User:Auric/Richard Tarwell

Richard Tarwell is the subject of a ghost tale, unusually titled, "The Return of Richard Tarwell", supposedly by Ronald Seth.

In 1730, at the age of 14, Tarwell was employed at the house of a Mr. George Harris, a member of the Court of King George II, as a kitchen helper. Harris left to go to London on court business and left his country estate in the hands of Richard Morris, his butler of thirty years.

Sometime later he received a letter from Morris, telling him that the mansion had been robbed. Harris rushed back home. The butler said that Tarwell, who disappeared the night of the theft, let in the two burglars to steal the family silver.

Some four month later, Tarwell woke Harris in his bedroom. He led him outside to a tree. He indicated a spot nearby and vanished. In the morning, Harris had the spot dug up. Digging soon revealed a fresh body, Tarwell's.

When Morris was shown the body, he broke down and confessed that he had been the one who had let the two burglars in. Tarwell had discovered them in the act and had been killed to silence him.

Morris was tried for his crimes and hanged in Exeter, England.

The story has been retold in other versions.