Estelle Roberts was regarded by the British Spiritualist Movement as one of its finest exponents of mediumship in the 20th century. Born May 10, 1889, she claimed to have first seen a spirit at the age of ten, constantly hearing voices and seeing apparitions at school, though her parents scolded her for having a too-vivid imagination After working as a waitress to support her three children following her first husband’s death, a neighbor persuaded her to attend a Spiritualist service, where the clairvoyant told her she was a born medium with great work to do in the world. She became controlled by a spirit guide known as “Red Cloud,” a Native American figure whose teachings were widely published. Over more than fifty years, Roberts demonstrated clairvoyance, clairaudience, trance, materialization, psychic healing, psychometry, automatic writing, and the production of apports She gave a demonstration of mediumship in the British House of Commons and frequently appeared before sold-out crowds at the Royal Albert Hall In the 1950s she was instrumental in the legal recognition of Spiritualism by the British Government, working with Winston Churchill to remove the Witchcraft Act. Some controversies remain with respect to Estelle Robert’s reluctance to having her abilities tested under scientific settings, which was a bit more striking as many of her peers (including several featured here) we eager to have supportive scientific groups like the SPR validate their work. However, Roberts refused to have her mediumship tested or observed by any scientist or psychical researcher, and famously rejected an offer from the Society for Psychical Research to test her abilities. She wrote “Fifty Years a Medium” in 1959 and died in 1970.
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