55

George William Fisk (1882-1972)

So, George William Fisk was the son of a his family’s strong Baptist tradition (two of Geor- much travelled Baptist minister, the Reve- ge’s uncles were also Baptist ministers, and two rend Ebenezer Edward Fisk, and Annie of his aunts married Baptist ministers). Dinah Pratt from Birmingham. George William Fisk would probably have also Regarding his name, he was officially called been very familiar with St Albans, which was still ‘George’, but mum says that for some rea- something of a Fisk family base, and was where son he didn’t like the name much, and close his uncle James was now running the success- friends called him ‘Will’, while inofficial pa- ful drapery business that had been inherited pers he generally liked to call himself GW from his grandfather. Fisk. But although he was born in Liverpool, George He was the third and final child in the family, William Fisk only spent the first few years of his and the only son, being several years youn- life there. ger than his two older sisters, who were both In 1886, they were recorded in Kelly’s Directory born when the Reverend Edward Fisk was as having moved back south to live in Wal- preaching in Bexley Heath in Kent (Ethel in thamstow in London, but by 1891, they were back north in York, and were living at number 52, 1875 and Elsie in 1876). The Reverend was Holgate Road. This is currently the address of earning £10 a month – a healthy enough the Holgate Antiques shop. wage in those times. His father was 47 by this time, and probably pas- After less than three years in Bexley Heath, tor at the nearby York Baptist Church, while his and probably in late 1876, the family moved wife Annie was 46. north to live at 3 Ivy Leigh, West Derby, Lan- By the time of the 1891 census, Ethel and Elsie cashire (now part of Liverpool) and the Re- were 16 and 15, and George William Fisk was verend was the pastor at the Brook Chapel nine. They also had a servant living with them, just up the road from the family home. 21 year old Sarah Holmes from Durham. It was while they were living here that, on Ja- In the 1901 census, the family was living in Shi- nuary 9, 1882, George William Fisk was pley, and GW Fisk was a 19 year old medical born. So, you could say that he was born student. into a reasonably well-to-do family and was Much later in life, George would become a very given a religious upbringing in keeping with active member of the Society for Psychical Re- search, and a 1973 obituary written by one of his closest associates, Donald West, in the So- ciety’s Journal, and an article by Rosalind Heywood on his work with ESP in the same issue, are the sources of much information on his life. It must have been evident from very early on that George was an extraordinarily bright young man. As West writes “he began as a medical student, but gave that up for financial reasons, and took a degree in divinity instead.” He may have switched to theology under pressure from his deeply religious parents, who were more willing to support him that way. He studied at London University (B.D, 1906) and Victoria University (B.A, 1907). Victoria was a federal university that included Owens College (Manchester), University College Liverpool and Yorkshire College (Leeds, now Leeds Uni- versity). It was probably in Leeds that George was studying, because, in the same year as his gra- duation, he married Florence Watson. They are on record as marrying in North Bierley, Ivy Leigh, West Derby Yorkshire in 1907. Florence Watson’s story is told in full in the section on the Watson ancestry, but to summa- rise, she was born in Bradford in 1874, and was 33 when she married 25 year old George. It was fairly common knowledge among the later generations that father or grandfather George was eight years younger than his wife. Florence was originally born in Manningham, Bradford but later moved to ne- arby Shipley (the same town where George’s parents lived from at least 1901 to 1911, and very close to where the Watsons lived). Florence worked in the cotton mills in Shipley, a very difficult life indeed. Just how they met is odd, as George W Fisk and Florence must have moved in very different circles, but Aunty Sue has vague memories that Florence was working as a servant in the Fisk household. This is very possible, they were all living in Shipley at the time. There is no doubt that their marriage was not a popular one with the family. According to Aunty Sue, “Granny was about 8 years older than Grandpa and was a servant in (I think) their household -that would make sense as Granny came from Shipley- and their romance caused a rift in the family as Granny was not considered a suitable match I never remember Mummy talking of her grandparents - or Grandpa talking about his parents - so I guess they never healed the rift -very sad.” So George Fisk, the son of a Baptist minister and budding academic had ma- rried a local lady from a poor background, and who was several years older than he was. His mother and father, Annie Dinah and the Reverend Edward Fisk, seemed to disapprove of the whole thing. It was a shame, because much as they may not have appreciated his ‘lowly’ 11, East Avenue, Walthamstow, choice of wife, George Fisk would be a very devoted husband indeed and where the Fisk family lived in 1886. also go on to be perhaps the most fascinating person in our whole family tree. Aunty Sue believes that it was due to the family’s lack of respect for his choice of wife that George made a dramatic decision after graduating and marrying. He decided to distance himself from his family. And he did so in style. He and his wife went to live in China! 56 They went to Shantung, which according to Wikipedia, “During the ninete- at Shantung Christian University, and remained in the job until 1915, enth century, China became increasingly exposed to Western influence, and which was also the year that the institution adopted its modern name of Shantung, a coastal province, was especially affected. Qingdao was leased Cheeloo University. to Germany in 1897 and Weihai to Britain in 1898.” Weihai is indeed the lo- Says Aunty Sue “I was sure Grandpa had told me he went to China as cation of Cheeloo, where George Fisk worked. a missionary to placate the family - although he did not really have any GW Fisk was just 25 at the time, and in 1908 he became a physics lecturer strong religious convictions- but he was open to being converted! I should think his family had destroyed his faith.” Yale University’s website describes the origin of the University. “Ameri- can Presbyterian, English Baptist, Anglican, and Canadian Presbyterian mission agencies worked together to form what came to be known as Shantung Christian University. The University's earliest roots went back to Tengchow College, which was established by American Presbyte- rians in 1882 with Calvin Mateer as its leader. In 1902 the Presbyterians and English Baptists agreed to combine their efforts in higher education in Shantung, forming an Arts College at Weihsien, a Theological Co- llege at Tsingchowfu, and a Medical College, which was eventually es- tablished in Tsinan. By 1909 it had been determined that the University should be consolidated in one location, and Tsinan was chosen.” George worked at the Theological College, in Qingzhou, which formed part of the university, and was founded in 1894 by British Baptists. Given the Fisk family’s Baptist links, this may explain how George Fisk ended up working so far away. The university itself was dissolved in 1952 and the different faculties were made part of other universities. The name Qingzhou is just one of the many different transcriptions of the Chinese name, which makes things very complicated, as its is also somtimes ca- lled any of Chingzhou, Ch’ing-chou-fu, Tsing-chau-fu, Tsingchowfu, This photo shows the original entrance gate, as it still stands Qingchow, Ch’ing-chou, Tsingchow, I-tu-hsien, I-tu and Yitu - and seve- today, to what would have been the main campus of ral of these names appear on different documents related to GW Fisk Cheeloo University in George Fisk’s time. and his wife. He was officially there working for the China Inland Mission, which Wikipedia explains “was founded on principles of faith and prayer. From the beginning it recruited missionaries from the working class as well as single women, which was a new practice for a large agency. Even today, no appeals for funds are made, instead a reliance upon God is practiced to move people through prayer alone. The goal of the mission that began dedicated to China has grown to include bringing the Gospel to the millions of inhabitants of East Asia who have never heard or had access to the message of Jesus Christ.” But although in a 1915 travel document, George Fisk describes his profession as being a ‘missio- nary’, nobody seems to remember him as being particularly religious at all, and he was really more of a teacher. It was while he was there, in 1910, that Florence gave birth to what would be their only child – Muriel Eleanor Fisk, our grandmother. According to mum, Florence “nearly died in childbirth in China and ei- ther didn't wish for, or more likely was unable to One of the typical brick houses that were built in the 1890s and 1900s for use by have more children.” So, Muriel would be an only American and British missionaries living in the city. child. Tsingchowfu is the place given as Muriel Fis- The Fisks would probably have lived somewhere like this. k’s place of birth in several documents. It is now known as Qingzhou and has a population of eight and a half million.

