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Price secretly marked Hope's photographic plates, and provided him with a packet of additional plates that had been covertly etched with the brand image of the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd. in the knowledge that the logo would be transferred to any images created with them. Unaware that Price had tampered with his supplies, Hope then attempted to produce a number of spirit photographs. Although Hope produced several images of spirits, none of his materials contained the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd logo, or the marks that Price had put on Hope's original equipment, showing that he had exchanged prepared materials containing fake spirit images for the provided materials.<ref name="Polidoro 2011"/><ref>[[John Mulholland (magician)|Mulholland, John]]. (1938). ''Beware Familiar Spirits''. Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 151-157. ISBN 978-1111354879</ref><ref>[[Joe Nickell|Nickell, Joe]]. (2005). ''Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation''. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 153. ISBN 978-0813191249</ref>
Price secretly marked Hope's photographic plates, and provided him with a packet of additional plates that had been covertly etched with the brand image of the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd. in the knowledge that the logo would be transferred to any images created with them. Unaware that Price had tampered with his supplies, Hope then attempted to produce a number of spirit photographs. Although Hope produced several images of spirits, none of his materials contained the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd logo, or the marks that Price had put on Hope's original equipment, showing that he had exchanged prepared materials containing fake spirit images for the provided materials.<ref name="Polidoro 2011"/><ref>[[John Mulholland (magician)|Mulholland, John]]. (1938). ''Beware Familiar Spirits''. Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 151-157. ISBN 978-1111354879</ref><ref>[[Joe Nickell|Nickell, Joe]]. (2005). ''Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation''. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 153. ISBN 978-0813191249</ref>


Price later re-published the Society's experiment in a pamphlet of his own called ''Cold Light on Spiritualistic "Phenomena" - An Experiment with the Crewe Circle.'' Due to the exposure of Hope and other fraudulent spiritualists, [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] led a mass resignation of eighty-four members of the Society for Psychical Research, as they believed the Society was opposed to spiritualism.<ref>Nelson, G. K. (2013). ''Spiritualism and Society''. Routledge. p. 159. ISBN 978-0415714624</ref>
Price later re-published the Society's experiment in a pamphlet of his own called ''Cold Light on Spiritualistic "Phenomena" - An Experiment with the Crewe Circle.'' Due to the exposure of Hope and other fraudulent spiritualists, [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] led a mass resignation of eighty-four members of the Society for Psychical Research, as they believed the Society was opposed to spiritualism.<ref>Nelson, G. K. (2013). ''Spiritualism and Society''. Routledge. p. 159. ISBN 978-0415714624</ref>

Doyle threatened to have Price evicted from his laboratory and claimed if he persisted to write "sewage" about spiritualists, he would meet the same fate as Harry Houdini.<ref>Kalush, William; Sloman, Larry. (2006). ''The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero''. Atria Books. pp. 419–420. ISBN 978-0-7432-7208-7</ref> Doyle and other spiritualists attacked Price and tried for years to have Price take his pamphlet out of circulation. Price wrote "Arthur Conan Doyle and his friends abused me for years for exposing Hope."<ref>[[Massimo Polidoro|Polidoro, Massimo]]. (2001). ''Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle''. Prometheus Books. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-57392-896-0</ref>


