History

History of the SAGB (1872-2008)
Try and imagine this scene. It is a chill night - February 7, 1872, to be precise. See, sense and smell Victorian London. Outside,
gas-lights flicker in an evening breeze. Indeed, it looks as though snow might be on the way. Horses jostle for space on the
ever-crowded roads, their warm breath looking like ghostly vapour. People are rushing home, everyone from the street urchins
and traders to the professional classes. Even the old lady selling violets seems anxious to vacate her pitch and head for the often
foul-smelling East End and her large, ever-demanding family. Women, many wearing fur mufflers and sensible hats against the
increasingly bitter cold, occasionally lift their now absurdly long dresses just an inch or so to escape puddles, some of which are
just starting to ice over…

Now the scene switches to 16, David Street, Marylebone in London's West End. Around a dozen friends have gathered. Perhaps
they were very different in class, size, education and background: that we do not know. But what we do know is that they had but
one purpose - to discuss forming a Spiritualist society. After all, Modern Spiritualism had begun in America in 1848. Surely it was
time to establish a Spiritualist organisation.

Perhaps seated informally around a table - the well-stacked fire occasionally belching smoke as a north wind blew down the
chimney - the friends decided that, yes, they would form a society. A few informal meetings were arranged.

On July 10 of that same year, the Marylebone Spiritualist Association came into being as an organised body. During the early
years, meetings were held at various locations throughout London, even including a carpenter's workshop and former police court.
A major problem was that Spiritualism was still a taboo subject. Indeed, so great was the prejudice that occasionally the
Association changed its name (unofficially, of course).

Now leap forward to September 1894, and to London's Mortimer Street where, thanks to an anonymous donation of £50, "a
commodious meeting place" was secured. Incidentally, Emma Hardinge Britten, who founded "Two Worlds" and was the medium
responsible for the Spiritualists' National Union's Principles, delivered the opening address.

Over the next decades, the Association met at various places, such as Steinway Hall, where famous trance medium J. J. Morse
similarly delivered an opening address. Another well-known venue was New Bond Street's Aeolian Hall.

In fact, it was not until February 1930 that the Association secured permanent premises at 42, Russell Square, in Holborn. By that
time some of the most famous names in contemporary Spiritualism had - or were - to serve it, such as Florence Marryat, the
novelist, W. T. Stead, Alfred Vout Peters, Estelle Roberts, Annie Brittain, Horace Leaf, trance healer Fred Jones, trance and direct
voice medium Kathleen Barkel, Nan Mackenzie, Bertha Harris… the list is almost endless.

Not even the Second World War could halt the Association's activities, for an official air raid shelter was established in the
basement. Amongst active staff members then were Joe Benjamin. Within a comparatively short time other well-known mediums
were to join the Association's ranks, like Ena Twigg and Ivy Northage.

A major move - literally! - occurred in 1955 when the Association purchased a lease on its present premises, 33, Belgrave Square,
in the heart of plush Belgravia. The cost of the then 92-year-long lease was a now unbelievably low £24,500. Famous Spiritualist
Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding declared the magnificent building open. Indeed, he later took part in one of a number of "At
Homes" in order to raise money for the new headquarters. Later, after an approach to the Board of Trade, the Association was
renamed The Spiritualist Association of Great Britain, a move which rightly reflected its growth and
status.

The SAGB celebrated its ninetieth anniversary in 1962 by building six new rooms on the ground floor specifically for sittings. These
are still in use, providing ideal private venues. Still, the Association continued to offer sittings with top class mediums, such as
psychic artist Coral Polge, Lilian Bailey, Ursula Roberts, Doris Collins, Magdalene Kelly, Harold Sharp, Nora Blackwood, Robin
Stevens and David Young, to name but a few.

In recent years, the Association has undergone a carefully planned refurbishment, still honouring Spiritualist pioneers by
remembering them with the Oliver Lodge Hall, Dowding Wing and Conan Doyle Hall. Indeed, on display is a chair in which Sir
Arthur wrote a number of his famous Sherlock Holmes' stories. Facilities have been upgraded all round, with glittering new
chandeliers in the Oliver Lodge Hall, with its original Adam fireplaces.

