The Brain Reading Spirits of Florence Marryat's Home Circle

Florence Marryat relates in her book "There Is No Death" (1891) some very strange "spiritual encounters" that took place in her "home circle"... This book is being fully published now on the GhostWritings Blog. You'll find a biography of Florence Marryat here.

Four o'clock in Aldershot

One evening a cousin of Florence, who served as an officer in the military base of Aldershot, was very prepared to ridicule every thing that took place in her "spirit circle". After having teased her into giving him a seance, he began by cheating himself, and then accused Florence of cheating him. Her patience tired out at last, she proposed a test, though with little hope of success.

"Let us ask John Powles to go down to Aldershot," she said, "and bring us word what your brother officers are doing."

"John Powles" was one of the spirits who were regularly visiting the circle.

"O, yes! By Jove! Capital idea! Here... you fellow Powles, cut off to the camp, will you, and go to the barracks of the 84th, and let us know what Major R. is doing."

The message came back in about three minutes. "Major R. has just come in from duty," spelt out Powles. "He is sitting on the side of his bed, changing his uniform trousers for a pair of grey tweed."

"I'm sure that's wrong," the cousin said, "because the men are never called out at this time of the day."

It was then four o'clock. Florence's cousin returned to camp the same evening, and the next day she received a note from him to say: "That fellow Powles is a brick. It was quite right. R. was unexpectedly ordered to turn out his company yesterday afternoon, and he returned to barracks and changed his things for the grey tweed suit exactly at four o'clock."

Florence Marryat states that she has always found her friend the late John Powles remarkably correct in detailing the thoughts and actions of absentees, sometimes on the other side of the globe.

Seventeen Pounds Twelve

One afternoon she went to pay an ordinary social call on a lady named Mrs. W., and found her engaged in an earnest conversation on Spiritualism with "two as material looking individuals as I ever saw" - a stout woman and a commonplace man.

As soon as Mrs. W. saw her, she exclaimed: "O! Here is Mrs. Ross-Church. She will tell you all about the spirits. Do, Mrs. Ross-Church, sit down at the table and let us have a seance."

Florence was still married then to Captain Ross-Church. She didn't feel much for a seance on a burning, blazing afternoon in August, with two uninteresting and uninterested looking strangers. And so she protested, reasoned and pleaded - but all in vain.

At last, and in an evil temper, Florence pulled off her gloves, and placed her hands indifferently on the table. The following words were at once rapped out: "I am Edward G. Did you ever pay Johnson the seventeen pounds twelve you received for my saddlery?"

The gentleman opposite to her turned all sorts of colors, and began to stammer out a reply, whilst his wife looked very confused.

Florence asked the spirit: "Who are you?"

And the spirit replied: "He knows!... His late colonel!... Why hasn't Johnson received that money?"

The gentleman in question confessed that the identity and main points of the message were true, but he did not confide to Florence whether Johnson had ever received that seventeen pounds twelve...