The Mediumship of Florence Cook

It was after her fourteenth birthday, that the Cook household noticed that Florence began to fall into trance states. One record of how Florence developed her mediumship is that she began experiments with her friend and her family, and it was at this time that her talents became evident. She was advised by spirit communicators of her future skills and directed to the Spiritualist Association at Dalston, in East London, and participated in their activities.
With support and encouragement from the circle that she joined, Florence's mediumship continued to develop; her abilities came to public notice with mention of her mediumship in the Spiritualist in 1871. She worked with other physical mediums, and further development occurred with her becoming acquainted with her own control, Katie King, the daughter of John King and his wife (also called Katie). Under Katie's direction, Florence, still a young girl, began to use a cabinet in her mediumistic work; initially, there were materializations, but only in a basic form, and attempts were made to assist the next- world visitors to manifest themselves entirely.

When only fifteen years of age, Florence lost her employment as a teacher due to poltergeist-type phenomena that occurred when she was present at the school, and consequently, she was able to fully devote herself to her development.
In this period, when physical mediumship was not so rare as the present time, there was a definite pressure on novice mediums to develop. Two other young physical mediums, e.g. Kate Cook (Florence's sister) and Mary Showers, were coming to prominence and attracting attention; Florence therefore continued to develop her mediumship to facilitate full materializations. This occurred in 1873 when the materialization of Katie King joined the circle: a momentous event indeed, as, 'she represented for confirmed Spiritualists the final empirical evidence for the reality of spirit life and the existence of an unseen world'.⁽¹⁾ Florence had agreed that a reporter from the Daily Telegraph be present during her seances; on the first occasion, he saw faces, and the following year he witnessed the materialization of Katie King and took photographs of her. In view of the the precautions taken, i.e., Florence bound with seals, 'he was baffled'.⁽²⁾ The reports by the journalist appeared in the Daily Telegraph of 10 October 1872 and 12 August 1873.

The success of Florence's abilities led to various prominent persons attending her seances and the inevitable patronage. In 1872, she had begun to receive financial support from the businessman and Spiritualist, Charles Blackburn, that ensured she would be able to develop her mediumship. Podmore remarked on how she 'took no money from her seances', and through Blackburn, she was 'free to give her services when required'.⁽³⁾
In December 1873, Volckmann (who later married the medium, Mrs Guppy, who was extremely jealous of Florence's success), was present at a seance and attempted to seize Katie King. Two other sitters took hold of him (in the course of which, he lost part of his beard) and prevented any serious damage occurring. Dunphy, a barrister and writer, witnessed the event and said that Katie partly dematerialized during the escapade. On examining Florence, she was still secure with tape and a seal, as at the beginning of the seance.
As reported in the Daily Telegraph, 13 January 1880, Sitwell, one of the sitters at a seance at the BNAS, seized the materialization and found Florence to be missing from the cabinet, and declared her to be a fraud. It was admitted by one of the sitters who had the responsibility of securing Florence that it had been deliberately arranged that the medium could free herself. Supporters of Florence argued this was a case of unconscious fraud, as claimed with Eusapia Palladino in following years, while in a trance-state; there was also of course a state of confusion after Sitwell's action. However the incident is interpreted, it is interesting to note that in his book, Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism (1877), D. D. Home, who was highly critical of other mediums and described fraudulent behaviour in the book, referred to the materializations produced by Florence as providing 'undeniable certainty of the phenomenon'.

Florence encouraged a happy and lively atmosphere at her seances, believing that it assisted the phenomena. Undoubtedly, Katie King promoted this as she 'was known for her fun-loving attitude and a certain amount of roguishness was accepted with good grace'.⁽⁴⁾ After Crookes became involved in Florence's mediumship in 1872, he wrote in the Spiritualist (April 1874) of a recent seance, and related how, 'Katie never appeared to greater perfection, and for nearly two hours she walked about the room, conversing familiarly with those present'. Unfortunately, Katie's forwardness and Crookes's fondness for her created problems that has soured his involvement ever since: Crookes's response to Katie 'caused offence amongst some spiritualist observers who were apparently unimpressed by Crookes' standard of morality and scientific impartiality'.⁽⁵⁾
There were accusations about Crookes allowing fraud to be committed by Florence due to the relationship with her, but Beloff, while recognizing the difficulties that are present, offers a number of decisive reasons for rejecting the accusations made.⁽⁶⁾

Something needs to be said about Crookes's involvement with Florence's mediumship as the accusations made against him may be viewed as invalidating at least some of Florence's mediumship. Firstly, Crookes brought about much of the criticism that was directed towards him, e.g. he unwisely quoted from Don Juan to describe Katie's 'perfect beauty'.
Additionally, he was less than consistent in his attitude: he was initially prompted to enquire into Spiritualism after the death of his brother in 1867. By 1870, he apparently accepted that the dead could communicate, and his biography stated that at this point, he was a 'convinced spiritualist',⁽⁷⁾ and certain events support this view. However, he chose not to openly display this belief, and offered a clinical view of the subject, referring to some aspects of Spiritualism as 'worthless' that should be categorized as 'the limbo of magic and necromancy'; he further argued that it was 'a subject which, perhaps, more than any other lends itself to trickery and deception'.⁽⁸⁾ By 1874, he wrote that he had been unable to obtain proof that the dead were able to communicate, and believed that spirit communications might originate from non-human agencies rather than the dead,⁽⁹⁾ a view that surely arose from his interest in the Theosophical Society, of which he was a member for over thirty years.

