A real-life story · India, 1868

The night Vicary Boyle, in India, dreamed of his father-in-law lying pale in a bed in England: a shared-death experience

In November 1868, R. Vicary Boyle was living with his wife in Simla, in northern India. One night, in the small hours, he dreamed of his father-in-law, lying pale in a bed in Brighton, England. He woke up convinced that his father-in-law had died, and he wrote it down in his diary. Fifteen days later, a telegram arrived. His father-in-law had died in Brighton on November 1. In India it was already the 2nd, but in England it was still the 1st, a few hours after the death.

The dream was written down in his diary before the news came, and a newspaper from the time confirms the day of the death. But the diary note only says that he dreamed of his father-in-law, not that his father-in-law had died. And the dream came a few hours after the death, not at the same time. We tell the story step by step and then look at what can be checked. How could he dream of his father-in-law so few hours after his death?

Step 1

1868 · Simla and Brighton · Vicary Boyle’s account

Vicary Boyle and his wife live in India, and her parents live in England

Illustration from The night Vicary Boyle, in India, dreamed of his father-in-law lying pale in a bed in England: a shared-death experience: “Vicary Boyle and his wife live in India, and her parents live in England”

R. Vicary Boyle and his wife, Elionore, lived in Simla, a town in the mountains of the Himalayas. It was where the British governor of India spent the summer.

Elionore’s parents lived in Brighton, on the south coast of England. Her father, William Hack, was 72. He had moved to Brighton a few months earlier for his health, though he was no frailer than an older brother of his who was still alive in 1884.

They had had no news from them for weeks, and there was no reason to worry.

Step 2

November 2, 1868, in the small hours · Simla · Vicary Boyle’s account

He dreams he is standing in the doorway of a bedroom in Brighton and sees his father-in-law, pale in bed

Illustration from The night Vicary Boyle, in India, dreamed of his father-in-law lying pale in a bed in England: a shared-death experience: “He dreams he is standing in the doorway of a bedroom in Brighton and sees his father-in-law, pale in bed”

In the small hours, Vicary had a very vivid dream. He was standing in the open doorway of a bedroom, in a house in Brighton. By the light of a candle, he saw his father-in-law lying in bed, very pale. His mother-in-law was crossing the room quietly, looking after him.

He woke up for a moment, and the dream came again. Then he went on sleeping for a while.

When he was fully awake, he had a very clear impression that his father-in-law had died.

Step 3

That same morning, before dressing · Vicary Boyle’s account

Before getting dressed, he writes the dream down in his diary and tells his wife

Illustration from The night Vicary Boyle, in India, dreamed of his father-in-law lying pale in a bed in England: a shared-death experience: “Before getting dressed, he writes the dream down in his diary and tells his wife”

Vicary got up, as usual, between six and seven. Before dressing, he wrote the dream down in his diary. This is what he wrote:

“Nov. 2. Dreamed of E’s F[ather] early this morning. Written before dressing.”

Vicary Boyle’s diary, as copied by the researcher Edmund Gurney (“E.” is Elionore, his wife)

Then he told his wife what he felt. They talked it over at length and could find no reason for such a strong impression.

The note doesn’t say that his father-in-law had died. It only says that he dreamed of him.

Step 4

November 2 to 17, 1868 · Vicary Boyle’s account

The telegraph line to England is down, and fifteen days later a telegram arrives

Illustration from The night Vicary Boyle, in India, dreamed of his father-in-law lying pale in a bed in England: a shared-death experience: “The telegraph line to England is down, and fifteen days later a telegram arrives”

The telegraph between England and Simla had been working for some time, but in those days it went down for about two weeks.

On November 17, fifteen days after the dream, a telegram finally arrived from Louis Hack, Elionore’s brother. It said that their father had died in Brighton on November 1. Vicary noted in his diary that the telegram had arrived.

Vicary says the news neither caught him unprepared nor surprised him.

Step 5

November 4, 1868 · According to the newspaper The Times

A London newspaper reports the death of William Hack on November 1

Illustration from The night Vicary Boyle, in India, dreamed of his father-in-law lying pale in a bed in England: a shared-death experience: “A London newspaper reports the death of William Hack on November 1”

On November 4, the London newspaper The Times published this notice: “On 1st Nov., at Brighton, William Hack, late of Dieppe, aged 72.”

What was still missing was the time of his death.

Step 6

November 1, 1868 · Brighton · According to the diary of a sister-in-law of William Hack

The letters say he died at night, but a sister-in-law’s diary says it was at two in the afternoon

Illustration from The night Vicary Boyle, in India, dreamed of his father-in-law lying pale in a bed in England: a shared-death experience: “The letters say he died at night, but a sister-in-law’s diary says it was at two in the afternoon”

The letters that came later said that William Hack had died during the night. So Vicary added the words “the night of” to his diary note, above what he had written. That way, the note linked the dream to the night of the death.

