Richard Boursnell (1832–1909) was a British

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and spirit photographer. Boursnell worked in a partnership with a professional photographer in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

, London. According to the psychical researcher Simeon Edmunds, the spirit photographs of Boursnell "proved fraudulent on a number of occasions." In 1902, Boursnell took a photograph of the spiritualist

William Thomas Stead William Thomas Stead (5 July 184915 April 1912) was an English newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst e ...

and a "spirit" extra appeared which was identified as Piet Botha, a

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commandant killed in the South African War. Stead claimed Botha was unknown in England and stated that the photograph was of

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

origin, however, magician

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and Andrew Wilson discovered that Botha's death had been reported in London newspapers in 1899 with a photograph of Botha. Boursnell was exposed when F. C. Barnes from

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

visited him in London in 1908. The "spirit" extra from the photograph was identified as

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and List of Hungarian consorts, Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austri ...

, taken from a book. 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 ...

wrote that another fraudulent method used by Boursnell was painting a spirit on a background with a "substance such as quinine sulphite".

. (1972). ''The Table-Rappers''. Book Club Associates. p. 120.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boursnell, Richard 1832 births 1909 deaths English spiritual mediums Photographers from London Place of birth missing