When he spoke at the SPR on 2 November 1895, he stated that all the mediums that he had seen, 'with hardly any exception [the exception being D. D. Home]...resorted to trickery'. Later, with age, and certainly after 1916, with the death of his wife, he not only returned to his earlier stance, but went further, e.g. accepting spirit photography of his wife that was felt by others to have been produced by fraud. While persons are of course fully entitled to be sceptical or develop their thinking, Crookes's change of opinion that went more than full circle, and was primarily effected through his own personal circumstances, hardly inspires much confidence in his conclusions. This is apart from the fact that he 'left no records of his seances...that would satisfy a skeptic's thirst for precise data', and he was 'accustomed...to have [his] word believed without witnesses' and took exception to persons challenging his record of events.⁽¹⁰⁾ In sum, his contribution to the mediumship of Florence Cook is problematic, and it is unfortunate that it was he rather than another researcher who investigated her.
Fortunately, despite the customary image presented, the mediumship of Florence Cook was certainly not dependent upon the testimony of Crookes, and her talent, as Spiritualism itself, is more than capable of standing on its feet without having to gain endorsement from elsewhere. The accusations made concerning Crookes is not a major concern as Florence's mediumship was witnessed by many others who made the quality of this more than evident.

An example of the many testimonies given concerning Florence Cook's mediumship is that of Aksakoff, a Russian aristocrat; he reported how, when attending a seance, the medium was bound 'with twined tape and sealed knots', and her hands were brought behind her back and these were also bound. Then, a lengthy piece of tape was fixed to her that was brought outside from where she was sitting: this would indicate any movement by her. After a short period, and light from a lamp being present, they saw 'a human figure standing upright... it was completely clad in white...That was Katie...All the time the sitting lasted Katie chattered away with the sitters'. Katie asked whether there were any questions and Aksakoff asked to see Florence; Katie invited him to where Florence sat and on not being able to see her adequately was told by Katie to use the lamp. He did so and there was Florence, 'in a deep trance... sitting on a chair, with both her hands bound fast behind her back'.⁽¹¹⁾

Such occasions were important as the common challenge was that Katie King and Florence Cook were in fact the same person, as they were very similar in appearance. Apart from Crookes seeing both women at the same time during a seance on 29 March 1874, Katie was taller than Florence, her ears were not pierced as Florence's, her face was larger, her hair was of a different colour, together with other physical differences. In addition to these disparities, Florence wore black during seances, but Katie was always clad in white apparel. Furthermore, at one seance, Florence was suffering from a blister on her neck, but when Katie materialized, no blister was present on her. There was also the occasion when Katie had dye placed on her hands, but none was found on Florence.
In addition to the photographs taken of Katie by the Daily Telegraph reporter, Crookes took forty-four himself. When Florence Marryat detailed her experiences, she related how, through the complexities of materialization, that Katie sometimes resembled Florence, while at other times 'she was totally different' She added that she possessed a photograph of Katie taken while Florence looked on. She had also seen Florence's 'dark curls nailed down to the floor, outside the curtain, in view of the audience, whilst "Katie" walked about and talked with us'.⁽¹²⁾

In March 1874, Varley, a Fellow of the Royal Society, conducted a test where platinum wires were fastened to Florence with a low electric current running through her body and making her part of an electrical circuit. Varley demonstrated how even a movement of her hands would register on the galvanometer through which the current passed. After Florence fell into trance, Katie materialized (with no wires attached), moved around the seance room and spoke to the sitters. Varley testified that 'the current was not interrupted an instant during the whole seance', and when Florence became conscious, he found the wires 'were exactly as I had left them them'.⁽¹³⁾

It is claimed that Katie has materialized in other locations since the time of Florence's mediumship, e.g. Philadelphia, Winnipeg and Rome. In the case of the latter (in July 1974), a series of remarkable photographs were taken of the event that lasted a full thirty minutes. In this, Katie greeted the twenty- three sitters present, and after embracing the medium, dematerialized leaving gladioli and rose petals behind. Interestingly, when Katie made her last appearance with Florence Cook as the medium, she left a flower with each sitter.
After Katie King departed in 1874, Leila became Florence's control; in 1875, Mrs Crookes wrote to Florence saying that 'most of the seances have necessarily been held here, but Leila has also appeared at three other houses...on several occasions we have all seen you and Leila at the same time'. Mrs Crookes also referred to physical differences between Leila and Florence in this letter.⁽¹⁴⁾ Other materializations occurred through Florence's mediumship: in an undated letter to Blackburn, Florence told him how 'A full form appeared in less than 5 minutes...The spirit was neither Katie nor Leila.'⁽¹⁵⁾