Fred Barlow, a former friend and supporter of Hope's work and also the former Secretary of the Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures, along with Major W. Rampling-Rose, gave a joint lecture to the [[Society for Psychical Research]] to present findings gleaned from an extensive series of tests on the methods Hope used to produce his [[spirit photography|spirit photographs]]. They concluded that the spirits that appeared in Hope's photographs were produced fraudulently. In 1933, the pair would present their case in depth against Hope in the Proceedings of the [[Society for Psychical Research]].<ref name="Polidoro 2011"/><ref>Edmunds, Simeon. (1966). ''Spiritualism: A Critical Survey''. Aquarian Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0850300130 "Hope was finally and completely discredited in 1933 in a famous paper in the Proceedings of the SPR by Fred Barlow and W. Rampling-Rose. Both photographic experts, they not only proved conclusively that Hope was fraudulent, but illustrated the methods by which he had faked his spirit pictures. Added weight was given to this exposure by the fact that Barlow was a former believer in spirit photography."</ref>
Fred Barlow, a former friend and supporter of Hope's work and also the former Secretary of the Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures, along with Major W. Rampling-Rose, gave a joint lecture to the [[Society for Psychical Research]] to present findings gleaned from an extensive series of tests on the methods Hope used to produce his [[spirit photography|spirit photographs]]. They concluded that the spirits that appeared in Hope's photographs were produced fraudulently. In 1933, the pair would present their case in depth against Hope in the Proceedings of the [[Society for Psychical Research]].<ref name="Polidoro 2011"/><ref>Edmunds, Simeon. (1966). ''Spiritualism: A Critical Survey''. Aquarian Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0850300130 "Hope was finally and completely discredited in 1933 in a famous paper in the Proceedings of the SPR by Fred Barlow and W. Rampling-Rose. Both photographic experts, they not only proved conclusively that Hope was fraudulent, but illustrated the methods by which he had faked his spirit pictures. Added weight was given to this exposure by the fact that Barlow was a former believer in spirit photography."</ref>

Revision as of 23:28, 11 December 2014

William Hope
Born1863
Crewe, Cheshire, England
Died(1933-03-08)8 March 1933
Salford, England
OccupationSpiritualist
OrganizationCrewe Circle

William Hope (1863 – 8 March 1933) was a pioneer of so-called "spirit photography". Based in Crewe, England, he was a member of the well known spiritualists group, the Crewe Circle. He died in Salford hospital on 8 March 1933.[1]

Paranormal claims

As a young man Hope was employed as a carpenter, but he quickly came to prominence in paranormal circles after claiming to be able to capture images of spirits on camera. Hope produced his first spirit image in 1905. Soon afterwards he formed the Crewe Circle Spiritualist group, with himself as the leader.

Fraud claims

Harry Price, and friend. As taken by William Hope

In 1906, Hope managed to dupe William Crookes with a fake spirit photograph of his wife. Oliver Lodge revealed there had been obvious signs of double exposure-the picture of Lady Crookes had been copied from a wedding anniversary photograph. However, Crookes was a convinced spiritualist and claimed it was genuine evidence for spirit photography.[2]

On 4 February 1922, the Society for Psychical Research and the paranormal investigator Harry Price with James Seymour, Eric Dingwall and William Marriott demonstrated that Hope was a fraud during tests at the British College of Psychic Science. Price wrote in his report "William Hope has been found guilty of deliberately substituting his own plates for those of a sitter... It implies that the medium brings to the sitting a duplicate slide and faked plates for fraudulent purposes."[3]

Price secretly marked Hope's photographic plates, and provided him with a packet of additional plates that had been covertly etched with the brand image of the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd. in the knowledge that the logo would be transferred to any images created with them. Unaware that Price had tampered with his supplies, Hope then attempted to produce a number of spirit photographs. Although Hope produced several images of spirits, none of his materials contained the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd logo, or the marks that Price had put on Hope's original equipment, showing that he had exchanged prepared materials containing fake spirit images for the provided materials.[3][4][5]

Price later re-published the Society's experiment in a pamphlet of his own called Cold Light on Spiritualistic "Phenomena" - An Experiment with the Crewe Circle. Due to the exposure of Hope and other fraudulent spiritualists, Arthur Conan Doyle led a mass resignation of eighty-four members of the Society for Psychical Research, as they believed the Society was opposed to spiritualism.[6]

Doyle threatened to have Price evicted from his laboratory and claimed if he persisted to write "sewage" about spiritualists, he would meet the same fate as Harry Houdini.[7] Doyle and other spiritualists attacked Price and tried for years to have Price take his pamphlet out of circulation. Price wrote "Arthur Conan Doyle and his friends abused me for years for exposing Hope."[8]

