Ada Goodrich Freer | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | May 15, 1857 |
Died | February 24, 1931 |
Occupation(s) | Spiritualist medium, writer |
Ada Goodrich Freer (born 15 May 1857 in Uppingham, Rutland, England, died in New York, 24 February 1931), was a medium, clairvoyant, psychical researcher and author. Much of her work was published under the pseudonym Miss X. [1] [2] Freer was investigated by the Society for Psychical Research and, under strong suspicion of fraud, she was disowned from the Society. She was later caught cheating at a séance and subsequently emigrated to Jerusalem [3] and, later, the United States.
Ada Goodrich Freer was the daughter of George Freer and Mary, née Adcock. She gave various accounts of her background and age, suggesting connections with Yorkshire and Scottish Highland gentry. [1]
Freer joined the Society for Psychical Research in 1888 with the support of F. W. H. Myers. [2] After criticism of her work on the Ballechin House case in 1897, her work was repudiated by the SPR and she abandoned psychical research. [1]
Campaigning journalist William Thomas Stead had become increasingly interested in spiritualism in the 1890s. [4] In 1893 he founded a spiritualist quarterly, called Borderland, in which he gave full play to his interest in psychical research. [4] [5] The focus of the publication was on spiritualism and psychical research, mainly from a supportive point of view. The magazine appeared quarterly, priced 1/6. [6] As with the Review of Reviews , Stead was both proprietor and editor. [6] He employed Freer as assistant editor: she was also a substantial contributor under her usual pseudonym "Miss X". [1] [7] Stead claimed that he was in the habit of communicating with Freer by telepathy and automatic writing. [6] [8] The magazine ceased publication in October 1897. [4] [6]
Freer was involved in the investigation of the Clandon House haunting in 1895, [1] funded by the Marquess of Bute. [8] It was alleged that she reported the stories of the domestic staff rather than her own observations. [8]
Freer was commissioned by the SPR in 1894, on the recommendation of F.W.H. Myers, to conduct an enquiry into second sight in the Hebrides in 1894-5, again funded by the Marquess of Bute. [1] [9] Much of her report was taken from Hebridean folklore collector Fr. Allan MacDonald of Eriskay, whom she met on her second visit in 1895. [1] She published reports under own name, in the journal Folklore and elsewhere, but concealed the extent of her outright plagiarism from Fr. MacDonald's research notebooks, [1] which has since been documented and exposed by John Lorne Campbell.
Freer was involved in the investigation of Ballechin House by the Society for Psychical Research, her report being published jointly by herself and the Marquess of Bute. [1] [2] Her work was strongly criticised by J. Callendar Ross in The Times in 1897, and led to a controversy over the bona fides of the investigators. [1]
Historian Trevor H. Hall has argued that Freer was having an affair with F.W.H. Myers at the time that he introduced her to psychic research and the SPR. [10] Trevor Hamilton dismisses this and suggests that Freer was simply using her acquaintance with Myers to gain status in the psychical research movement. [11] Myers supported her socially and possibly financially.
Author John Grant has suggested that Myers was a womanizer who was easily duped and "probably seduced" by Freer." [3] According to Grant, Freer made false claims about herself:
Freer lived with Constance Moore, daughter of Canon Daniel Moore (1809–1899) [12] and sister of Aubrey Lackington Moore, from 1880 to 1901. [13] Freer initially lived with the Moore family at Holy Trinity Vicarage, Paddington, [13] and later shared a house with Constance in Bushey Heath. [14] There is evidence that their relationship was sado-masochistic. [15]
She worked as a medium in London, until she was caught cheating at a séance. [3]
In December 1901 Freer went to Jerusalem, where in 1905 she married Dr Hans Henry Spoer, an American scholar of ancient languages: he believed her to be some 17 years younger than her true age. She returned to Britain from 1909–11 while her husband was training for ordination at Lichfield Theological College and they then moved to Cairo. In 1923 they moved to Detroit; in 1926 to Sycamore, Illinois and then to New York where her husband was chaplain to the New York Mission Society. [1] [16]
Freer died in St Luke's Hospital, New York, on 24 February 1931. [1]
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to conduct organised scholarly research into human experiences that challenge contemporary scientific models." It does not, however, since its inception in 1882, hold any corporate opinions: SPR members assert a variety of beliefs with regard to the nature of the phenomena studied.
