Agnes Guppy-Volckman
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Agnes Elisabeth Guppy-Volckman (; 1838–1917) was a British spiritualist
medium Medium may refer to: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...
.


Career

She was born Agnes Elisabeth White in
Horncastle Horncastle is a market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, England. It is east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls rema ...
, Lincolnshire Whittington-Egan, Molly. (2015). ''Mrs Guppy Takes A Flight: A Scandal of Victorian Spiritualism''. Neil Wilson Publishing. not in
Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...
, London. She was known as Agnes Nicholl when she became an orphan and she was adopted by her maternal grandfather
William Grinsell Nicholl William Grinsell Nicholl (London 1796–1871) was a British 19th-century architectural and monumental sculptor. Life He was born in Marylebone, London in 1796. In 1822 he attended the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited in the Royal ...
. She became the wife of the
spiritualist Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least ...
Samuel Guppy in 1867. After the death of Guppy in 1875, she married William Volckman. Guppy was discovered by Fanny Sims who was the sister of
Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection; his 1858 pap ...
in the 1860s. Sims believed she had powers and she gave her first demonstration in 1866 at the Wallace's home. Guppy was associated with the fraudulent spirit photographer Frederick Hudson. Pearsall, Ronald. (1972). ''The Table-Rappers''. Book Club Associates. pp. 82–122. She was known for producing apports and materializations. Researcher
Ronald Pearsall Ronald Joseph Pearsall (20 October 1927 – 27 September 2005) was an English writer whose scope included children's stories, pornography and fishing. His most famous book ''The Worm in the Bud'' (1969) was about Victorian sexuality, including o ...
described the fraudulent techniques that Guppy used in her séances. John Grant has written that she "was a clever charlatan; her stunts bear all the hallmarks of extravagant stage conjuring tricks." Molly Whittington-Egan has written a biography of Guppy titled ''Mrs Guppy Takes A Flight: A Scandal of Victorian Spiritualism''.


Family

In the 1861 census she was living at 57 Teddington Low Road,
Hampton Wick Hampton Wick is a Thamesside area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, contiguous with Teddington, Kingston upon Thames and Bushy Park. Market gardening continued until well into the twentieth century. With its road and rail ...
, with
William Grinsell Nicholl William Grinsell Nicholl (London 1796–1871) was a British 19th-century architectural and monumental sculptor. Life He was born in Marylebone, London in 1796. In 1822 he attended the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited in the Royal ...
. He was married, a sculptor aged 64, she was Elizabeth White aged 23 and she was Nicholl's granddaughter (and adopted daughter). On 19 October 1865 she underwent an adult baptism at
St Giles in the Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglican parish church of the St Giles district of London. The parish stands within the London Borough of Camden and forms part of the Diocese of London. The church, named for St Giles the Hermit, began as the c ...
church, Holborn, giving her first names as Elizabeth Clara White and surname as Nicholl and claiming
William Grinsell Nicholl William Grinsell Nicholl (London 1796–1871) was a British 19th-century architectural and monumental sculptor. Life He was born in Marylebone, London in 1796. In 1822 he attended the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited in the Royal ...
and his wife Emma as her parents. She gave her (correct) date of birth as 22 October 1838, and her address as 29 Great Norfolk Street (near the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
). On December 10, 1867, she married Samuel Guppy at St Luke's church, Chelsea giving her name as Elizabeth White, a spinster, and her father as Charles Taylor White, deceased. On 1 December 1871 she witnessed the will of
William Grinsell Nicholl William Grinsell Nicholl (London 1796–1871) was a British 19th-century architectural and monumental sculptor. Life He was born in Marylebone, London in 1796. In 1822 he attended the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited in the Royal ...
seven days before his death and while he was still living with his wife of 50 years.


Alleged levitation

On 3 June 1871 it was alleged that Guppy had levitated out of her own house in
Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...
three miles away to a séance room table in
Lamb's Conduit Street Lamb's Conduit Street is a street in Holborn in the West End of London, West End of London. The street takes its name from ''Lambs Conduit'', originally known as the ''Holborn Conduit'', a dam across a tributary of the River Fleet. Lamb's Cond ...
. Although this incident was considered genuine by spiritualists such as
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
and A. Campbell Holms, it was dismissed by sceptics as a hoax. Brandon, Ruth. (1983). ''The Spiritualists: The Passion for the Occult in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries''. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 105.


References


Further reading

*Anonymous. (1875). ''Spiritualism Exposed, or Lighting up a Dark Seance''. Birmingham. *Molly Whittington-Egan. (2015). ''Mrs Guppy Takes A Flight: A Scandal of Victorian Spiritualism''. Neil Wilson Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Guppy, Elisabeth 1838 births 1917 deaths English spiritual mediums People from Horncastle, Lincolnshire