Tomb said to be Annie Palmer's at Rose Hall,
in Montego Bay, Jamaica
(Photo by Urban Walnut)
The Rose Hall Great House is now a museum. This magnificent Georgian Mansion was built in 1770. Noteworthy for its beauty, Rose Hall is seated high on the hillside, with a fantastic panorama over the coast. The Great House was damaged during the 1831 slave rebellion, but not burned as were many of the plantations. Nevertheless, it fell into ruin and remained empty. In the1960s, American millionaire John Rollins, restored Rose Hall to its former splendour with mahogany floors, panelling, and wooden ceilings, ornamented with chandeliers. Its walls are decorated with silk wallpaper printed with birds and palm trees, and furnished with mostly European antiques.
A bar, downstairs in the "dungeon," serves its own special drink called "The Witches Brew"--in honor of the spirit of the "White Witch of Jamaica." There is also a restaurant and souvenir shop.
Rose Hall is also known for various spiritualists holding seances in order conjure Annie Palmer's spirit and gain answers about the mysterious deaths of her husbands. Rose Hall is also known for fanciful stories of underground tunnels, haunted mirrors, bloodstains, and legends that surround it.
There is a supposed grave which folklore claims is the tomb of Annie Palmer at Rose Hall, which has on every side a cross except one.
Annie Palmer's legend is celebrated in more than one song. A 1960s American rock band, Coven, recorded "The White Witch of Rose Hall" on their first album, Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls in 1969.
Though Annie Palmer's legend does not relate to USA hoodoo or USA Southern folklore directly, it is a fasinating tale relating to the era of slavery in the Caribean.
The Popular Legend of the White Witch of Rose Hall
Annie Palmer moved to Jamaica in 1820 and married John Palmer, the owner of Rose Hall and a vast sugar plantation. One version of the legend stated she was born in Haiti, and was raised by a Haitian nanny who practiced voodoo. Other versions claimed she was born in France or England. Some claimed she learned her sorcellerie in Paris.
Annie Palmer was feared by the slaves who lived on and worked the plantation. Annie Palmer is said to have been a petite white woman (4 ft tall), yet she ruled with an iron fist. Annie cultivated the image of being a tough and merciless mistress. Defiance, or even perceived insolence, was answered with public whippings, torture in the dungeon, or execution. Slaves who deliveved food from the kitchen were beheaded if suspected of sneaking tastes before it arrived at the Mistress's table.
The 1800's were difficult times to be a woman. Annie found another way to maintain control of the slaves--she allegedly became a practitioner of malign magic. She was known as the "White Witch of Jamaica." In some stories, she was said to be a practitioner of Jamaican "obeah" (a folk magic somewhat similar to Haitian Vodou). Other versions of the legend call her a "mistress of voodoo" and claimed that she had learned this magic while living in Haiti.
It is said she eventually murdered her first husband, John Palmer. Annie's two subsequent husbands also died suspiciously. For whatever reason, the sudden death of the her first husband seemed not to cause any investigation.
Sundry versions of the legends claim she either poisoned, stabbed, or strangled her husbands. She was credited with having extramarital affairs--though it wasn't clear if these affairs were somehow related to her habit of murdering husbands.
According to different versions of the legend, she eventually started taking slaves as lovers. When the Mistress of the House tired of her lover, she would murder him and have him buried in an unmarked grave.
Annie Palmer has been accused of some atrocious crimes including calling the devil by sacrificing infants for her "black magic."
The legends surrounding her death vary. One version of her legend states she was murdered in her bed during the slave uprisings of the 1830s by one of her slave lovers. Often the stories involve Takoo or Taku. Takoo/Taku was described as being either a local obeah man, a freed slave, the plantation's overseer, one of Annie Palmer's lovers, a slave who was Annie Palmer's teacher and obeah man, or Annie Palmer's loyal servant brought with her from Haiti. Also involved in these legends is a young plantation slave, known as Millicent or Millie. Millicent/Millie is often either the daughter or granddaughter of Takoo/Taku. Either a lover or husband of Millicent/Millie attracted Annie Palmer's eye and he apparently rejected her. Since hell hath no fury as a woman scorned, Annie Palmer killed one or both. Whatever the reason--revenge, rage, grief, or jealousy-- Takoo/Taku, or some other unhappy slave, decided the "White Witch" must die.
