Robert Lionel Fanthorpe, FCollP,

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

FCMI The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. The major membership classes are ''Member'', ''Fellow'' - for those with significant expertise - and ''Companion'' - the most sen ...

(born 9 February 1935) is a retired British priest and entertainer. Fanthorpe also worked as a dental technician, journalist, teacher, television presenter, author and lecturer. Born in

Dereham Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles (40& ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, he lives in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in South Wales, where he served as Director of Media Studies and tutor/lecturer in Religious Studies.Fanthorpe's Profile on the Cardiff Academy website

Biography

Lionel Fanthorpe was educated at

Barnard Castle School ''When you are steeped in little things, you shall safely attempt great things.'' , established = 1883 , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding school , religious_affiliation = Inter-denominational with a non-conformist Christian ...

and Hamond’s Grammar School in

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District and English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,9 ...

. He left school aged 15 and married Patricia Alice Tooke (born 1938) in 1957. For a period he worked as a journalist on the ''Norfolk Chronicle'' and then as a van driver and warehouseman at Hamerton's Stores in

, taking his A-levels by private study at home and by correspondence courses. He attended the teacher-training course at Keswick Hall College in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

between 1961 and 1963, where he achieved Distinctions in Educational Theory and Practice and in Advanced Main Theology as part of his

Certificate in Education The Certificate in Education (Cert Ed) is a professional qualification for teachers in the United Kingdom. There have been two incarnations of the Cert Ed over the years. New Cert Ed The current Cert Ed is a non-compulsory qualification offering ...

. Fanthorpe was a schoolmaster at Dereham Secondary Modern School from 1958 to 1961 and again from 1963 to 1967, and a Further Education Tutor based at

Gamlingay Village College Gamlingay Village College was a middle school with academy status located in Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, England. It was the only middle school in Cambridgeshire. From 2012 to 2017 the school formed part of Stratton Education Trust which also i ...

from 1967 to 1969. He was Industrial Training Manager for the Phoenix Timber Group of Companies in Rainham from 1969 to 1972, Head of English and then Deputy Headteacher at

Hellesdon High School Hellesdon High School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Hellesdon, Norfolk, England. The school is part of the Wensum Trust. The headmaster duties are shared between Tom Rolfe & Mike Earl. The school incorporates 1, ...

near

from 1972 to 1979, and Headmaster of Glyn Derw High School in

from 1979 to 1989. He has a BA in Arts & Social Sciences from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

. He was ordained as a non-stipendiary Anglican priest in the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The p ...

in 1987, is also a minister of the

Universal Life Church The Universal Life Church (ULC) is a non-denominational religious organization founded in 1962 by Kirby J. Hensley,James R. Lewis, The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions' (2001), p. 769-70.U.S. Department of the Army, ''Religious R ...

, and was also at one time a Freemason in Bowers Lodge in Norwich. He is the author or co-author of more than 250 books. He has been president of the

British UFO Research Association The British UFO Research Association or BUFORA is a UK organisation formerly registered as "BUFORA Ltd"; dedicated to investigating UFO phenomena in the British Isles. In 1997 the organisation was reported to have around 1,000 members. History ...

and is the president of the

Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP) is a United Kingdom-based learned society, education and research charity, dedicated to scientifically investigate alleged paranormal and anomalous phenomena, with a view ...

.Fanthorpe's Official Website
He presented

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's ''

Fortean TV ''Fortean TV'' was a British paranormal documentary television series that originally aired from to on Channel 4. Produced by Rapido TV, the program features anomalous phenomena and the paranormal. It was based upon the ''Fortean Times'' ma ...

''Fortean TV
Unexplained Mysteries (27 May 2007) and has made many appearances at ''

Fortean Times ''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (2005 to 2 ...

'' magazine's

UnCon ''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (2005 to ...

