1. A Man in His Usual Health

About this episode

The episode explores the mysterious death of Dr William Jackson Crawford and his controversial experiments with a teenage medium.

The story of Dr William Jackson Crawford, an engineer and teacher, who carried out a series of strange experiments with a teenage medium and her family before his untimely death on the shores of Belfast lough in 1920. Dr Crawford’s findings were extraordinary and widely published – but was it all a hoax? Episode 1 – A Man in His Usual Health. The body of a man is found on a rocky shore near Bangor, Northern Ireland. In his pockets are a sealed letter to his wife, a silver watch stopped at 7.50 and a small bottle of whiskey. Dr Crawford was a respected engineer, but in the years before his death he carried out a series of elaborate and increasingly unusual experiments – to prove that Belfast teenager Kathleen Goligher could communicate with the dead. Written and presented by Reggie Chamberlain King Readings by Dave Fleming Lucy McConnell Mark Claney Stephen Beggs Produced by Conor McKay Editor Andy Martin A BBC Northern Ireland production

People in this episode

Host: Reggie Chamberlain King

Topics covered

• true crime
• experiments
• medium
• Belfast
• history
• mystery

Keywords

• Dr William Jackson Crawford
• Kathleen Goligher
• Belfast
• medium
• experiments
• death
• hoax

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Northern Ireland

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