Frederic William Henry Myers was a British poet, classicist, philologist, and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research. Myers' work on psychical research and his ideas about a "subliminal self" were influential in his time, but have not been accepted by the scientific community. However, in 2007 a team of cognitive scientists at University of Virginia School of Medicine, led by Edward F. Kelly published a major empirical-theoretical work, Irreducible Mind, citing various empirical evidence that they think broadly corroborates Myer's conception of human self and its survival of bodily death.
Spiritualism was a social religious movement in the nineteenth century, according to which an individual's awareness persists after death and may be contacted by the living. The afterlife, or the "spirit world", is seen by spiritualists not as a static place, but as one in which spirits continue to evolve. These two beliefs—that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits are more advanced than humans—lead spiritualists to the belief that spirits are capable of providing useful insight regarding moral and ethical issues, as well as about the nature of God. Some spiritualists will speak of a concept which they refer to as "spirit guides"—specific spirits, often contacted, who are relied upon for spiritual guidance. Emanuel Swedenborg has some claim to be the father of Spiritualism. Spiritism, a branch of spiritualism developed by Allan Kardec and today practiced mostly in Continental Europe and Latin America, especially in Brazil, emphasizes reincarnation.
A séance or seance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word séance comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French seoir, "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma". In English, however, the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from ghosts or to listen to a spirit medium discourse with or relay messages from spirits. In modern English usage, participants need not be seated while engaged in a séance.
The National Laboratory of Psychical Research was established in 1926 by Harry Price, at 16 Queensberry Place, London. Its aim was "to investigate in a dispassionate manner and by purely scientific means every phase of psychic or alleged psychic phenomena". The honorary president was Lord Sands, K.C., LL.D., acting president was H. G. Bois, and the honorary director was Harry Price. In 1930 the Laboratory moved from Queensberry Square, where it had been a tenant of the London Spiritualist Alliance to 13 Roland Gardens. In 1938, its library was transferred on loan to the University of London.
William Thomas Stead was a British newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst editor of The Pall Mall Gazette, including his 1885 series of articles, The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon. These were written in support of a bill, later dubbed the "Stead Act", that raised the age of consent from 13 to 16.
Harry Price was a British psychic researcher and author, who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and exposing fraudulent spiritualist mediums. He is best known for his well-publicised investigation of the purportedly haunted Borley Rectory in Essex, England.
Sir William Fletcher Barrett was an English physicist and parapsychologist.
Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including séance tables, trance, and ouija.
Eusapia Palladino was an Italian Spiritualist physical medium. She claimed extraordinary powers such as the ability to levitate tables, communicate with the dead through her spirit guide John King, and to produce other supernatural phenomena.
The College of Psychic Studies is a non-profit organisation based in South Kensington, London. It is dedicated to the study of psychic and spiritualist phenomena.
Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick, known as Nora to her family and friends, was a physics researcher assisting Lord Rayleigh, an activist for the higher education of women, Principal of Newnham College of the University of Cambridge, and a leading figure in the Society for Psychical Research.
William Stainton Moses was an English cleric and spiritualist medium. He promoted spirit photography and automatic writing, and co-founded what became the College of Psychic Studies. He resisted scientific examination of his claims, which have generally been demolished.
Ballechin House was a Georgian estate home near Grandtully, Perthshire, Scotland. It was built in 1806, on the site of an old manor house which had been owned by the Steuart family since the 15th century. This house, which stands in Ballechin Wood, is the subject for a popular local ghostlore story.
Leonora Piper was a famous American trance medium in the area of Spiritualism. Piper was the subject of intense interest and investigation by American and British psychic research associations during the early 20th century, most notably William James and the Society for Psychical Research.
The cross-correspondences refers to a series of automatic scripts and trance utterances from a group of automatic writers and mediums, involving members of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). According to psychical researchers the correspondences when put together convey intelligible messages either from spirits of the dead or telepathy.
Borderland was a magazine founded and edited by William Thomas Stead from 1893 to 1897. The focus of the publication was on spiritualism and psychical research, mainly from a supportive point of view.
Trevor Henry Hall (1910–1991) was a British author, surveyor, and sceptic of paranormal phenomena. Hall made controversial claims regarding early members of the Society for Psychical Research. His books caused a heated controversy within the parapsychology community.
Richard Hodgson was an Australian-born psychical researcher who investigated spiritualist mediums such as Eusapia Palladino and Leonora Piper. During his later life, Hodgson became a spiritualist medium himself and believed to be in communication with spirits.
Annie Fairlamb Mellon (1850–1938) also known as Mrs. J. B. Mellon was a British materialization medium.