But a sister-in-law of William Hack wrote in her diary, that same Sunday, November 1, how his last hours had gone. A niece copied that entry for the researchers. It says: “At a few minutes after 2 o’clock he ceased to breathe.” The journal that published the case adds that it was two in the afternoon.

Because of the time difference, Vicary worked out that when he had his dream in the small hours in Simla, it was 10 or 11 at night on November 1 in England. If his father-in-law died at two in the afternoon, the dream came about eight or nine hours after the death.

The researchers of the Society for Psychical Research think the letters were wrong to speak of the night, and that the right time is the one in the sister-in-law’s diary.

Step 7

1884 to 1888 · The account of Vicary Boyle, his wife, and the researcher Edmund Gurney

Vicary and his wife tell the case to researchers in London, who publish it in 1888

Illustration from The night Vicary Boyle, in India, dreamed of his father-in-law lying pale in a bed in England: a shared-death experience: “Vicary and his wife tell the case to researchers in London, who publish it in 1888”

In 1884, Vicary Boyle wrote his account for the Society for Psychical Research, a London society that studied cases like this. In 1887, his wife confirmed it in writing. She remembered that one November morning in 1868 her husband told her he had dreamed that her father was dying.

Vicary told the researcher Edmund Gurney that he sleeps very deeply and almost never dreams. It is the only dream he has ever written down. He also said that his wife and his mother-in-law wrote to each other often, and that the latest letters had not mentioned her father.

The Society published the case in its journal in May 1888.

The question remains: how did Vicary dream of his father-in-law, pale in bed, so few hours after his death?

What does the evidence say?

What can be checked

We ask every story the same five questions. They don’t tell us whether someone is telling the truth. They tell us what can be shown today. Here we ask them about Vicary Boyle’s dream in the small hours of November 2, 1868.

3.5 of 5

Yes
Unconfirmed
No data

Did Vicary Boyle write down his dream about his father-in-law before he knew that his father-in-law had died?He wrote down the dream beforehand, but the note doesn’t say that his father-in-law died. The diary entry, which the researcher Edmund Gurney saw, says only that he dreamed of his wife’s father. It was Vicary in 1884 and his wife in 1887 who said he saw him dead. The words “the night of” were added to the note later, when the letters arrived.
Is it known when Vicary Boyle dreamed of his father-in-law?Yes. His diary entry is dated November 2, 1868, and says he dreamed “early this morning.” Because of the time difference, it was, by his reckoning, 10 or 11 at night on November 1 in England.
Is it known what time William Hack, Vicary Boyle’s father-in-law, died?The day is known, but the time comes from a copy. The Times gives November 1, 1868. A copy of a sister-in-law’s diary says he stopped breathing at around two, and the journal makes clear it was two in the afternoon. If so, the dream came about eight or nine hours after the death.
Is there any document from the time that confirms William Hack’s death?Yes. On November 4, 1868, The Times reported that William Hack, aged 72, had died in Brighton on November 1.
Can we rule out that Vicary Boyle knew in some other way that his father-in-law was dying?It cannot be fully ruled out. The news could not have arrived in time. His father-in-law died on November 1 and Vicary wrote down the dream the next morning. The telegram arrived on the 17th. What cannot be checked is whether they were expecting that death. The Boyles say they had no reason to worry. But his father-in-law was 72, had moved to Brighton for his health, and the family wrote to each other often.

Why we ask each question

What is hard to explain

Vicary wrote the dream down in his diary that same morning, fifteen days before the news. Gurney saw the entry and copied it.
The Times, a newspaper with no connection to the family, confirms that William Hack died on November 1, 1868.
They had had no news for weeks, the telegraph was down, and there was no reason to worry.
Vicary says he almost never dreams and that it is the only dream he has ever written down.

What remains unresolved

The diary note only says that he dreamed of his father-in-law. That his father-in-law was dead comes from what Vicary said in 1884 and his wife in 1887.
The words “the night of” were added to the note later, when the letters arrived, and they make it look as if the dream came on the night of the death.
According to the sister-in-law’s diary, he died at about two in the afternoon. If so, the dream came about eight or nine hours later, not at the same time.
The time of death comes from a copy of the sister-in-law’s diary, not from the original.
William Hack was 72 and had moved to Brighton for his health.

Where this story comes from

Journals

Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, volume 3, May 1888, pages 265–266, case L. 323Read for free

Case documents

R. Vicary Boyle’s account of July 30, 1884, and that of his wife, Elionore A. Boyle, of August 6, 1887, published in the journal
Vicary Boyle’s diary entries of November 2 and 17, 1868, copied by Edmund Gurney
The death notice in The Times of November 4, 1868
The copy of an entry of November 1, 1868, from the diary of a sister-in-law of William Hack

Learn more

The captain’s voice: another experience written down in a diary, with the same doubt about the timeRead
More shared-death experiencesRead

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Our full reading of the case and its scoring against our five criteria, as of October 28, 2026

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