White Witch of Rose Hall

Rose Hall is a mansion on a vast sugar plantation in Jamaica built in 1770. It's famous for legends of underground tunnels, bloodstains and hauntings. The White Witch of Jamaica, as she later came to be known, was Annie Palmer who moved to the plantation to marry the wealthy estate owner John Palmer in 1820. There is little evidence to support the legend except ghostly faces appearing in photographs taken by tourists. However, it is an interesting story.

Annie was raised in Haiti and was fascinated with voodoo. She was widely feared as a black magician. It would prove to be an unfortunate turn of events for her new husband and slaves working the sugar cane fields.

Tales of the horrific murders she committed continue to instill fear in Jamaican children and those still at the plantation. Annie was a petite, beautiful woman, standing only 4 feet 11 inches high. It is said she greatly missed Paris, and found life on the island to be dull and hard. It’s not known whether that was the reason she became a murderess.

In any case, it’s believed she had an abnormal sexual appetite and after becoming sexually dissatisfied with her husband, killed him and began sleeping with the slaves. Surprisingly, the sudden death of her husband was never investigated.

In order to keep her lovers quiet she killed them or ordered other slaves to do it. It didn’t take long for the servants to figure out if the mistress of the house began eyeing them, their days were numbered. Whether, they rejected her attention or submitted to her sexual demands they were doomed to death. When Annie tired of a lover, she would have him murdered and buried in an unmarked grave. The same fate awaited those who were caught trying to escape. As her dastardly reputation spread she became known as the White Witch.

Annie ruled her empire with an iron fist. Any offense, real or imagined, resulted in whippings, torture or execution. Many of the slaves practiced voodoo. Annie’s obsession with the art made her force them to teach her everything they knew about it. She was particularly interested in human sacrifice, especially infants whose bones she used in practicing black magic.

Annie married two more times, both of who met the same demise as the first. Of course, she acquired their fortunes as well. It is thought these two unfortunate men must have been foreigners not familiar with Annie's reputation.

Legend has it Annie cast a voodoo hex on a servant girl who caught the eye of one of her lovers. However, Annie killed the young man that same night, instead of toying with him for a while. The servant girl was grief-stricken. The girl’s grandfather was filled with rage and later strangled Annie to death. Her body was buried in an above ground coffin using Voodoo rituals and markings. This supposedly would keep Annie’s sprit from roaming the property. Apparently, it wasn’t done correctly because many reports have been made about the White Witch's spirit and those of the slaves she murdered continuing to haunt the house and grounds.

New tenants attempting to move into Rose Hall mysteriously fled stating the place was haunted. However, in 1965, another couple bought the house and made it into a museum. And as expected, visitors and employees have reported hearing men scream, doors slam and a host of other unexplained phenomena as well.