The Legend of the White Witch of Rose Hall

When traveling to Montego Bay, Jamaica be sure to make a stop and tour the haunted grounds of Rose Hall.  

Construction on the historic Georgian mansion began in 1746 and was completed in 1780. It is built of limestone on what was once a sugarcane plantation overlooking the Caribbean Sea.  

It has been restored and decorated with silk wallpaper, beautiful chandeliers, Chippindale furniture, boasts a mahogany staircase and doors, and includes a few pieces of the original antiques connected to the mansion.  It is also referred as the ‘calendar house’ with its 365 windows, 52 doors, and 12 bedrooms.

Rose Hall’s History

The mansion was built in 1746 by Henry Fanning for his wife Rose.  Rose outlived several husbands and later married John Palmer who continued the work on Rose Hall.  

Sugar cane was traded to the buyers in England in exchange for shipping limestone as the building material for the ongoing construction of the manor.  No expense was spared to make this home one of the grandest on the island. Rose and John Palmer had no children, so eventually the home was passed down to a grandnephew named John Rose Palmer.  

Annie’s History

It is said Annie Patterson was born in England in 1802.  She was the daughter of an English woman and an Irish father.  Her parents were merchants and had an interest in the growing trading companies of Haiti.  Not long after their arrival in Haiti, Annie’s parents contracted the yellow fever virus and died.  Ten-year-old Annie was adopted by her voodoo priestess nanny and quickly learned the ways of the supernatural, voodoo and witchcraft.

When Annie was 18 years old, she traveled to Jamaica to find herself a rich husband. She met John Rose Palmer and became the second (and last) mistress of the fine house in 1820.  

Annie ruled the manor with a stern fist. If her orders were not carried out, her slaves were tortured, killed or locked away in a dungeon below the home. She often stood on the rear balcony and enjoyed watching her slaves being whipped and punished, and did not hesitate to order a servant’s death if they displeased her.  

Annie turned the magnificent plantation into a house of horrors. In fear, the slaves began to call her The White Witch of Rose Hall.

The White Witch’s Turbulent Marriages

Eventually, Annie began to seek pleasure with selecting slaves to become her secret lovers.  After seven years of marriage, Annie was tired of her husband and found ways to conduct romantic rendezvous with her slaves—including her favorite—Takoo.  When her husband learned of her unfaithfulness, he beat her with a riding crop. Annie revenged her beating by adding arsenic poison to his coffee.

Annie married two more times.  She was married to her second husband for two years.  When that marriage began to fail, she stabbed him several times in his sleep and poured boiling oil in his ears to guarantee his death.  

Her third marriage lasted a mere six months. With the help of her slave lover, Takoo, she strangled husband number three. She then called for her slaves to come upstairs through the secret passageway, carry the bodies out, and bury them by the seashore.  Afterwards, Annie had these slaves tortured and killed because we all know ‘dead men tell no tales.’

Annie began to fancy her English bookkeeper, Robert Rutherford.  But Rutherford showed no interest in Annie’s sadistic ways. In fact, he showed a great desire for a young housekeeper named Millicent, who happened to be the granddaughter of Takoo.  This angered Annie and she immediately put a voodoo curse on the young Millicent, who died within the next seven days.

As one could imagine, this outraged Takoo. He attacked Annie and strangled her to death in her bedroom.  She was only 29 years old. The overseer of the plantation shot and killed Takoo. This love triangle was somewhat like one of today’s soap operas!

Annie’s Resting Place

The slaves took Annie’s body and buried her in a deep hole in the East garden of the estate.  They burned her personal belongings and photos for they feared they would still be haunted by her spirit.  

A voodoo ritual was performed to ensure that her spirit could not escape the grave. Her dirt grave was marked by a simple cross for decades.  The ritual is said to have been performed incorrectly, freeing Annie’s ghost to roam the grounds of Rose Hall.

The Tour

Our tour group from the cruise ship was greeted by our guide, Latoya.  She was a very gracious guide and had a smile that could light up any room.  

Latoya walked us down a pathway that led to the outside staircase of Rose Hall.  A staff photographer was on hand to capture that special Kodak moment of each guest standing in front of the majestic building if they desired.  This journalist did not hesitate to pose for a photo in hopes that a spirit may appear as well.

We all walked through the front door entrance to what was once the grand ballroom of the manor—or where guests were often entertained.

We toured the dining room, library, and marveled over the beautiful crystal chandeliers and mahogany woodwork. Latoya showed us the secret passageway and the hidden staircase where slaves tiptoed up to Annie’s bedroom on the second floor.

The Bedrooms

On the second floor we visited all of the bedroom chambers where it is said each husband was murdered.

Only the guest room was safe from the blood bath—so far.  

Annie’s room—where she “lived, loved, and died”—featured a fainting couch, leaf-shaped mirror and a sewing box that is said to once belonged to her.

Many guests claim they have seen Annie’s reflection appear in the antique mirror as they snapped photos with their cameras in her room.

The Tunnel, Dungeon and Tomb

Latoya led us outside, then downstairs through a tunnel that led into the dungeon.  This area now boasts a bar and features a signature drink—a rum cocktail known as the Witches Brew.  It is said the drink will help banish spirits of ghosts or black magic still lingering in the mansion.

Latoya took us to one last spot—the east garden where Annie Palmer has been laid to rest—or has she?

In the 1970s, the new owners of the grounds decided to have Annie’s body exhumed from her grave and have her remains analyzed through DNA.  It was proclaimed it was truly Annie Palmer and they had a tomb erected during her reburial.

Voodoo priestesses and psychics conversed with Annie’s spirit and she admitted to murdering her three husbands. Annie proclaimed she was the second and last mistress of the mansion.  The priestesses drew two crosses on each end of the tomb and added a third cross on one side. They lost contact with Annie’s spirit before the fourth cross could be added. They were not sure if her soul was inside the tomb or not, so they left one side of the tomb an ‘open gate’ to the spirit world so Annie could be free to come and go as she pleases.

Paranormal Accounts

Many employees and guests claim to have seen a shadowy figure riding a black horse across the vast estate grounds. 

Other witnesses say they have seen a woman dressed in white on the stairs outside the manor, and many have caught a glimpse of the woman in white moving from room to room inside the house.

Others report hearing screams and sounds of footsteps coming from various rooms of the mansion and down below where the dungeon once reigned.

One couple planned to spend the night in the upstairs guest room. They had just sat down to a small table in order to enjoy a cup of tea when they suddenly heard a baby crying in another one of the upstairs rooms. Puzzled they searched the top floor but did not find an infant or small child. They walked back to their room and could not believe their eyes. The tea cups were gone! Another search ensued and the couple was shocked to find the tea cups smashed to pieces on the floor of Annie’s bedroom. They immediately packed their bags and left Rose Hall.

Is Rose Hall Haunted?

Whether or not Rose Hall is really haunted is up for you to decide. The mansion is constructed of limestone—a stone known to hold residual energy and hauntings within its walls.

This journalist’s visit to the grounds was not disappointing.  While paying my respects at the tomb of Annie Palmer, our Jamaican guide turned to me and said.  “You know, Annie Palmer was just your size—4’11”. She has been following you this entire tour—I think she liked you because you are both the same size.”

I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief that Annie approved of my visit to her home and the lovely plantation grounds— (I would not had wanted to experience the alternative!)

Was Annie really a white witch—or is she merely a Jamaican folklore legend? We may never know. But like many a legend, perhaps the spirit of Annie Palmer returns from her grave to try and set the facts of her life and death straight with the living world.

Rose Hall
Rose Hall Road
Montego Bay, Jamaica