William Scott-Elliot (sometimes incorrectly spelled Scott-Elliott) (1849–1919) was a Scottish nobleman, merchant banker, theosophist and amateur historian who elaborated

Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian-born Mysticism, mystic and writer who emigrated to the United States where she co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an internat ...

's concept of root races in several publications, most notably ''The Story of Atlantis'' (1896) and ''The Lost Lemuria'' (1904), later combined in 1925 into a single volume called ''The Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria''. In 1893 he married Matilda (Maude) Louise Travers (1859–1929), daughter of Dr Robert Boyle Travers F.R.C.S., of Farsid Lodge, Rostellan,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland.

Theosophical writings

Scott-Elliot was an East India Merchant and amateur anthropologist. An early member of the London Lodge of the Theosophical society, in 1893 he wrote ''The Evolution of Humanity'', issued as part of the Transactions of the London Lodge (issue 17). Scott-Elliot came into contact with theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater who said he received knowledge about ancient

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

and

Lemuria Lemuria (), or Limuria, was a continent proposed in 1864 by zoologist Philip Sclater, theorized to have sunk beneath the Indian Ocean, later appropriated by occultists in supposed accounts of human origins. The theory was discredited with the dis ...

from the Theosophical Masters by "astral clairvoyance." Leadbeater transmitted his clairvoyant findings to Scott-Elliot, who undertook scholarly research to back them up. Despite Leadbeater's contributions, Scott-Elliot was listed as the sole author of the resulting book ''The Story of Atlantis'' (1896), which was published with a preface by

Alfred Percy Sinnett Alfred Percy Sinnett (18 January 1840 – 26 June 1921) was an English author and theosophist. Biography Sinnett was born in London. His father died while he was young, as in 1851 Sinnett was listed as a "Scholar – London University", li ...

. In 1899 he was awarded the T. Subba Row Medal for his contributions to "esoteric science and philosophy". In 1904 he added detail on Lemuria in ''The Lost Lemuria'', attempting to use contemporary scientific evidence to back up Leadbeater's claims.

Atlantean and Lemurian races

Leadbeater and Scott-Elliot provided much more detail than Blavatsky on the lives of the supposed Atlantean and Lemurian root races. Scott-Elliot located Lemuria in the Pacific Ocean, claiming that it was a gigantic landmass that eventually sank, leaving only small islands. Geoffrey Ashe, ''Encyclopedia of prophecy'', ABC-CLIO, 2001, p.130. The Lemurians were around fifteen feet tall, with brown skins and flat faces, no foreheads and prominent jaws. They could see sideways like birds, and could walk backwards and forwards with equal ease. They reproduced with eggs, but interbred with animals to produce ape-like human ancestors.

Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing magic, scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writin ...

, '' Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science'', Courier, 1957, p.168. After the demise of Lemuria, new races emerged on

from the surviving ape-like creatures. This led to the Atlantean races, beginning with the black skinned "Rmoahal" and leading to the "copper coloured" Tlavatli, who were ancestor-worshippers, and then the "

Toltec The Toltec culture () was a Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula (Mesoamerican site), Tula, Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoam ...

s", who had advanced technology including "airships". The Toltecs were succeeded by "First Turanians" and then "Original Semites". These later produced further sub-races, the

Akkadians The Akkadian Empire () was the first known empire, succeeding the long-lived city-states of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad ( or ) and its surrounding region, the empire united Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule and exercised ...

and Mongolians. A group of Akkadians migrated to Britain 100,000 years ago, where they built

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...

. The crudity of the design in contrast to Atlantean architecture is explained by the fact that "the rude simplicity of Stonehenge was intended as a protest against the extravagant ornament and over-decoration of the existing temples in Atlantis, where the debased worship of their own images was being carried on by the inhabitants." Scott-Elliot also claimed that Atlantis split into two linked islands, one called Daitya, and the other Ruta. Eventually only a remnant of Ruta remained, called Poseidonis, before that too disappeared.William Scott-Elliot, ''The Story of Atlantis'', Theosophical Publishing Society, 1896, p.18, p.41 Scott-Elliot's ideas were mentioned by

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (; 27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century ...

in the essays later published as ''Atlantis and Lemuria'' (1904).

Notes

External links

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''The Lost Lemuria''
at Sacred Texts

at Sacred Texts {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott-Elliot, William 1919 deaths English Theosophists Atlantis proponents Esoteric anthropogenesis Pseudohistorians Lemuria