Richard Boursnell (1832 – 1909) was a British

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

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, 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 a British 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 ed ...

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

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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

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

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, taken from a book. Researcher

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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