Charles Drayton Thomas

Charles Drayton Thomas (1867 - 1953) also known as C. Drayton Thomas was a British Methodist minister and spiritualist.[1]

Charles Drayton Thomas
Born1867
Died1953
OccupationMinister, spiritualist

Career

Thomas graduated from Richmond Theological College and was a minister at Wesleyan Methodist Church. He was a member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) and a convinced spiritualist.[2]

His father John Wesley Thomas, also a minister had died in 1903. In 1917, he attended séances with the medium Gladys Osborne Leonard. He carried many experiments with the medium and became convinced she had communicated with the spirit of his father.[3][4] Thomas became known for his involvement in the Bobby Newlove case, a famous proxy séance sitting with Leonard.[5]

Thomas defended the direct-voice medium Leslie Flint, despite the fact that other members from the SPR suggested he was fraudulent.[6] He also defended the fraudulent spirit photographer Wiliam Hope from charges of fraud from Harry Price. Thomas received criticism from psychical researchers for this and his statements about the Hope-Price case were rebutted by the SPR in 1924.[7]

Publications

Books

  • Some New Evidence For Human Survival (1922)
  • Life Beyond Death With Evidence (1930)
  • The Mental Phenomena of Spiritualism (1930)
  • An Amazing Experiment (1936)
  • Precognition and Human Survival: A New Type of Evidence (1949)

Papers

See also

References
  1. "Thomas, C(harles) Drayton (1867-1953)". Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology.
  2. "Obituary: The Rev. C. Drayton Thomas". ProQuest.
  3. Spence, Lewis; Fodor, Nandor. (1985). Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology. Gale Research Company. p. 756. ISBN 978-0810301962
  4. Cathy Guttierez. (2015). Handbook of Spiritualism and Channeling. Brill. p. 22. ISBN 978-9004263772
  5. Sibley, Mulford Quickert. (1975). Life After Death? Dillon Press. pp. 89-90
  6. Aykroyd, Peter; Narth, Angela. (2009). A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters. Rodale Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-1605298757
  7. See statements in Concerning the "Price-Hope" Case. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1924.
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