Fred Barlow, a former friend and supporter of Hope's work and also the former Secretary of the Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures, along with Major W. Rampling-Rose, gave a joint lecture to the Society for Psychical Research to present findings gleaned from an extensive series of tests on the methods Hope used to produce his spirit photographs. They concluded that the spirits that appeared in Hope's photographs were produced fraudulently. In 1933, the pair would present their case in depth against Hope in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research.[3][9]

Despite Price's findings, Hope still retained a noted following amongst spiritualists. Doyle refused to accept any evidence that Hope was a fraud. On this, Massimo Polidoro has written "the case of William Hope and his Crewe Circle deserves to be remembered today because it shows that it is practically impossible (and futile) to try to convince someone who wants to believe even in the face of quite convincing contrary evidence."[3]

Examples of Hope's work.

  • Mr and Mrs Gibson and the spirit of their deceased son (1919).
    Mr and Mrs Gibson and the spirit of their deceased son (1919).
  • Reverend Charles L Tweedale, his wife, and the spirit of her deceased father (5 September 1919).
    Reverend Charles L Tweedale, his wife, and the spirit of her deceased father (5 September 1919).
  • Mrs Hortense Leverson and the spirit of her deceased husband, Major Leverson (1931).
    Mrs Hortense Leverson and the spirit of her deceased husband, Major Leverson (1931).
  • The annual meeting of the "Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures". Including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his wife (Center, Left) (1922).
    The annual meeting of the "Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures". Including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his wife (Center, Left) (1922).
  • Mrs Longcake and the spirit of her deceased sister-in-law.
    Mrs Longcake and the spirit of her deceased sister-in-law.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Hope.

References

  1. ^ Jolly, Martyn. (2006). Faces of the Living dead: The Belief in Spirit Photography. Miegunyah Press. pp. 98-106. ISBN 978-0712348997
  2. ^ Brock, William Hodson. (2008). William Crookes (1832-1919) and the Commercialization of Science. Ashgate. p. 474. ISBN 978-0754663225
  3. ^ a b c d Polidoro, Massimo. (2011). "Photos of Ghosts: The Burden of Believing the Unbelievable". Csicop.org. Retrieved 2014-10-11.
  4. ^ Mulholland, John. (1938). Beware Familiar Spirits. Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 151-157. ISBN 978-1111354879
  5. ^ Nickell, Joe. (2005). Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 153. ISBN 978-0813191249
  6. ^ Nelson, G. K. (2013). Spiritualism and Society. Routledge. p. 159. ISBN 978-0415714624
  7. ^ Kalush, William; Sloman, Larry. (2006). The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero. Atria Books. pp. 419–420. ISBN 978-0-7432-7208-7
  8. ^ Polidoro, Massimo. (2001). Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle. Prometheus Books. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-57392-896-0
  9. ^ Edmunds, Simeon. (1966). Spiritualism: A Critical Survey. Aquarian Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0850300130 "Hope was finally and completely discredited in 1933 in a famous paper in the Proceedings of the SPR by Fred Barlow and W. Rampling-Rose. Both photographic experts, they not only proved conclusively that Hope was fraudulent, but illustrated the methods by which he had faked his spirit pictures. Added weight was given to this exposure by the fact that Barlow was a former believer in spirit photography."

Bibliography

  • Leaves from a Psychist’s Case Book, by Harry Price, Victor Gollancz Ltd., hardback, 1933.
  • Cold Light on Spiritualistic "Phenomena" - An Experiment with the Crewe Circle, by Harry Price, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1922. (Reprinted from the May 1922 edition of the Journal of the London Society for Psychical Research.)
  • Report of an Investigation into Spirit-Photography, by Fred Barlow and Major W. Rampling Rose, Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, XLI.
  • The Case for Spirit Photography by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1922.
  • Harry Price: The Psychic Detective by Richard Morris (Sutton Publishing 2006)

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