,'An Interview With Rev Lionel Fanthorpe' - 'Mysterious Britain & Ireland' website
most recently in October 2004 when he gave a talk on "The Knights Templar and their Ancient Secrets". He is a Fellow of the

College of Preceptors The Chartered College of Teaching is a learned society for the teaching profession in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1846, the college was incorporated by Queen Victoria into a royal charter as the College of Preceptors in 1849. A supplemental cha ...

and the Chartered Management Institute. He is a member of the high IQ society Mensa and the

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. Not ...

research society

the Ghost Club The Ghost Club is a paranormal investigation and research organization, founded in London in 1862. It is believed to be the oldest such organization in the world, though its history has not been continuous. The club still investigates mainly gho ...

. In addition, Fanthorpe is a Dan Grade martial arts instructor and a weight-training instructor. He has been a frequent guest of the late night American radio talk show

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 1 ...

. Fanthorpe was Director of Media Studies and teacher of Religious Studies at the

Sixth form college A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...

the Cardiff Academy in

in South Wales. In 2013 he appeared in the Yesterday series ''Forbidden History'' presented by

Jamie Theakston James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and actor. He co-presented the former Saturday morning BBC One children's show ''Live & Kicking'', alongside Zoe Ball between 1996 and 1999. He co-hosted ...

Family life

Fanthorpe's wife Patricia is also his agent, manager and business partner. Moreover, they co-authored a number of books, including ''Rennes-le-Chateau: Its Mysteries and Secrets'' (1991), ''The Oak Island Mystery: The Secret of the World's Greatest Treasure Hunt'' (1995), ''The World's Most Mysterious People (Mysteries and Secrets)'' (1998), ''Mysteries of Templar Treasure and the Holy Grail: The Secrets of Rennes Le Chateau'' (2004), ''Mysteries and Secrets of the Templars: The Story Behind the Da Vinci Code'' (2005), ''Mysteries and Secrets of the Masons: The Story Behind the Masonic Order'' (2006), ''Satanism & Demonology: Mysteries and Secrets'' (2011), ''The Joan of Arc Mysteries'' (2019), ''Garan of the Veneti'' (2019), ''Parables of the Pond'' (2019), ''Earth, Sky and Sea'' (2019) and ''Thoughts and Prayers for Stressful Times'' (2019). Today, the couple live in

Roath Roath ( cy, Y Rhath) is a district and community to the north-east of the city centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. There is no community council for the area which is mostly covered by the Plasnewydd electoral ward, and stretches from Adamsdo ...

. They have two daughters, Stephanie Dawn Patricia Fanthorpe (born 1964), and Fiona Mary Patricia Alcibiadette Fanthorpe (born 1966).

Television, radio and film appearances

Television

Radio

Lionel Fanthorpe wrote and narrated several episodes of ''The Fanthorpe Investigations'' for BBC Radio (Sounds).

Writing

Fanthorpe's output can be grouped under three broad headings, as follows: * Approximately 180 paperback novels and short-story collections, in the science fiction and supernatural

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

s, produced for the UK publisher

Badger Books Badger Books was an imprint used by the British publisher John Spencer & Co. between 1960 and 1967. Badger Books were published in a number of genres, predominantly war, westerns, romance, supernatural and science fiction. The best-known author of ...

during the 1950s and 1960s. * Numerous books on Christian themes, including the "Thoughts and Prayers" series. * Compilations of

Forteana Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher who specialized in anomalous phenomena. The terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are sometimes used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold w ...

(generally with the word "mystery", "mysteries" or "mysterious" in the title), co-written with his wife Patricia.

