The Leslie Flint Educational Trust
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In The Audience:
Recollections of a public demonstration with Leslie Flint
by Alan Ernest Crossley
Based on Alan's account from his book, A Journey of Psychic Discovery - first published in 1993.
On Saturday February 14th 1948 I had the opportunity to attend a public demonstration of 'independent direct voice mediumship', at Kingsway Hall in London. Demonstrating this type of phenomena in a public hall was quite new and somewhat experimental. Previously, this type of mediumship had always been demonstrated in private, with usually just a few people present.
On this occasion, instead of the séance being held in total darkness - which is normally essential in the case of direct voice mediumship - the house lights would remain switched on. However, the medium would be isolated from the audience inside a specially constructed wooden cabinet throughout the demonstration. This sound-proof and light-proof box was placed in full view of the audience for the duration of the demonstration.
Above: Kingsway Hall London with Leslie Flint's séance cabinet in place.
Three microphones were placed in front of the cabinet, to pick up the spirit voices emanating from within. The sound system was arranged, checked and tested by qualified technicians on the staff of the Kingsway Hall. During testing of the equipment they turned the amplifier up to its full capacity and, with a technician inside the cabinet shouting at the top of his voice, they failed to pick up hardly a sound.
The medium for this demonstration was Mr. Leslie Flint, a specialist in direct voice phenomena, and the hall was packed to capacity.
Leslie entered the cabinet, where he would remain for the next two hours. I remember he once told me that he suffered from claustrophobia, so I imagine he must have found the enclosed space something of an ordeal.
The chairman for this meeting was the Reverend Charles Drayton Thomas - a Methodist minister with considerable experience in physical mediumship. He gave a short talk to explain the modus operandi of the evening, then handed the meeting ‘over to the spirit world,’ as he put it.
Left: A young Leslie Flint, seated inside the wooden cabinet,
in preparation for his public demonstration;
with microphones to record the event.
“Cor, what a lot of people!” It was the voice of Leslie Flint's spirit helper, Mickey.
When on Earth, Mickey had been a newspaper boy in London. Now he acted as a kind of master of ceremonies by encouraging the various spirits who wished to communicate. It was obvious that Mickey was something of a comedian, because he had the audience in hysterics with his humorous and down-to-earth chatter, which set the scene for the first communicator.
“There is a lady here who wishes to speak to you all,” said Mickey. “She says her name is Ellen Terry.”
With that, a gasp of excitement rose from the audience, as the powerful and cultured voice of the well-known British actress proceeded to speak. We listened intently as she talked to us about the fear of death and the philosophy of survival. My mother had known Ellen Terry during her lifetime and, as the spirit voice began to speak, mother turned to me and said, “I knew that voice well, it's Ellen Terry. It's uncanny.”
Many
other spirit communicators spoke during the demonstration and many
were accepted by audience members without question, but
the drama of the evening came towards the end of the demonstration.
Mickey had been busy bringing through one communicator after another, and enjoying jokes with the audience, when he suddenly became very serious;
“I have someone
here who has only been on our side of life for a few hours. He is
telling me that he is the policeman who was shot last night.”
Murmurs rippled through
the hall. The previous evening Police Constable Nathaniel Edgar had
been shot while questioning a burglary suspect. He died in hospital
hours later from his injuries. Yet in the Kingsway Hall one day
later, he was here to communicate from the spirit world.
Mickey continued. “He
is asking for someone named Florrie. You're up in the gallery
somewhere. Will you speak to him? It will help him get through to
you.”
The response from the gallery was immediate; “I’m
Florrie, I'm his sister.”
Only heavy breathing could be
heard coming from the loudspeakers at first. Then came a few words,
gasped out in desperation. The voice was quite weak as PC Edgar
attempted to convey a message to his sister.
“The man they are
looking for is in a boarding house, the gun is hidden under the
mattress in his room.”
The police officer
obviously had great difficulty in sustaining this communication and
when the voice faded completely, Mickey intervened. He explained that
someone who had passed only a few hours before, especially in these
circumstances, needed time to adjust to the new dimension - which is
why he was unable to communicate effectively.
Mickey soon
brought the demonstration to a close because the power had all been
used up. He concluded by telling the audience that we are all
personally responsible for our actions, but that redemption is open
to every soul by our own efforts.
While the audience sang a
final hymn, two assistants entered the cabinet to help a very tired
Leslie Flint
out of the
confined space, which he had endured for the past two hours. The
experiment had been a success.
was republished and updated in 2012 by SNPP books.
Permission to share Mr Crossley's account and photograph was kindly given by Ann Harrison.