Born 1880 to 1909
Researchers and authors born between 1880 and 1909 carried psychical enquiry into a period of institutional growth, methodological refinement and public controversy. This subcategory brings together articles on figures from that generation, tracing their contributions to the evolving study of psi, mediumship, survival and related subjects.
Theodore Besterman
British researcher and longtime SPR librarian who investigated mediums and wrote on paranormal topics.
J Malcolm Bird
American mathematician and parapsychologist (1886–1964), involved in investigations of the medium Mina Crandon in the 1920s.
Theodora Bosanquet
English writer and editor (1880–1961) who was an active SPR member and practised automatic writing.
CD Broad
Cambridge philosopher (1887–1971) who theorized on topics such as precognition and post-mortem survival.
Walter Whately Carington
British psychical researcher (1892–1947) who pioneered word association tests in the investigation of mediumship.
Hereward Carrington
British-born psychical researcher (1880–1958) and prolific author of popular of books on psi and postmortem survival.
William Crawford
William Crawford (1881–1920), a college lecturer in mechanical engineering, is known for his investigation of a Spiritualist circle in Belfast.
Robert Crookall
English geologist (1890-1981) who promoted out-of-body experiences as evidence of ‘astral projection’ and postmortem survival.
Eric John Dingwall
British author and psi researcher (1890–1986), noted for a robustly critical approach to the phenomena.
Eric Robertson Dodds
Oxford classics professor (1893–1979), authority on supernatural beliefs in antiquity and sceptic of postmortem survival.
Hugh Dowding
Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding (1882–1970), head of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, who became a Spiritualist.
CJ Ducasse
American philosopher (1881–1969) who wrote extensively about postmortem survival and reincarnation.
Jule Eisenbud
American psychoanalyst (1908–1998) known for his insightful theorising about unconscious motivation and psi effects.
Letitia Fairfield
Letitia Fairfield (1885–1978) was a pioneering medical doctor, lawyer and women’s rights campaigner interested in parapsychology.
GW Fisk
GW Fisk (1882–1972) was a British experimental parapsychologist who made a notable contribution to ESP research.
Mollie Goldney
British psychical researcher (1895–1992) noted for contributions to the critical literature on hauntings and physical mediumship.
Maurice Grosse
British engineer and inventor (1919–2006) who in later life became engaged in psychical research.
Arthur Guirdham
English psychiatrist (1905–1992) who attracted notice with books claiming the group reincarnation of members of the Medieval Cathar sect.
Radclyffe Hall
English writer (1880–1943), author of The Well of Loneliness, known in psychical research for her report on sittings with Gladys Osborne Leonard.
Renée Haynes
English historian and psychical researcher (1906–1994) who wrote extensively about psi phenomena and coined the term ‘boggle threshold’.
Rosalind Heywood
Englishwoman (1895–1980) who wrote a memoir describing her frequent psychic experiences, often in relation to healing and family matters.
Charles Melbourne Hope
Minor British aristocrat (1892–1962) who participated in experiments with Rudi Schneider and investigated the Borley Rectory haunting.
CEM Joad
CEM Joad (1891–1953) was a British philosopher and television personality with an active interest in psychical research
Raynor C Johnson
English physicist (1901–1987), author of influential books about psychical research, postmortem survival and mysticism.
Arthur Koestler
Hungarian journalist and author (1905–1983) whose bequest supports the Koestler Parapsychology Unit at Edinburgh University.
Guy Lambert
British senior civil servant (1889–1983) who investigated mediumship, poltergeists and other survival-related topics.
Gabriel Marcel
French existentialist Roman Catholic philosopher (1889–1973) who as a young man was actively involved in psi research in France.
Sylvan J Muldoon
American who wrote about his out-of-body experiences, which occurred throughout his life, and which he was able to control.
Fraser Nicol
British parapsychologist (d 1989) who carried out statistical experiments in ESP and psychokinesis. .
Harry Price
Harry Price (1881–1948) was a popular British lay investigator of hauntings and mediums, whose work frequently caused controversy.
JB Priestley
English novelist and playwright (1894–1984), who often dealt with time and precognition, topics of central interest to psychical research.
Joseph Banks Rhine
Joseph Banks Rhine (1895–1980) is recognized as the founder of experimental parapsychology.
Louisa E Rhine
Louisa Rhine (1891–1983) analyzed spontaneous psi experiences sent to the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University.
Helen Salter
British psychologist and psychical researcher (1883–1959) who helped study the mediumistic Cross-Correspondences.
William Henry Salter
Lawyer and psychical researcher (1880–1969) with a particular interest in mental mediumship and the Cross-Correspondences.
Herbert Saltmarsh
British psychical researcher (1881–1943) who wrote on mediumship, precognition and survival issues.
Samuel George Soal
British university mathematics teacher (1889–1975) who was discovered after his death to have faked results of telepathy experiments.
FJM Stratton
British soldier and astrophysics professor (1881-1961) who investigated hauntings and other psychic phenomena.
René Sudre
René Sudre (1880–1968) was a French science journalist active in psi research during the 1920s.
Wilhelm HC Tenhaeff
Dutch psychologist and parapsychologist (1894–1981), known for his research and writings about the Dutch psychic Gerard Croiset.
Robert H Thouless
English social psychologist and parapsychologist (1894–1984), best known for his cipher tests of postmortem survival.
Una Troubridge
Una Troubridge (1897–1963), an English sculptor, carried out mediumship research with the novelist Radclyffe Hall.
Leonid Vasiliev
Leonid Vasiliev (1891–1966), a Russian physiologist and parapsychologist, reported numerous successful experiments in ‘mental suggestion’.
René Warcollier
French psychical researcher (1881–1962) who published numerous studies of telepathy by means of transmission of drawings.
JH Michael Whiteman
British-born mathematician and philosopher who was inspired by his own psychical and mystical experiences.
George Zorab
Dutch psychical researcher and commentator (1898–1990), who wrote extensively about diverse topics in the field.