Badger Books

Fanthorpe began working for Badger Books in the early 1950s, and over the period of the next 15 years produced many books under different pseudonyms, some of which were pen-names shared with other of Badger Books' writers. These included: Victor La Salle, John E. Muller, and Karl Zeigfreid. Pseudonyms exclusive to Fanthorpe's short story output include Neil Balfort, Othello Baron, Noel Bertram, Oben Leterth, Elton T. Neef, Peter O'Flinn, René Rolant, Robin Tate and Deutero Spartacus. Names he used for novels include Erle Barton, Lee Barton, Thornton Bell, Leo Brett, Bron Fane, L.P. Kenton, Phil Nobel, Lionel Roberts, Neil Thanet, Trebor Thorpe, Pel Torro, and Olaf Trent. Using several of these pen names, he would often even write the entire contents of a pulp magazine such as "Supernatural Stories". The exact number of books and stories Fanthorpe wrote for Badger Books is not known, but is estimated to be in excess of 180, 89 of which were written in a three-year period – an average of a 158-page book every 12 days. During his time at Badger Books, Fanthorpe was essentially a small cog in a large publishing machine. The way the company worked was to acquire the cover art ''before'' the book was written, and send it to the author who then had to write a story about the cover. In some cases, Badger Books re-used cover art that had been produced to illustrate completely different novels. For example, Fanthorpe's 1960 novel ''Hand of Doom'' was written to suit a cover that had been produced to illustrate John Brunner's ''Slavers of Space'', which formed one-half of

Ace double American company Ace Books began publishing genre fiction starting in 1952. Initially these were mostly in tête-bêche format with the ends of the two parts meeting in the middle and with a divider between them which functioned as the rear cover ...

D-421. Although generally based on situations and plots familiar from

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

, the novels and stories also used academic and pseudo-academic facts to fill out their background, including the

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

of Ancient Egypt (''The Eye of

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Constr ...

''), Babylon (''Unknown Destiny''),

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(''Vengeance of Siva'') and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

(''Negative Minus''). The stories also demonstrate the author's interest in Fortean subjects, such as

vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also men ...

s (''The Negative Ones''),

Chase Vault The Chase Vault is a burial vault in the cemetery of the Christ Church Parish Church in Oistins, Christ Church, Barbados, best known for a widespread urban legend of "mysterious moving coffins". According to the story, each time the heavily se ...

and the

Devil's Footprints The Devil's Footprints was a phenomenon that occurred during February 1855 around the Exe Estuary in East and South Devon, England. After a heavy snowfall, trails of hoof-like marks appeared overnight in the snow covering a total distance of som ...

(''U.F.O. 517''), the disappearances of Benjamin Bathurst (''Time Echo'') and the crew of the ''

Mary Celeste ''Mary Celeste'' (; often erroneously referred to as Marie Celeste) was an American-registered merchant brigantine, best known for being discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores Islands on December 4, 1872. The Cana ...

'' (''Barrier 346''), as well as the career of

Charles Fort Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher who specialized in anomalous phenomena. The terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are sometimes used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold ...

himself (''The X-Machine''). Another novel that discusses Charles Fort explicitly (both in the text and in the back-cover blurb) is ''Forbidden Planet''. This latter novel has no connection with the famous film of the same title, but instead describes a vast interstellar

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

game played by superhuman entities using human beings as pawns. Other novels are pastiches of accepted works of the

Western Canon The Western canon is the body of high culture literature, music, philosophy, and works of art that are highly valued in the West; works that have achieved the status of classics. However, not all these works originate in the Western world, ...

– ''Beyond the Void'' is a loose rewrite of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's play '' The Tempest'', and in ''Negative Minus'' the characters Suessydo and Epolenep re-enact

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

ic tales.

Wordcatcher Publishing

As of 2019, Lionel and his wife began writing for Wordcatcher Publishing, a publishing house based in Cardiff, Wales. So far, under this partnership, they have released the historical fiction titles ''The Joan of Arc Mysteries'' and ''Garan of the Veneti'', in addition to multiple books in the 'Thoughts and Prayers' series. Alongside these are a collection of poems, ''Earth, Sea and Sky'', plus a children's book called ''Parables of the Pond'', the latter of which was published under the Auxillium Press imprint.

References

External links

* * *
A collection of his talks on Coast to Coast radio

Full list of his works

by Ken DeVries, in '' Book-Happy'' No. 4 (1999) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fanthorpe, Lionel 1935 births Alumni of the Open University 20th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English novelists English science fiction writers English television presenters Fortean writers Forteana Living people People educated at Barnard Castle School People from Dereham Ufologists Mensans