Francis Henry Everard Joseph Feilding (6 March 1867 – 8 February 1936) best known as Everard Feilding was an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, naval intelligence officer and psychical researcher.

Career

As a teenager, Feilding worked as a midshipman for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during the

Egyptian campaign The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the pr ...

in 1882. He was educated at

Oscott College St Mary's College in New Oscott, Birmingham, often called Oscott College, is the Roman Catholic seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham in England and one of the three seminaries of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Purpose Oscott Coll ...

and attended

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1887, he obtained his bachelors of law degree in 1890.Kaczynski, Richard. (2010). ''Perdurabo, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Life of Aleister Crowley''. North Atlantic Books. pp. 187–188. Feilding was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, he began his interest in psychical research from his visit to

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Château ...

in 1892. He was secretary of 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 ...

from 1903 to 1920. His father was

Rudolph Feilding, 8th Earl of Denbigh Rudolph (Rollo) William Basil Feilding, 8th Earl of Denbigh, 7th Earl of Desmond (9 April 1823 – 10 March 1892) was a British peer, succeeding to his titles on the death in 1865 of his father, the 7th Earl of Denbigh. He was noted as a Rom ...

and his brother

Rudolph Feilding, 9th Earl of Denbigh Rudolph (Rollo) Robert Basil Aloysius Augustine Feilding, 9th Earl of Denbigh, 8th Earl of Desmond, (26 May 1859 – 25 November 1939), styled Viscount Feilding from 1865 to 1892, was a British peer and officer. Biography Lord Feilding was ...

. A pioneer of rubber planting in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

, he was chairman of Kuala Lumpur Rubber Company in 1906. Feilding served as a lieutenant in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

(RNVR) and worked for the

British Intelligence The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within three government departments, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. These agencies are responsible for collecting and analysing foreign and do ...

Staff in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

(1915–1919). Feilding married the psychic medium Stanisława Tomczyk in 1919. It is alleged by biographers that he was a friend of the occultist

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...

. Psychical researcher

Eric Dingwall Eric John Dingwall (1890–1986) was a British anthropologist, psychical researcher and librarian. Biography Born in British Ceylon, Dingwall moved to England where he was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge (M.A., 1912), and the Unive ...

wrote that Feilding was a "member of one of the most distinguished Catholic families in England" and was "one of the most acute investigators of alleged supernormal phenomena that this country has ever produced."

Feilding report

Feilding is best-known for his investigation of the Italian medium

Eusapia Palladino Eusapia Palladino (alternative spelling: ''Paladino''; 21 January 1854 – 16 May 1918) was an Italian Spiritualist physical medium. She claimed extraordinary powers such as the ability to levitate tables, communicate with the dead through he ...

. In 1908, the SPR appointed a committee of three to examine her in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. The committee consisted of W. W. Baggally,

Hereward Carrington Hereward Carrington (17 October 1880 – 26 December 1958) was a well-known British-born American investigator of psychic phenomena and author. His subjects included several of the most high-profile cases of apparent psychic ability of his times, ...

and Everard Feilding.

Frank Podmore Frank Podmore (5 February 1856 – 14 August 1910) was an English author, and founding member of the Fabian Society. He is best known as an influential member of the Society for Psychical Research and for his sceptical writings on spiritualism. ...

. (1910)
''The Newer Spiritualism''
Henry Holt and Company. pp. 114–44 Although the investigators caught Palladino cheating during the

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spe ...

s, they were convinced Palladino had produced genuine

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

phenomena such as levitations of the table, movement of the curtains, movement of objects from behind the curtain and touches from hands. In 1909, all three investigators wrote a report on the medium in the ''Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research''. The report became known as the "Feilding report" and has been a source of debate between psychical researchers and sceptics.

in his book ''The Newer Spiritualism'' (1910) wrote a comprehensive critique of their report. Podmore said that the report provided insufficient information for crucial moments and the investigators representation of the witness accounts contained contradictions and inconsistencies as to who was holding Palladino's feet and hands. Podmore found that the accounts among the investigators conflicted as to who they claimed to have observed the incident. Podmore wrote that the report "at almost every point leaves obvious loopholes for trickery." The psychologist C. E. M. Hansel criticised the report based on the conditions of the séances being susceptible to trickery. Hansel noted that they were performed in semi-dark conditions, held in the late night or early morning introducing the possibility of

fatigue Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...

and the "investigators had a strong belief in the supernatural, hence they would be emotionally involved." Hansel, C. E. M. (1980). ''ESP and Parapsychology: A Critical Re-Evaluation''. Prometheus Books. pp. 60–61. Although originally convinced of her alleged powers, Feilding attended séances with Palladino in 1910 with the magician

William S. Marriott William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and concluded her mediumship was fraudulent.

Paul Kurtz Paul Kurtz (December 21, 1925 – October 20, 2012) was an American scientific skeptic and Secular humanism, secular humanist. He has been called "the father of secular humanism". He was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University at Buff ...

has noted that "Skeptic's question the first Feilding report because in a subsequent test by Feilding and other tests by scientists, Palladino had been caught cheating."

