Louisa Coppin or Little Weesy (7 September 1845 – 27 May 1849) was a supposed Irish ghost.

Biography

Louisa Coppin was born at Ivy House, 34 Strand Road,

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

on 7 September 1845. She was the third child of

William Coppin William Coppin (9 October 1805 – 17 April 1895) was an Irish sailor, shipbuilder, and inventor. Life William Coppin was born in Kinsale, County Cork on 9 October 1805. There are no known details of his parents or siblings. At age 15 he was ...

and his wife Dora. She was known as "Little Weesy" to her family. She died on 27 May 1849 from

gastric fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

, and is alleged to have reappeared to her family 5 months later as "a ball of bluish light". Coppin is supposed to have prophesied the location of Sir John Franklin's 1845 polar expedition before its discovery, by writing on the wall: "''Erebus'' and ''Terror'', Sir John Franklin, Lancaster Sound, Prince Regent Inlet, Point Victory, Victoria Channel". Coppin appeared to all of her family, with her father giving her advice to Lady Franklin in May 1850. The authorities were highly sceptical, but Lady Franklin took the information more seriously. ''The Derry Journal'' (29 March 1889) claimed that the admiralty was petitioned by 430 Liverpool merchants and bankers to search the area specified by Coppin. It was at this location, supposedly predicted by Coppin's ghost, that the 1859 expedition discovered remains from the expedition on

King William Island King William Island (french: Île du Roi-Guillaume; previously: King William Land; iu, Qikiqtaq, script=Latn) is an island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, which is part of the Arctic Archipelago. In area it is between and making it the ...

. The story of the ghost of Coppin was published later in J. Henry Skewes's ''Sir John Franklin: the true secret of the discovery of his fate'' (1889), a sensationalist and inaccurate account of the events around the discovery of Franklin's lost expedition. The captain of the rescue expedition, Francis McClintock, and relatives of Lady Franklin denied that the paranormal advice was used in their search. There is no evidence of correspondence or other material relating to the Coppins in Lady Franklin's papers, with some speculating that her relatives might have destroyed it after her death. The story of "Little Weesy" was the subject of Liam Browne's novel ''The emigrant's farewell'' (2006). It was also the subject of a children's novel ''Chasing Ghosts- An Arctic Adventure'' by Nicola Pierce (2020).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coppin, Louisa 1845 births 1849 deaths Irish ghosts People from Derry (city)