Charles Bailey (1870–1947) was an Australian apport medium who was exposed as a fraud.Irwin, Harvey J; Watt, Caroline. (2007). ''An Introduction to Parapsychology, 5th ed''. McFarland. pp. 24-26.

Career

Bailey was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He worked as a bootmaker and became a famous apport

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 ...

. He claimed with the help of his

spirit guide A spirit guide, in Spiritualism, is an entity that remains as a discarnate spirit to act as a guide or protector to a living incarnated individual. Description In traditional African belief systems, well before the spread of Christianity ...

"Abdul" that he could apport live items such as

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, crabs, turtles,

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

s, stones and antiques in the séance room. In 1910, Bailey was exposed as a fraud in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, France. He produced two live birds but was unaware that the dealer who he had bought the birds from was present in the séance. According to

Joseph McCabe Joseph Martin McCabe (12 November 1867 – 10 January 1955) was an English writer and speaker on freethought, after having been a Roman Catholic priest earlier in his life. He was "one of the great mouthpieces of freethought in England". Becom ...

before the séance he had hidden the birds in the "unpleasant end of his

alimentary canal The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascular system. ...

". McCabe, Joseph. (1920). ''Is Spiritualism Based On Fraud? The Evidence Given By Sir A. C. Doyle and Others Drastically Examined''. London Watts & Co. p. 90 Bailey was endorsed by Thomas Welton Stanford a wealthy spiritualist who had help fund the psychical research programme at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

.Asprem, Egil. (2014). ''The Problem of Disenchantment: Scientific Naturalism and Esoteric Discourse, 1900-1939''. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 355-360. He was also supported by the spiritualist

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 ...

. However, most psychical researchers dismissed Bailey as fraudulent. The psychologist John Edgar Coover held strong doubts about Bailey and noted he been exposed as a fraud several times, most notably by 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 ...

. He was notable for producing apports of ancient tablets and other antiquities during his séances. Some of these were examined by 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 ...

who concluded they were forgeries. Bailey was further exposed at a séance in 1914 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

when a sitter pulled the drapery off a materialized "spirit".

References

External links

Spiritualism and Fraud Bailey, the Bird-bringer, Bumped
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey (medium), Charles 1870 births 1947 deaths People from Melbourne Australian spiritual mediums

Career

References

Further reading

External links