Eleanor Sidgwick by James Jebusa Shannon died 1923

Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick (née Balfour; 11 March 1845 – 10 February 1936), known as Nora to her family and friends, was a physics researcher assisting

Lord Rayleigh John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, (; 12 November 1842 – 30 June 1919) was an English mathematician and physicist who made extensive contributions to science. He spent all of his academic career at the University of Cambridge. Amo ...

, an activist for the higher education of women, Principal of

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...

of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and a leading figure in the

Society for Psychical Research 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 condu ...

Biography

Eleanor Mildred Balfour was born in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the hist ...

, daughter of

James Maitland Balfour James Maitland Balfour (5 January 1820 – 23 February 1856) was a Scottish land-owner and businessman. He made a fortune in the 19th-century railway boom, and inherited a significant portion of his father's great wealth. He was a Conservative ...

and Lady Blanche Harriet. She was born into perhaps the most prominent political clan in 19th-century Britain, the 'Hotel Cecil': her brother

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

would eventually himself become prime minister. Another brother, Frank, a biologist, died young in a climbing accident. One of the first students at

in Cambridge, in 1876 she married (and became converted to

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

by) the

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Henry Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (; 31 May 1838 – 28 August 1900) was an English utilitarian philosopher and economist. He was the Knightbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1883 until his death, and is best known in philos ...

. In 1880 she became Vice-Principal of Newnham under the founding Principal Anne Clough, succeeding as principal on Clough's death in 1892. In 1890 Sidgwick was elected to the Ladies Dining Society that had been founded by

Louise Creighton Louise Hume Creighton (née von Glehn; 7 July 1850 – 15 April 1936) was a British author of books on historical and sociopolitical topics, and an activist for a greater representation of women in society, including women's suffrage, and in t ...

and Kathleen Lyttleton. Other members included the economist Mary Paley Marshall, the classicist Margaret Verrall, writer Mary Jane Ward, former Newnham lecturer

Ellen Wordsworth Darwin Ellen Wordsworth Darwin (née Crofts; 13 January 1856 – 28 August 1903) was an academic, a fellow and lecturer in English Literature at Newnham College in Cambridge (1879-1883), a member of the private and scholarly Ladies Dining Societ ...

, the mental health campaigner Ida Darwin, Baroness Eliza von Hügel and the U.S. socialites Caroline Jebb and Maud Darwin. Eleanor and her husband resided at Newnham until 1900, the year of Henry Sidgwick's death. In 1894 Sidgwick was one of the first three women to serve on a royal commission, the Bryce commission on Secondary Education. As a young woman, Eleanor had helped Rayleigh improve the accuracy of experimental measurement of electrical resistance; she subsequently turned her careful experimental mind to the question of testing the veracity of claims for psychical phenomena. She was elected President of the

in 1908 and named President of Honour in 1932. In 1916 Sidgwick left Cambridge to live with one of her brothers near

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The earliest evidence of human activity is f ...

, where she remained until her death in 1936. She was awarded honorary degrees by the universities of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's four ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Psychical research writings

Most of her writings related to psychical research, and are contained in the ''Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research''. However, some related to educational matters, and a couple of essays dealt with the morality of international affairs. Sidgwick was highly critical of physical

mediumship 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 spir ...

. In 1886 and 1887 a series of publications by S. J. Davey, Richard Hodgson and Sidgwick in the Journal for the Society for Psychical Research exposed the slate writing tricks of the medium

William Eglinton William Eglinton (1857–1933), also known as William Eglington was a British spiritualist medium who was exposed as a fraud. Hereward Carrington. (1907). ''The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism''. Herbert B. Turner & Co. pp. 84–90 Massimo ...

. Sidgwick regarded Eglinton to be nothing more than a clever conjurer. Due to the critical papers,

Stainton Moses William Stainton Moses (1839 – 5 September 1892) 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 examina ...

and other prominent spiritualist members resigned from the Society for Psychical Research. In 1891,

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural sele ...

requested for the Society to properly investigate

spirit photography Spirit photography (also called ghost photography) is a type of photography whose primary goal is to capture images of ghosts and other spiritual entities, especially in ghost hunting. It dates back to the late 19th century. The end of the Ameri ...

. Wallace had endorsed various spirit photographs as genuine. Sidgwick responded with her paper ''On Spirit Photographs'' (1891) which cast doubt on the subject and revealed the fraudulent methods that spirit photographers such as

Édouard Isidore Buguet Édouard Isidore Buguet (1840–1901) was a French medium and spirit photographer.Harry Houdini. (2011 edition). Originally published in 1924. ''A Magician Among the Spirits''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 120-124. Buguet became a "sensatio ...

Frederic Hudson Frederic Hudson (April 25, 1819 – October 21, 1875) was a leading 19th century American newspaper editor, working from 1838 to 1866 for ''New York Herald'', where he served as managing editor, and was influential in the development of A ...

and William H. Mumler had utilized.Edmunds, Simeon. (1966). ''Spiritualism: A Critical Survey''. Aquarian Press. p. 115. "The early history of spirit photography was reviewed by Mrs Henry Sidgwick in the Proceedings of the SPR in 1891. She showed clearly not only that Mumler, Hudson, Buguet and their ilk were fraudulent, but the way in which those who believed in them were deceived."

Selected publications

*Sidgwick, Eleanor. (1886). ''Mr. Eglinton''. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 2: 282–334. *Sidgwick, Eleanor. (1886–87) ''Results of a Personal Investigation into the 'Physical Phenomena' of Spiritualism. With Some Critical Remarks on the Evidence for the Genuineness of Such Phenomena''. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 4: 45–74. *Sidgwick, Eleanor. (1891). ''On Spirit Photographs: A Reply to Mr A.R. Wallace''. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 7: 268–289. *Sidgwick, Eleanor. (1915). ''A Contribution to the Study of the Psychology of Mrs. Piper's Trance Phenomena''. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 28: 1–657. *Sidgwick, Eleanor. (1917–18). ''Review: The Reality of Psychic Phenomena by W. J. Crawford''. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research: 18: 29–31. *Sidgwick, Eleanor. (1922). ''Phantasms of the Living: An Examination and Analysis of Cases of Telepathy between Living Persons Printed in the "Journal" of the Society for Psychical Research since the Publication of the Book "Phantasms of the Living," by Gurney, Myers and Podmore in 1886''. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 33: 23-429.

References

External links

Newnham biographies
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Works
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Open Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidgwick, Eleanor Mildred 1845 births 1936 deaths Parapsychologists People from East Lothian Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge British feminists Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge Principals of Newnham College, Cambridge Education activists

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

Biography

Psychical research writings

Selected publications

References

Further reading

External links