This is the one of the earliest known of Stratford’s ghost stories… and it all began with the rather grisly discovery of a headless torso floating in the water, caught on the logs of what is now the William Hutt bridge.

Disclaimer – Historical Facts as accurate as research has allowed. Spiritual facts as accurate as folklore concedes.

The Headless Ghost story traces its origins back to 1876.  The bridge is now named after actor William Hutt (see Waterloo Street). He lived in the house at the north end of the bridge which has been known by many names. Originally it was just the wooden bridge, then the long bridge, the Mary Street Bridge (Waterloo Street was once Mary Street) and the Waterloo Street Bridge.

The origin of one of Stratford's first ghost stories began here in 1876 when it was just "the wooden bridge." It was an incident which made people's minds receptive to tales of endless hauntings. A rather grisly discovery had been made of headless torso floating in the in the water caught on the logs of the original bridge.

After many terrifying theories were put forward, it was discovered that a medical student had dug up the body from a local graveyard and removed its head for greater study. When he became alarmed at the enormity of his deed, he tried to sink the body in the river. After a few days it became loose and was caught on the pilings of the bridge.

The corpse turned out to be that of a prisoner, Henry Derry, who had  died in the county jail. The headless body was later buried in Avondale Cemetery. Thereafter, the torso of Henry was said to haunt the riverbank in search of his head asking helpless townsfolks if they had seen a spare head. Fortunately, no recent sightings have been reported. Source: Stratford & District Historical Society FB. Researched and submitted by Carole Huband.