghosts provided the perfect opportunity to end it.
Marianne alone could not have been responsible for all the manifestations that took place over the night of the Marks Tey Spiritualist Circle's visit. Frank must have helped. It was certainly spectacular.
Bottles materialized and smashed by themselves; china transported itself from the floor below and smashed itself to pieces; bells rang without any wires to pull them; there were inexplicable sounds -footsteps and breathing; apparitional forms: one luminous and one dark; and distinct changes in temperature.
though Frank and Marianne had already agreed that the charade had to end, Marianne must have determined that this would be the high-point of the haunting.
As always, Marianne was the star turn. Guy L'Estrange, the medium brought along by the Marks Tey Spiritualist Circle remembered he vividly
Guy L 'Estrange said he thought Marianne was very highly strung. He was alone with her for some time and she opened her heart to him and told him things he would never repeat to anyone. Once, during his visit, Marianne seemed to have a fit of hysterics - laughing and crying together. She recovered after a while. Her husband took no notice so L 'Estrange did nothing either.
Guy L 'Estrange in interview with Peter Underwood, in Borley Postscript p117
If only one could know what she said to Guy, but it was unlikely to be a confession of her cuckolding of Lionel. One point she appeared in front of the spiritualists in a trance-like state, dressed in almost nothing but a transparent night-dress
Soon after one 0' clock in the morning he saw Marianne Foyster pass the open door. She seemed to glide rather than walk and she wore a diaphanous night-dress which reached to the ground. When he asked her where she was going she replied, 'To -make - some -tea' very slowly, almost trance-like and when he asked her whether she was alright, she replied again, 'To- make -some - tea' and went on her way. Unknown to her L 'Estrange quietly followed her and when she passed her husband's room, the door opened and he came out and was very annoyed at her walking about dressed as she was.
Guy L 'Estrange in interview with Peter Underwood, in Borley Postscript p117
What a star she was. However, there are hints that there was a row in the night.
The occupants of the house showed signs of nervous tension throughout the night, especially the lady, who went downstairs at about 3a.m. and closed doors etc. Several bolts and locks were heard to be operated during the visit below.
(The Circle's report, quoted in 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House' Rev Lionel Foyster)
It is pure speculation, but one wonders if this trip downstairs was done to confer with her co-conspirator. Something odd was happening because The Marks Tey Spiritualist Circle were suddenly ordered out of the house at three in the morning by Marianne, with the excuse that Lionel had to write a sermon.
After this night, the poltergeist activity quietened down to the point that it could be said to have ceased.
Were I to write a novel based on the Borley Rectory Affair, I would choose this night for Lionel to finally understand that Frank and Marianne were, after all, responsible for the haunting and that they were, indeed having an affair. He would, perhaps, spot how easy it would be for Frank to heave the bottles up the stairwell from the cellars, one in each arm, so that they smashed together in mid-air, he could even have discovered the device that had been installed to ring the bells from outside the house. If there had been a confrontation, it would explain the electric atmosphere in the house, including Lionel's uncharacteristic bad-temper
Returning to a less speculative vein. We know from Marianne that, at some point, Lionel was told of the affair
Swanson: 'you told me a few moments ago that Lionel had suspected or that
you told Lionel that you had relations with d'Arles?'
Marianne. 'Yes, I did.'
Swanson:. 'What did he say when you told him that?'
Marianne 'He said that I was a naughty girl.'
Swanson: 'But you continued to have relations with him, with
d'Arles?'
Marianne 'Yes.'
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
Marianne could not, at this point, give up the relationship; she was hooked. One gathers that Lionel and Marianne worked out what would nowadays be regarded as a mature and reasonable arrangement between them, in which the arrangement was tolerated just so long as the family did not break up. Marianne's relationship with Frank was purely physical, and did not affect her emotional bond with poor Lionel.
It was never an easy relationship. According to Ian, who stayed at the rectory at the time,
Frank and Marianne wore wedding bands engraved with the names "Marianne and Francois Uniter." However, Frank became extraordinarily jealous. When Marianne managed to foster a newborn child, Frank, according to Marianne, decided that it was Marianne's and, when Marianne protested that she had adopted it….
'He said that it was a God damn lie, and that he knew, he knew, he knew. He was always given to snapping his fingers and making gestures….At that time he was accusing me of [having an affair with] a person who used to come to the rectory to visit Lionel, whom I only saw on very rare occasions… His name was Reverend Bassett, rector of Foxearth. I had said he was a very nice looking man and d'Arles was always fiendishly jealous.'
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
It seems extraordinarily odd that Frank should think that Marianne might have concealed a pregnancy from him. It would have been hard enough to keep a pregnancy a secret from the parishioners, let alone a lover. Frank had already fathered three children and could hardly have missed out on knowledge of the facts of life.
Frank seems to have convinced Ian that the child was actually his, and his show of grief when the child sadly died after a few months, suggests that he really believed it. In fact, an alternative suggestion, that the baby was the result of an affair between Frank and his mother, Marjorie Emery, and was subsequently adopted by the Foysters, seems much more likely. Once more, we have to peer through one of Marianne's many smokescreens.
A nurse, Miss Dytor, who was employed by the Foysters to assist Marianne in looking after the new-born baby was also under the impression that Marianne had given birth. She had certainly been on an extended holiday, presumably when she visited her parents just before her grandmother died, and had returned to the rectory with the baby.
