Edmund Gurney
Born at Hersham England in March 1847, Gurney was a Musician, an English Psychologist and Psychical Researcher.
Gurney was an avid learner, studying music for most of his youth, but being dissatisfied by his own execution, he went on to study medicine, not to practice it, but just for his own interest. He studied Physics, Chemistry and Physiology. He then went on to study Law in 1881.
Gurney's interests expanded with his knowledge of life and death, and the world in general, soon he became interested in the world of seances and medium-ship and found himself Co-founder of the Society of Psychical Research, one of the longest running and most respected paranormal related organisations in the world.
Amongst Gurney's study and experimentation were the subjects of “thought-transference” and hypnotism, of which he co-wrote many volumes on.
With other members of The Society of Psychical Research, Gurney's experiments would try and establish patterns and evidence for telepathy and hallucinations, many of the experiments were chronicled in the book “Proceedings for the Society of Psychical Research” and Gurney's own essay “Hallucinations”
Gurney's work would later become very controversial amongst his contemporaries as it claimed his assistant, George Smith, a well known theatrical performer, was using stage illusion and theatrical trickery to falsify results.
Douglas Blackburn, Smith's partner in performance, publicly admitted fraudulent activities in 1908 and 1911, of which Smith later denied.
Edmund Gurney died in 1888 from an overdose of Chloroform, it was widely thought at the time, that he had indeed committed suicide.
© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au
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