One version claims the "White Witch" was quickly entombed by her former slaves in a ritually prepared grave as they feared her body might rise and walk again. This variant explained the ritual was partially botched, which is why the "grave" has a cross on every side except one. Another variant stated that one side of the tomb was purposely left open, allowing her spirit to wander--perhaps to condemn her to be trapped forever between heaven and hell, as a mere shade of her former power.
The spirit of a woman wearing a green velvet dress and seated on a large black horse is said to be seen riding at night on the Rose Hall estates. The woman is supposedly Annie Palmer and will strike anyone blocking the path with her riding whip. Inside Rose Hall, Annie Palmer's hurried footsteps can allegedly be heard walking through the main hall to the back entrance.
Herbert G. de Lisser popularized Annie Palmer's name with his 1928 novel The White Witch of Rosehall (ISBN 0510199046).
Facts rather than Legend
An investigation of the case in 2007 by Benjamin Radford showed the legends to have been based on a fictional story. [Radford, Benjamin (September 2008), "The White Witch of Rose Hall", Fortean Times (239), ISSN 0308-5899]
Other ghost hunters agree there is not much paranormal activity at Rose Hall.
Unfortunately, there is no genuine evidence that Annie Palmer ever committed murder, practiced malign magic, or even remarried after the death of her husband, John Palmer in 1827. He died at age 42 and was buried in St. James Anglican church yard in Montego Bay. Annie Palmer died in Bonavista in 1846. She was not murdered, but died of natural causes at the age of 44.
Annie Palmer was not buried in any tomb on the grounds of Rose Hall. Annie Palmer left Rose Hall by 1830. She was buried in the Montego Bay church yard. There is no tombstone that has survived to mark her grave but her burial record can be found at the church. Rev. T. Garrett officiated at her service.
Photographs of the "tomb of Annie Palmer at Rose Hall" is not actually a grave at all.
Alas, the legend, with all its conflicting varations, does make a great story.
copyright 2013 Myth Woodling
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Tomb said to be Annie Palmer's at Rose Hall, in Montego Bay, Jamaica (Photo by Urban Walnut) |
Coven - The White Witch Of Rose Hall (1969) USA Psych Music
The White Witch Of Rose Hall LyricsSourcesThe white witch of Rose Hall,
The devil she could call.Mr. Rutherford came one day,
into Montego Bay.
The great house - an accountant man.
Annie Palmer had to have this manThe white witch of Rose Hall,
A beauty above all.The slaves out in the fields
Had brothers who were killed.
This obeah woman made the spirits rise,
destroying the unwanted with her eyes.By night in the black
when she did rise, anyone in her path
would die.Robert met Millicent one fine day,
now the girl stood in Annie's way.
Her life meant nothing without his love.
But she couldn't bear the evil of...The white witch of Rose Hall
The devil she could call.Robert's love then died.
The blame Annie denied.
But the father of this dead slave girl
casted Annie from his world.The white witch of Rose Hall.
The devil she could call.
The white witch of Rose Hall.
The devil she could call.
InterNetwork Broadcasting The Rose Hall Great House in Montego Bay, 1995 - 2012, accessed 1/4/13.
Jamaica Travel and Culture.com, The facts about Rose Hall, 2009, accessed 1/4/13
JamaicaGleaner The White Witch of Rose Hall, uploaded on Dec 13, 2007, accessed 1/4/13.
trevorbeatty White Witch of Rose Hall, uploaded on Feb 21, 2011,accessed 1/4/13. A video tour of Rose Hall near Montego Bay, Jamaica. The tour guide recounts the legends of Annie Palmer murdering her husbands and mistreating the slaves who labelled her as the "White Witch."