Charles Lakeman Tweedale (died 29 June 1944), most well known as Charles L. Tweedale, was a British

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

minister and

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 ...

Career

Tweedale was educated at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

. He was the Anglican Vicar of

Weston, North Yorkshire Weston is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The village is north–west of Otley and near the River Wharfe which forms the boundary between North and West Yorkshire. The name is from Old English and means w ...

. He was a convinced spiritualist and in the early 1920s founded the ''Society of Communion'' for spiritualist members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. The society "insisted on the acceptance of the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and existed mainly to encourage psychic study among Anglicans." He defended his friend the spirit photographer

William Hope William Hope may refer to: * William Johnstone Hope (1766–1831), prominent and controversial British Royal Navy officer and politician * Sir William Hope, 14th Baronet (1819–1898), British Army officer * William Hope (VC) (1834–1909), Scottis ...

from charges of fraud. It was alleged that Tweedale's family home, the Weston Vicarage, was haunted by their deceased aunt and her phantom dog. The "

haunting This is a list of locations that are (or have been) said to be haunted by ghosts, demons, or other supernatural beings throughout the world. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghostlore, which is a form of folklore. Argentina * Cinco ...

s" were principally recorded between 1905-1923. The psychical researcher W. W. Baggally from 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 ...

interviewed witnesses and declared the phenomena genuine. However, skeptics were unconvinced noting that "as with most investigations of hauntings, you either believe the witnesses or you don't, for there is no other evidence." The psychical researcher

Frank Podmore Frank Podmore (5 February 1856 – 14 August 1910) was an English author and founding member of the Fabian Society as well as an influential member of the Society for Psychical Research. He is known for his interest in spiritualism, which he eve ...

suggested that some of the visions may have been

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...

s. Podmore, Frank. (2011 edition, originally published 1908). ''The Naturalisation of the Supernatural''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 147-148.

Publications

''Man's Survival After Death''
(Four editions 1909, 1920, 1925, 1931) *''Present Day Spirit Phenomena and the Churches'' (1917) *''The Vindication of William Hope'' (1933) *''News From the Next World'' (1940)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tweedale, Charles Lakeman 1944 deaths English Anglicans English spiritualists British parapsychologists Alumni of St Cuthbert's Society, Durham

Career

Publications

See also

References