Fifty Years a Medium – Chapter 11, 10/12 by Estelle Roberts
The trumpet then fell to the ground with the fading of power.
After the meeting Mrs. Brooke and some friends, over coffee, discussed this striking spirit message. They all regretted that the girl’s mother or some friend or relation had not been present to witness the nurse’s spirit return.
For several days Mrs. Brooke deliberated, unable to make up her mind whether she might not be meddling with things which did not concern her if she took some positive action. At last she decided that no harm could come from checking part of the spirit evidence with the secretary of the Leicester Infirmary. She wrote a brief note asking if a nurse of that name had ever been employed in the hospital. She made no mention of the source of her information.
The reply she received was that this nurse had been engaged in the mental wards up to some eighteen months earlier. Regrettably she had met with an accident and had died in the hospital.
Without much difficulty Mrs. Brooke obtained the full address of the girl’s mother in Tansley, and wrote giving the full details of the communication. A grateful response came by return of post, expressing an immediate intention of coming to London to call on Mrs. Brooke.
The mother was as good as her word and the two had tea. Afterwards they sat at a table in the hope of receiving a message. They were not disappointed, for the table spelled out: “Mother, you have made me very happy. My love to all. Olive.”
It was inevitable that my mediumship should bring me into frequent contact with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He regularly attended my meetings at the Marylebone Spiritualist Association and more than once spoke from the platform with me at the Queen’s Hall. I also knew his wife and family, his sons Adrian and Denis being occasional visitors to my direct-voice circles.
After Sir Arthur’s death, Lady Doyle and her family heard his voice at one of these sittings. At a later séance, when they were not present, he came and spoke at some length. On this occasion the circle comprised some of the best known figures in Spiritualism. Bluntly, Sir Arthur’s voice broke in on the gathering.
“Doyle speaking,” it said, “I asked permission to come for a minute to offer congratulations on the new paper. (This was a reference to a new psychic paper that had just been launched.) Go forward. Stand always for truth and fear no man.”
Hannen Swaffer then thanked him for speaking to a home circle of which he was a member and said he hoped he would come again.
“I will come whenever I can,” Doyle replied, “but it is not as easy as it would appear. Is Mr. Craze here?”