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Anne Wade
HIST 3104: Britain in the Age of Industry and Empire
5 November 2018
The Spirit of Spiritualism
The question of what happens after death has always troubled humanity. There is no
concrete evidence of a life beyond or of the ability to communicate with the dead, but humans
are always searching and have always been. The people of the Victorian Era in England were no
different. They desired proof of the supernatural, desired to speak with their dead relatives, and,
overall, desired answers to the age-old question; what happens when someone dies? For some
Victorians, the answer to this complex question came in the form of a strange movement
imported from the United States. This movement was called “spiritualism,” and it promised
grieving families the ability to communicate with their dead loved ones through the power of
mediumship, “automatic writing,” and seances. Many during the period, and many historians
today, believed that the practitioners of spiritualism were nothing more than unscrupulous
charlatans. Liza Picard, in her book Victorian London: The Life of a City 1840-1870 even asserts
that “The terrible mortality in the cholera epidemics and the Crimean War made many credulous
people seek comfort in the possibility of communicating with dead loved ones, but their pathetic
needs were turned to cash by unscrupulous manipulators.”1 Others, though, believed that
spiritualism was allowing them to truly connect with those that had passed “beyond the veil.” In
the end, the conversation surrounding spiritualism was one of great contention; some Victorians
1
Liza Picard, Victorian London: The Life of a City 1840-1870 (New York: St. Martins Griffin, 2007), 293.
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arguing for its benefits and others agreeing with Picard in saying that spiritualism was nothing
more than manipulation of the vulnerable.
A large number of Victorians argued against spiritualism, claiming that it was a foolish
exercise in futility and detracted from the civility and growing advancement of England as a
whole. For example, an article from The Times published in 1862 begins with the sarcastic, and
rhetorical, question of “how will the future historian… explain the prevalent passion for
tampering with the supernatural?”2 The author of this particular article then goes on to mock the
spiritualists for misusing their predictive powers. Why, he wonders, if they can communicate
with those beyond the grave, do they not use their powers to become “stockjobbers” or to “sell
the secrets of government” for a profit? Additionally, the author mocks members of the upper
classes, who he believes possess a certain amount of common sense, for supporting and
participating in spiritualism.3 This author, and a good number like him, supported Picard’s
assertion that spiritualism was nothing more than an extortion scheme on the parts of the various
mediums and their ilk.
A good number of other authors from the period supported Picard’s assertion. Another
author from The Times, this time writing in 1857, mocked how quick spiritualists were to claim
their strange beliefs as a “science.” The author of this piece connects the idea of spiritualism with
the modern advancements in technology. He states, “no doubt the powers of steam and
magnetism once appeared as marvelous… but they were turned to account and pressed into the
service of man.”4 In this sense, the author argues that if spiritualism is a “science” it should be
“How will the future historian of English civiliza-,” The Times, Saturday, Mar 15, 1862, 11.
The Times, 11.
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“We are all in the dark about popular supersti-,” The Times, Tuesday, May 05, 1857, 6.
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used to the benefit of the greater community. He even suggests that mediums attempt to predict
the future of the economy or the outcome of future wars.5 These two authors and their articles
illustrate the feeling that many ordinary Victorians held toward spiritualism. They agreed with
Picard’s assertion that it was nothing more than useless playacting that had no useful purpose in
a modern and industrial era. These sceptics thought of spiritualism as having a negative effect on
the advancement of England. They believed it detracted from the growth and development of
what they considered to be “real science” that could lead to real change.
Despite the opposition, there were a number of Victorians that firmly supported
spiritualism and disagreed with Picard’s claims of it being nothing more than predation. Instead,
many citizens of England, from the highest classes to the lowest, found a community of likeminded individuals within the spiritualism movement. One notable supporter of spiritualism was
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Conan Doyle lectured on spiritualism and even married a “medium”
Jean Leckie.6 Conan Doyle firmly believed in the provability of spiritualism and saw it as a
science. Other supporters of spiritualism also argued for its validity by claiming that it was a
provable science. In a letter addressed to the editor of The Times and signed simply “A
Spiritualist,” an anonymous author claims that a good number of spiritualists are scientists and
that their expertise lends credence to the movement. He states, “… they (the scientists) are so in
virtue of having brought to the investigation of Spiritualism the same scientific methods which
they are in the habit of applying in other fields of scientific inquiry.”7 This statement illustrates
this author’s belief in the scientific validity of the spiritualism movement. In his mind, and in the
mind of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, spiritualism was a valid movement that was supported not by
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The Times, 6.
"Arthur Conan Doyle, the Spiritualist Behind the Rational Sherlock Holmes," The New York Times, July 07, 2016.
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“Letter to the Editor,” The Times, Tuesday, Dec 31, 1872, 10.
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charlatans preying on the weak and uninformed, but by men of science and industry who used
their knowledge of the scientific method to improve the methodology of the spiritualist
movement.
In the end, the conversation surrounding spiritualism was incredibly complex. There was
no one perspective that was “right” or “wrong.” Instead, there were a number of varying
opinions that ranged from complete condemnation, to hopeful skepticism, to total and
unflinching belief. Articles from the time illustrate this fascinating divide. Additionally, they
illustrate the complexity surrounding Liza Picard’s statement that all of spiritualism was
manipulative and unscrupulous. Certainly a number of Victorians would have agreed with her if
she were writing during the 1800s, but she would also have had a number of outspoken critics.
Overall, Picard’s statement is neither incorrect or correct, it is, instead, a statement of opinion
that was not widely supported nor totally contradicted during the period. Just like the neverending question of mortality, the question of spiritualism in Victorian society is nebulous and
hard to completely understand or encapsulate in one simple statement.
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Bibliography
"Arthur Conan Doyle, the Spiritualist Behind the Rational Sherlock Holmes." The New York
Times. July 07, 2016. Accessed November 02, 2018.
“How will the future historian of English civiliza-.” The Times (London, England), Saturday,
Mar 15, 1862; pg. 11; Issue 24194.
“Letter to the Editor” The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Dec 31, 1872; pg. 10; Issue
27574.
“We are all in the dark about popular supersti-.” The Times (London, England), Tuesday, May
05, 1857; pg. 6; Issue 22672.
Picard, Liza. Victorian London: The Life of a City, 1840-1870. New York, NY: St. Martins
Griffin, 2007.