After the period of Leila as control and a period of inactivity by Florence, a French girl calling herself Marie took on this role; she remained Florence's control for much of the period until shortly before Florence's death. A photograph was taken of her at a seance in about 1902, and appeared in Psychic Science (January 1927); one of the sitters made the important observation that those present 'saw the form of the tall slim young woman that appears in the picture; Mrs Corner [Florence Cook] being short, rather stout, and of darker complexion'.
As Medhurst and Goldney note: '"Marie" and other "spirit forms", would emerge, sometimes singly and sometimes together. Most of the reports stress that "Marie", normally bare-footed, was a number of inches taller than Florence, this being stated by several authors to have ascertained by direct measurement'. Although the writers refer to the difficulty in determining the accuracy of such reports, they agree there are a number that 'give a fair amount of detail'.⁽¹⁶⁾

Florence's ability as a medium was still very much present in her later life as can be seen by events in 1900 when the sitters declared: 'We, the undersigned, testify...we saw Mrs Corner and her control, "Marie", at the same time'. Before this seance, Florence dressed in the garments provided and 'was not left a moment alone. She was most securely bound to her chair, which was fastened to an iron ring in the floor and each hand was tied to an arm of the chair...everything was found intact afterwards'.⁽¹⁷⁾
In addition to materializations, Florence's mediumship also facilitated direct writing. This was reported to have occurred on tables some considerable distance from her, and written communications from persons who had been known to the sitters were provided.

Through Florence's mediumship, communicators other than the control could speak to the sitters. Although there was a dearth of sitters from the SPR (Society for Psychical Research), on an occasion in May 1903 when one was present, Miss Dallas, 'a respected figure in the Society', she recorded that a figure in white emerged after Florence, dressed in black, had been secured to her chair. This was followed by a noise from the cabinet, the unrefined voice of a man who spoke affectionately about Florence, saying that she had helped him grasp the reality of the next life.
Until only months before her death in South London in 1904, Florence was continuing to demonstrate her mediumship. The final words may be those of the communicator referred to above. Miss Dallas also detailed how after he had spoken of the assistance received from Florence, he reminded the sitters of the reality that he had now discovered through her patient help: he did this in one succinct statement: 'You are never dead'.⁽¹⁸⁾


References

⁽¹⁾A. Owen, The Darkened Room (London: Virago, 1989), p.48.
⁽²⁾B. Inglis, Natural and Supernatural (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1977), p.267.
⁽³⁾F. Podmore, Modern Spiritualism (London: Methuen, 1902), p.97.
⁽⁴⁾Owen, Op. Cit., p.228.
⁽⁵⁾Owen, Op. Cit., pp.229,230.
⁽⁶⁾J. Beloff, Parapsychology: A Concise History (London: Athlone Press, 1993), pp.53-55.
⁽⁷⁾F. d'Albe, Life of Crookes, (London: Fisher, Unwin, 1923), pp.181,190,215.
⁽⁸⁾W. Crookes, 'Spiritualism Viewed by the Light of Modern Science', Quarterly Journal of Science, July 1870.
⁽⁹⁾The letter was reproduced in Light, May 12, 1900.
⁽¹⁰⁾J. Oppenheim, The Other World (Cambridge: CUP, 1985), p.342. Gauld also refers to an instance where Crookes's account 'is so sketchy that one can hardly form any proper opinion as to what was going on' (A. Gauld, The Founders of Psychical Research (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968), p.81). Salter also remarks on Crookes's lack of care saying that in the early stages, Crookes showed 'a complete disregard of commonsense precautions against fraud' Zoar (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1961), p.65). An example of Crookes's carelessness is demonstrated by the contradictory content of a report concerning a seance on 25 November 1871 in his Researches in the Phenomena of Spiritualism (London: Burns, 1874), and later in PSPR, XV (1889), pp.121-124.
⁽¹¹⁾Cit., G. Zorab, 'Foreign Comments on Florence Cook's Mediumship', PSPR, 54 (1964), pp.174,175.
⁽¹²⁾F. Marryat, There is No Death (London: Psychic Book Club, 1917, p.143.
⁽¹³⁾Spiritualis, 20 March 1874.
⁽¹⁴⁾Cit., R. G. Medhurst and K. M. Goldney, 'William Crookes and the Physical Phenomena of Mediumship' PSPR, 54 (1964), p.69.
⁽¹⁵⁾Cit., Medhurst and Goldney, Ibid., p.71.
⁽¹⁶⁾Medhurst and Goldney, Op. Cit., pp.82,83.
⁽¹⁷⁾Cit., Medhurst and Goldney, Op. Cit., pp.84-85.
⁽¹⁸⁾Light, 14 October 1916.