Could one of the musicians on the Titanic be haunting the Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne, England? Who is the person behind the ghost said to still be playing the violin?

In the seaside town of Eastbourne, the Devonshire Park Theatre stands as one of England’s most elegant Victorian playhouses. 

Since its grand opening in 1884, the theatre has welcomed countless performers, audiences, and stories to its stage. But when the last curtain falls and the lights dim, it is said that not all who linger in the theatre belong to the living.

Devonshire Park Theatre by Oast House Archive

The Violinist from Titanic Haunting the Orchestra Pit

For decades, whispers have circulated about a ghostly musician who haunts the Devonshire Park Theatre. Some claim to have seen a man dressed in white tie and tails standing silently in the orchestra pit or seated among the stalls, his instrument cradled gently beneath his chin. The figure, shimmering faintly in the low light, is said to vanish the moment one looks twice.

Reports of this spectral violinist date back to the 1960s and 1970s, when both staff and visitors described fleeting glimpses of him during rehearsals and late-night performances. Though sightings have become less frequent in recent years, those who have experienced the haunting speak of a deep sense of melancholy that seems to hang in the air whenever the mysterious music begins.

For a time, locals believed the apparition to be none other than John Wesley Woodward, the Titanic’s heroic cellist who famously continued to play as the ship went down in 1912. 

John Wesley Woodward: (11 September 1879 – 15 April 1912) was an English musician. Born in West Bromwich. A memorial plaque was erected to Woodward on the promenade in Eastbourne depicting the Titanic as it sank.

In Eastbourne, he played the cello both at the Grand Hotel and in the local orchestra. While in Eastbourne he joined the White Star Line musicians, playing on transatlantic ships. On 10 April 1912, he boarded the RMS Titanic at Southampton for her maiden Transatlantic voyage. Five days later, on 15 April 1912, the ship hit an iceberg and he and the other musicians famously continued to play as the Titanic sank. Their final tune was, according to some survivor accounts, “Nearer, My God, To Thee”. All members of the band, including his friend Jock Hume, drowned, and the body of Wesley Woodward was never recovered.

The theory gained traction due to Woodward’s connection to Eastbourne, where he is memorialized with a plaque at the Bandstand. However, researchers later discovered that the ghostly musician could not be Woodward, as the spirit has always been described as a violinist, not a cellist.

Who, then, is the phantom that haunts the Devonshire Park Theatre? 

Paranormal Investigation at the Theatre

The mysterious violinist is perhaps not the only ghost haunting the theatre though. According to a spokesperson, they actually had a few paranormal investigators at their venue in 2005. According to a medium visiting and doing the investigation with them, they believed that a ghost haunting the place could have been Murray King who was an actor and licensee of the venue in the late 1800s up until the 1930s. Could this also be the identity of the mysterious violinist? 

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References:

The Paranormal Database – Eastbourne

The drowned boy and the ghosts that haunt our theatres

Devonshire Park Theatre – Wikipedia

John Wesley Woodward – Wikipedia

John Wesley Woodward : Titanic Cellist (Victim)