As well as offering sittings, the Association also provides spiritual healing on a daily basis, and organises both lectures and
workshops whilst the recently opened Adam Suite is devoted to various complementary therapies. Naturally, classes are also held
for those wishing to develop their innate psychic gifts.

True to its founding fathers, the Association is at the very forefront of promoting high-quality younger mediums from all parts of
the UK in addition to already established mediums. Public demonstrations of clairvoyance are held daily so that everyone -
convinced Spiritualist or not - can attend and, perhaps for the first time, come into contact with mediumship and Spiritualism in
conducive surroundings. As such, the SAGB does not have an official Mission Statement, to use a hideous modern
expression. But if it did, perhaps it would run along these lines: "To offer evidence to the bereaved that man survives the change
called death and, because he is a spiritual being, retains the faculties of individuality, personality and intelligence, and can willingly
return to those left on earth, ties of love and friendship being the motivating force. To offer spiritual healing to those suffering
from dis-ease, whether in mind, body or spirit, in a warm and loving environment.With both of these objectives in mind, to offer
only the best and highest so that those on both sides of the veil can progress in a truly spiritual sense."

The History of No 33 Belgrave Square
Belgrave Square takes its name from a Leicestershire village owned by the ground landlords, the Grosvenor family, Dukes of
Westminster. Most of the mansions here were constructed by Thomas Cubitt to designs by George Vasevi, who in 1845 fell to his
death while surveying the spire of Ely Cathedral. Cubitt overcame the problem of the swampy terrain by fashioning the clay sub-soil
into bricks and filling the excavations with earth removed from St. Katharine's Dock Hard, by the Tower of London, which was also
then under construction.

In 1836 33 Belgrave Square was acquired by the Right Honourable Doctor John Nicholl, whose Georgian ancestors had been men of
rank and influence in Glamorganshire. About 1859 his son sold the property to John Edward Cornwallis, 2nd Earl of Stradbroke
(1794-1886), a professional soldier who saw extensive action in the Peninsular campaign, and San Sebastian and the investment of
Bayonne. He died 27 January 1886 at Henham Hall seventeen days short of his 93rd birthday. His wife, Augusta, survived him
fifteen years, dropping dead of apoplexy in October 1901 while on a visit to her fourth daugher, Lady Hilda McNeill, at Broadway,
Worcestershire.

With the death of the 2nd Earl of Stradbroke, passed to his son and heir, the 3rd Earl, George, born in this house 19 November
1862. An Aide de Camp for almost thirty years, firstly to Edward VII and then to his son, George V, his life had only one moment of
real excitement, when, on 6 November 1916, the P & O steamship, Arabia, on which he was a passenger, was sunk by a German
torpedo. His Lordship escaped uninjured. From 1921 to 1926 he was Governor of Victoria, endearing himself to the Australian
population through his deep knowledge of farming. He was a leading breeder of Suffolk horses and did much to improve the Suffolk
Punch. He was also a prominent owner and exhibitor of Suffolk sheep and of Red Poll cattle.

The 2nd Earl of Stradbroke quitted Belgrave Square shortly before the turn of the century. 33 was then acquird by Maurice Ruffer,
of whom nothing is known except that in about 1936 he disposed of his interest in the property to Lieutenant-Colonel Victor
Alexander Cazalet (1896-1943) Unionist Member of Parliament for Chippenham since 1924. Cazalet's knowledge of Central Europe
was probably unequalled among the younger M.P.s, and it was something of an inspiration to offer him the position of liaison
officer with General Wladyslaw Sikorski, the Polish Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief, in 1940. Cazalet accompanied General
Sikorski in all his travels; and on Sunday 4 July 1943 died with him when the helicopter in which they were travelling crashed
shortly after leaving Gibraltar. He was sorely missed. A man of extraordinarily sweet nature the mainspring of his life had been an
unswerving religious faith. He had in youth been a first class squash rackets player, winning the Amateur Championship four times.
Fittingly perhaps, 33 was taken after his death by the Polish Relief Fund. After the war it was acquired by the Marylebone
Spiritualist Association; and is occupied today by the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain, established in 1872 and the largest
association of its kind in the world.