Peter Underwood
Peter Underwood was born in 1923 at Westholm Green, Letchworth - a town in Hertfordshire, in southern England.
He became interested in ghosts from an early age. He quickly began to visit reportedly haunted places. He followed and kept copies of reports in the press. He began to invest serious time and energy into the study and investigation of the paranormal.
Underwood followed in the footsteps of Harry Price. After gaining entry to the Ghost Club (when Price was Chairman), his work continued, until he was able to dedicate his life entirely to this pursuit - what he would describe as ‘no common task’.
President of the Ghost Club for over three decades, Underwood became a well-known author and broadcaster.
He believed that there was a natural explanation for the majority of reported ghosts, but held out hope for the 2% of cases (a percentage he would sometimes feel was itself rather optimistic), that might provide evidence - that could hold up to scientific scrutiny - for the existence of ghosts.
Adam Underwood
A grandson of Peter, my father (Christopher) was responsible for many of the photographs used to illustrate entries for haunted places, from the Gazetteer of British Ghosts onwards.
After Peter’s passing in 2014, I felt compelled to fulfil his wish that his legacy be preserved, and began the endeavour to republish the increasing number of parts of his body of work that had fallen away, out of print. At the same time, I began to carefully read his autobiography, learning for the first time the true nature and extent of his paranormal life. This prompted the idea to create something to give expression to it, using his memoir as a primary source.
Peter Underwood and Adam Underwood at Carluccios in London during one of his final birthdays, circa 2012.
