Assume Nothing - 1. A Man in His Usual Health
Download 1. A Man in His Usual Health
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
Published on Saturday, 2nd May 2026.
Available Podcasts from Assume Nothing
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