John Myers (died 1972) was a British

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

and 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 ...

.Simeon Edmunds. (1966). ''Spiritualism: A Critical Survey''. Aquarian Press. pp. 89-90.

Career

Myers worked as a dentist in London and took up

spirit photography Spirit(s) commonly refers to: * Liquor, a distilled alcoholic drink * Spirit (animating force), the non-corporeal essence of living things * Spirit (supernatural entity), an incorporeal or immaterial being Spirit(s) may also refer to: Liquid ...

in the 1930s. He claimed to communicate with an American Indian

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 ...

called "Blackfoot". Myers was exposed as a fraud in 1932 by the

Marquess of Donegall Marquess of Donegall is a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the head of the Chichester family, originally from Devon, England. Sir John Chichester sat as a Member of Parliament and was High Sheriff of Devon in 1557. One of his sons, Si ...

. During a seance with an art editor for the ''

Sunday Dispatch The ''Sunday Dispatch'' was a prominent British newspaper, published between 27 September 1801 and 18 June 1961. It was ultimately discontinued due to its merger with the ''Sunday Express''. History The newspaper was first published as the ''Wee ...

'', journalist

Hannen Swaffer Frederick Charles Hannen Swaffer (1 November 1879 – 16 January 1962) was an English journalist and drama critic. Although his views were left-wing, he worked mostly for right-wing publications, many of them owned by Lord Northcliffe. He was a p ...

and magician

Will Goldston Will Goldston (1878–1948) was an English stage magician in the first half of the 20th century. Career He was born in the city of Liverpool and became interested in the subject at the age of eleven. As well as being a performer he was involv ...

, marked

plates Plate may refer to: Cooking * Plate (dishware), broad, mainly flat vessel commonly used to serve food * Plates, tableware, dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining * Plate, the content of such a plate (for example: ...

were secretly inserted into Myers' camera. Myers during the seance developed the photographs. Two of the plates contained extras that were not marked. Myers was accused of substituting plates. The

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

al researcher Simeon Edmunds wrote that Myers "was detected in fraud by Lord Donegall, whose report, published in the ''Sunday Dispatch'', brought the career of the medium-photographer to an abrupt conclusion." According to

Harry Price Harry Price (17 January 1881 – 29 March 1948) was a British Parapsychologist, psychic researcher and author, who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and exposing fraudulent Spiritualism (movement), spiritu ...

, in 1935 Myers was accused of fraud by J. B. McIndoe, president of the

Spiritualists' National Union The Spiritualists' National Union (SNU) is a Spiritualism (movement), Spiritualist organisation, founded in the United Kingdom in 1901, and is one of the largest Spiritualist groups in the world. Its motto is ''Light, Nature, Truth''. Over its hi ...

. The spiritualist Maurice Barbanell, editor of ''

Psychic News ''Psychic News'' was a weekly British Spiritualist newspaper published from 1932 to July 2010, and revived with a change in ownership in December 2011. History, 1932-2010 The first issue of the paper was published on 28 May 1932. The name of ...

,'' defended Myers in a book and considered his phenomena to be genuine. Maurice Barbanell. (1964). ''He Walks in Two Worlds: The Story of John Myers, Psychic Photographer, Healer, and Philanthropist''. H. Jenkins. Criticism of Barbanell and Myers can be found in Simeon Edmunds (1966).

Career

References

Further reading