According to the nurse, Miss Dytor, Marianne, at this stage, disliked Pearless and was frightened of him. The atmosphere is the house was strained and unpleasant. Lionel had withdrawn into himself, and spent a great deal of his time in his room working on the manuscript of his book 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House' which he was hoping to publish.
'He was always given to much waiting; even though he was very fond of me, he didn't like me disturbing him in there and he certainly didn't like Ian in there nor Mrs. Dytor'.
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
They were actively planning the opening of a flower shop in Wimbledon
Just before Marianne moved out to cohabit with Pearless in the flower shop, Ian came to stay. He was Marianne's son by her first marriage, but had been brought up by her parents as a son. The relationship was much more one of brother and sister, and Lionel was evidently unaware of the true relationship. Ian and Frank got on well together at the rectory before the three of them moved in together at the flower shop
D'Arles and he used to have long conversations in French. Among other things, [Ian] told d'Arles that he was my son and d'Arles used that as a lever to blackmail me. He was always threatening to tell Lionel if I didn't (have relations with him).
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
A great deal of our understanding of the later part of the Foyster tenancy comes from Ian's conversations with Frank. We need to take all this evidence with great caution. Frank was an accomplished liar, Marianne was unusually free with facts unless she deliberately chose to confuse everybody by occasionally telling the exact truth. Ian later came to loathe both of them and was extremely scathing about the possibility of the supernatural. However, where his evidence is corroborated with that of Miss Dytor, one can place considerable reliance on it.
Whilst Ian was staying at the rectory, Marianne and Ian decided to play a prank on Frank, They got a cardboard sheet and made the form of a torso, draping a sheet around it with luminous paint, hanging this on a clothes line between two pulleys. When Pearless returned that evening, they started to move the pulleys.
'Well, d'Arles always had so much to say; so we had been talking idly and decided to fix up this contraption to scare d'Arles. I always thought that d'Arles did things because it seems that things always happened when he was around. I wondered if we "ghosted the ghost" what he would do. We made up a very crude figure and put this sheet around it. We happened to have some luminous paint at the time that we had bought to outline the keyhole, however, we never did get around to it - this did scare d'Arles and he never did play any more of his tricks again. In fact, he wasn't too happy about Borley after that'.
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
Marianne's concluding remark suggests that they did not reveal themselves to Frank but let him carry on believing that he had seen a ghost. It is interesting to see how shaken he was to see what he thought was a ghost, whereas he had, according to his own account, bravely attacked previous sceptres at the rectory with fisticuffs. Perhaps this was the first 'objective' experience he had.
At this point, Frank Pearless spins off into the real world, away from Borley Rectory. He, Marianne and Ian lived at the shop, leaving poor Lionel a pathetic lame figure shuffling around with two small children in tow. The shop was, of course, a financial disaster.
The former Frank Peerless was only useful to Marianne in bed. He did very little work at the flower shop. What he did do was incompetent. The shop was operated under the name Foyster, and she never pretended to be married, even though Adelaide and Francois Jr. were also with them. D'Arles may have told others he was her husband and may have given his name as Mr. d'Arles Foyster. They had separate rooms.
Marianne Foyster from 'Marianne's Story' by Iris Owen and Pauline Mitchell
Frank's claims to be a master florist turned out to be another of his yarns. He showed little aptitude and less inclination to work in the shop. The relationship turned increasingly nasty. Frank Pearless tried to blackmail Marianne and Lionel
'[He] found out that Marianne was previously married to Greenwood and forced Marianne to do things for him which he desired. D'Arles also found out that Adelaide was adopted. . . but he claimed Lionel had the child by another woman and had to adopt her. D'Arles always threatened Marianne that he would write the Bishop about Marianne being previously married, that Lionel had a child by another woman, and that Lionel was sick mentally.'
Marianne Foyster from 'Marianne's Story' by Iris Owen and Pauline Mitchell
Eventually, Frank had to be turned out into the street by Lionel's cousin, who was a solicitor.
It became so terribly unbearable that I went to Lionel's cousin, Bernard Foyster who was an attorney and told him whereby he and his clerk came and got rid of d'Arles.
Marianne Foyster from Robert Swanson Interview Gladstone Hotel - February, 1958
Pearless managed to divorce his wife, Ada Ewens, in 1934, and disappeared off with the 16 year-old shop assistant. He then married Jessie Irene Dorothy Mitchell in August 1934. At this time, he was a taxi-driver (he later became a motor mechanic). There was a son and daughter to this marriage. She divorced Pearless in 1944, and died 10 October 1978. He then married Jessie (Pring) Steed 10 November 1944. She was the divorced wife of Walter Arthur Steed. Sometime in the 1950s, they emigrated to Australia. They had one daughter. He arrived back in London in 1966 and he went straight into hospital where he died, about six weeks later. His family had no money for a funeral and so he was buried in an unmarked "pauper's grave".
Manuscript 'Fifteen Months in a Haunted House' by Lionel foyster quoted from FIFTEEN MONTHS IN THE MOST HAUNTED HOUSE IN ENGLAND by Vincent O'Neil
BORLEY POSTSCRIPT Peter Underwood 2001 White House Publications
Material from THE GHOSTS THAT WILL NOT DIE by Vincent O'Neil. 2001. ISBN 0-9644938-4-5.
Marianne Foysters Autobiographical note quoted from THE MOST HAUNTED WOMAN IN ENGLAND by Vincent O'Neil. . BGS-004. ISBN 0-9644938-5-3.
Material from Trevor Hall's research, taken from WIDOW OF BORLEY by Robert Wood. Duckworth Publishing, 1992.