Abbé Vachère case

In 1914, Feilding with

Maud Gonne Maud Gonne MacBride ( ga, Maud Nic Ghoinn Bean Mhic Giolla Bhríghde; 21 December 1866 – 27 April 1953) was an English-born Irish republican revolutionary, suffragette and actress. Of Anglo-Irish descent, she was won over to Irish nationalism ...

and

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

visited

Mirebeau Mirebeau (; Poitevin: ''Mirebea'') is a commune in the Vienne department, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, western France. History Fulk Nerra (970-1040), Count of Anjou conquered Mirebeau and built a castle there. His son, Geoffrey of Anjo ...

to investigate an alleged miracle of a bleeding

oleograph Chromolithography is a method for making multi-colour prints. This type of colour printing stemmed from the process of lithography, and includes all types of lithography that are printed in colour. When chromolithography is used to reproduce p ...

that was in the possession of priest Abbé Vachère. Feilding took a blood sample to the

Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, us ...

. They concluded that it was not human blood. In 1915, Feilding returned to Mirebeau. He made several visits to Vachère's home. Nickell, Joe. (1993). ''Looking for a Miracle: Weeping Icons, Relics, Stigmata, Visions & Healing Cures''. Prometheus Books. pp. 59–60. The oleograph had been placed in his chapel. Feilding found that it was wet but he did not directly observe the picture to have bled. As a test, he locked the chapel door and placed a slip of paper in the hinge. He discovered hours later that although the picture was wet, the paper had been dislodged. The evidence was negative but Feilding did not believe Vachère was guilty of deception. In 1920, Feilding and his wife visited Vachère. This time he alleged that a small statue of Jesus in the chapel had also bled. Feilding and his wife investigated this claim. His wife suspected that Vachère sprinkled water on the picture from a small pot she found behind some flowers in the room. Feilding took a blood sample and this time the results showed it was human blood. He did not come to any definite conclusion but because of the evidence suggestive of fraud, sceptics have dismissed the case as a hoax.

Other investigations

Feilding was a friend of the neurologist

Henry Head Sir Henry Head, FRS (4 August 1861 – 8 October 1940) was an English neurologist who conducted pioneering work into the somatosensory system and sensory nerves. Much of this work was conducted on himself, in collaboration with the psychiatrist ...

who he attempted to get involved with psychical research.Jacyna, L. S. (2016). ''Medicine and Modernism: A Biography of Henry Head''. Routledge. pp. 57–58. He invited Head to a "ghost hunt" at an alleged haunted house known as "Pickpocket Hall" on his brother's estate in

Pantasaph Pantasaph is a small village in Flintshire, north-east Wales, two miles south of Holywell in the community of Whitford. Its name translates into English as Asaph's Hollow. History Once abbey land belonging to nearby Basingwerk Abbey, Pantas ...

. He wrote in a letter to

Wilfrid Meynell Wilfrid Meynell (17 November 1852, Newcastle-upon-Tyne – 20 October 1948, Pulborough),Obituary, ''The Times'', 22 October 1948, p.7. who sometimes wrote under the pseudonym John Oldcastle, was a British newspaper publisher and editor. Born of ...

that they spent a few nights in the derelict house but the result was a failure. He also persuaded Head to investigate the shrines at Lourdes in the summer of 1895. Feilding with W. W. Baggally exposed the materialization medium Christopher Chambers as a fraud in 1905. A false moustache was discovered in the séance room which he used to fabricate the spirit materialisations. In 1911, Feilding attended two séance sittings with the medium

Etta Wriedt Etta Wriedt (1859-1942) was an American direct voice medium. Wriedt was born in Detroit and was well known in the field of spiritualism, she employed a trumpet in the darkness of the séance room which she claimed spirits would use to make noises ...

. He suspected that the phenomena may have been fraudulent. He was "specifically excluded" from attending further séances with Wriedt. Wolman, Benjamin. (1977). ''Handbook of Parapsychology''. Van Nostrand. p. 314.

Publications

Books *''Sittings with Eusapia Palladino and Other Studies'' (1963) Papers * Baggally, W. W; Feilding, Everard; Johnson, Alice. (1906)
''Sittings with Mr Chambers''
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 12: 197-203. * Baggally, W. W; Carington, Hereward; Feilding, Everard. (1909). ''Report on a Series of Sittings with Eusapia Palladino''. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 23: 309-569. *Feilding, Everard; Marriott, William S. (1910)
''Report on Further Series of Sittings with Eusapia Palladino at Naples''
Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 15: 20-32. *Feilding, Everard; Johnson, Alice. (1914)
''Report on Some Experiments in Thought-Transference''
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 16: 164-167. *Feilding, Everard. (1915)
''Note on the English Sittings with Miss Tomczyk''
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 17: 28-31. *Fielding, Everard. (1922)
''An Experiment in Faking "Spirit" Photographs''
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 20: 219-223. *Feilding, Everard. (1930)

(1930). Transactions of the Fourth International Congress for Psychical Research. *Feilding, Everard. (1932)
''More Alleged Occurrences of the Rope Trick''
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 27: 281-286.

Career

Feilding report

Abbé Vachère case

Other investigations

Publications

References

Further reading