HISTORY
HISTORY OF THE SPIRITUALIST ASSOCIATION
OF GREAT BRITAIN (1872-2015)
Try and imagine this scene. It is a chill night - February 7, 1872,
to be precise. See, sense and smell Victorian London. Outside,
gas-lights flicker in an evening breeze. Indeed, it looks as
though snow might be on the way. Horses jostle for space on
the ever-crowded roads, their warm breath looking like ghostly
vapour. People are rushing home, everyone from the street
urchins and traders to the professional classes. Even the old
lady selling violets seems anxious to vacate her pitch and head
for the often foul-smelling East End and her large, ever-
demanding family. Women, many wearing fur mufflers and
sensible hats against the increasingly bitter cold, occasionally
lift their now absurdly long dresses just an inch or so to escape
puddles, some of which are just starting to ice over.
Now the scene switches to 16, David Street, Marylebone in
London's West End. Around a dozen friends have gathered.
Perhaps they were very different in class, size, education and
background: that we do not know. But what we do know is that
they had but one purpose - to discuss forming a Spiritualist
society. After all, Modern Spiritualism had begun in America in
1848. Surely it was time to establish a Spiritualist organisation.
Perhaps seated informally around a table - the well-stacked fire
occasionally belching smoke as a north wind blew down the
chimney - the friends decided that, yes, they would form a
society. A few informal meetings were arranged.
On July 10 of that same year, the Marylebone Spiritualist
Association came into being as an organised body. During the
early years, meetings were held at various locations
throughout London, even including a carpenter's workshop
and former police court. A major problem was that Spiritualism
was still a taboo subject. Indeed, so great was the prejudice
that occasionally the Association changed its name
(unofficially, of course).
Now leap forward to September 1894, and to London's
Mortimer Street where, thanks to an anonymous donation of
£50, "a commodious meeting place" was secured. Incidentally,
Emma Hardinge Britten, who founded "Two Worlds" and was
the medium responsible for the Spiritualists' National Union's
Principles, delivered the opening address.
Over the next decades, the Association met at various places,
such as Steinway Hall, where famous trance medium J. J. Morse
similarly delivered an opening address. Another well-known
venue was New Bond Street's Aeolian Hall.
In fact, it was not until February 1930 that the Association
secured permanent premises at 42, Russell Square, in Holborn.
By that time some of the most famous names in contemporary
Spiritualism had - or were - to serve it, such as Florence
Marryat, the novelist, W. T. Stead, Alfred Vout Peters, Estelle
Roberts, Annie Brittain, Horace Leaf, trance healer Fred Jones,
trance and direct voice medium Kathleen Barkel, Nan
Mackenzie, Bertha Harris; the list is almost endless.
Not even the Second World War could halt the Association's
activities, for an official air raid shelter was established in the
basement. Amongst active staff members then were Joe
Benjamin. Within a comparatively short time other well-known
mediums were to join the Association's ranks, like Ena Twigg
and Ivy Northage.
A major move - literally! - occurred in 1955 when the
Association purchased a lease on its present premises, 33,
Belgrave Square, in the heart of plush Belgravia. The cost of
the then 92-year-long lease was a now unbelievably low
£24,500. Famous Spiritualist Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding
declared the magnificent building open. Indeed, he later took
part in one of a number of "At Homes" in order to raise money
for the new headquarters. Later, after an approach to the
Board of Trade, the Association was renamed The Spiritualist
Association of Great Britain, a move which rightly reflected its
growth and status.
The SAGB celebrated its ninetieth anniversary in 1962 by
building six new rooms on the ground floor specifically for
sittings. These are still in use, providing ideal private venues.
Still, the Association continued to offer sittings with top class
mediums, such as psychic artist Coral Polge, Lilian Bailey,
Ursula Roberts, Doris Collins, Magdalene Kelly, Harold Sharp,
Nora Blackwood, Robin Stevens and David Young, to name but
a few.
In recent years, the Association has undergone a carefully
planned refurbishment, still honouring Spiritualist pioneers by
remembering them with the Oliver Lodge Hall, Dowding Wing
and Conan Doyle Hall. Indeed, on display is a chair in which Sir
Arthur wrote a number of his famous Sherlock Holmes' stories.
Upon closing its doors on the 5th day of December at 7 o'clock
p.m. in 2010 to commence the Christmas holidays, a new
chapter in the history of the Spiritualist Association of Great
Britain was being written. After 55 years of residence at 33
Belgrave Square, the Association began packing boxes, not for
Christmas, but for a new home in the Victoria Charity Centre at
11 Belgrave Road, London, close to Victoria Station. What was
probably the most poignant and difficult decision for the
Association to make, the move was agreed by the Board of
Trustees after much soul-searching and in a sign of the times
and age, for sound economic and business reasons.
The economic climate not just in Great Britain but throughout
the free world had for some time dealt a serious blow to
investors, savers, workers and citizens alike. The banking crisis
and serious financial state of many institutions, national,
international and local created a climate in which little seemed
safe from closure or demise. Amongst the greatest to suffer
and be affected from a downturn in investments and reduced
income, the "third sector" had been dealt the severest blows;
most significantly through the loss of interest from their
investments and the lack of new money being invested or given
in charitable aid. How then to survive?
As the leaseholder of 33 Belgrave Square, the Association had
for some time been in the unwelcome position of having to
make significant investment in the repair and upkeep of a
building that now more than 175 years old, was showing signs
of significant dilapidation and need for substantial investment.
What to do and how best to do it? The terms and conditions of
the lease required the Association to maintain the fabric and
structure of the building, yet the rate of decay and necessary
investment to arrest the unremitting dilapidation was not
financially sensible unless the Association owned the freehold.
Under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development
Act 1993, and the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act
2002 it had become possible for leaseholders to buy the
freehold of their property. Acquisition of the lease was formally
abandoned on cost grounds and an alternative strategy was
initiated that would enable the Association to realise sufficient
funding to move to temporary premises whilst waiting for the
most opportune time to reinvest in a freehold property and
above all, have sufficient reserve funds to guarantee the
survival of the Association and its continuance as a worthy
charity contributing to the Spiritualist cause and the specific
aims of the Association. A momentous and difficult choice for
the Board of Trustees to make and one that was taken in the
face of difficult decisions and mounting pressures. And so it is
that the work of the SAGB continues, as it will at Nº 11 Belgrave
Road, with a secured future and one that will take it to a new
and permanent home sometime over the next two to three
years.
True to its founding fathers, the Association is at the very
forefront of promoting high-quality younger mediums from all
parts of the UK in addition to already established mediums.
Public demonstrations of clairvoyance are held daily so that
everyone - convinced Spiritualist or not - can attend and,
perhaps for the first time, come into contact with mediumship
and Spiritualism in conducive surroundings. As such, the SAGB
does not have an official Mission Statement, to use a hideous
modern expression. But if it did, perhaps it would run along
these lines: "To offer evidence to the bereaved that man
survives the change called death and, because he is a spiritual
being, retains the faculties of individuality, personality and
intelligence, and can willingly return to those left on earth, ties
of love and friendship being the motivating force. To offer
spiritual healing to those suffering from dis-ease, whether in
mind, body or spirit, in a warm and loving environment.With
both of these objectives in mind, to offer only the best and
highest so that those on both sides of the veil can progress in a
truly spiritual sense."
The Spiritualist Association of Great Britain © 2024 | Charity Registration No: 225455
341 Queenstown Road, Battersea, London, SW8 4LH | info@sagb.org.uk | 0207 931 6488
Privacy | Contact