Location of Shantung

The founder of Shandong Christian University and Tsingchow Boys’ Boarding School, Samuel Couling, with students in 1909. The year after Muriel’s birth would be an eventful one in China. The SHANTUNG CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (CHEELOO) Chinese Revolution began with BY CHARLES HODGE CORBETT, 1955 the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911 and ended with the abdi- cation of Emperor Puyi on Fe- bruary 12, 1912. The book New Thrills in Old China was Charlotte Hawes memoirs of her time in the country, and she even mentions GW Fisk in the context of the Uni- versity. REPORTS OF THE MISSIONARY AND BENEVOLENT She writes “the American Minister BOARDS AND COMMITTEES, 1914 at Peking sent through the various consuls a circular to Americans li- ving in the interior, stating that "while both parties in the Revolu- tion are friendly to foreigners, the troubles may lead to the stirring up of the lawless elements who could not be controlled." He therefore urged all Americans to go to the coast, especially women and chil- JOURNAL OF THE NORTH-CHINA BRANCH OF THE ROYAL dren. ASIATIC SOCIETY, 1921 We, at Wei Hsien, felt, however, that as are situated near the Ger- man railroad, and everything was peaceful apparently in Shantung, and that it would make the Chi- nese who are friendly unnecessa- rily suspicious of foreigners if we should all leave ; it would expose a valuable mission plant to looting well as for the schools in other places in Shantung and were given permission to return home. Nearly a hun- and probably destruction, and stir other provinces. But the Wei Hsien girls' school was dred took advantage of this, and not a few of them en- up a lawless element to make opened as usual in the fall, and all the country girls' and listed as soldiers in the Revolutionary army or devoted trouble where none existed. We boys' schools flourishing. The people show a growing their energies to some other work in connection with had about 450 students on the interest in their girls, spending more for their education, the cause of their country. place whose homes are widely and even the heathen are opening schools for girls, one It was touching to watch the patriotic tide rising in these scattered in the country round being established in An K'u City for the education of young hearts, even though it sometimes found an ex- about, and we could easily get girls in that country. cessive expression, and in one or two instances led to warning of any trouble brewing Despite the unsettled times, the Boys' Academy was regrettable collisions. against us. kept open, and twenty-one boys graduated, passed the The graduating class numbered thirty-two, the largest So all our school work went on as Shantung College entrance examinations, and entered in the history of the college. As in former years, all were usual, except in the Girls' School, the Arts College at the New Year. President Paul D. Christians, and are now engaged in Christian work. Six where it was thought best not to Bergen says that at the outbreak of the Revolution the are devoting themselves to the work of the ministry and have a spring term, but let the girls work of the college was somewhat disturbed, but con- are now studying in the Union Theological Seminary at remain in their village homes. So tinued without interruption. Many of the students be- Ch'ing Chowfu, under charge of our Presby-terian mi- there was no graduating class in came uneasy when rumours became alarming, feeling, nisters; Rev. W. M. Hayes, D.D.. and Rev. Wra. P. Chal- 1912, which caused a shortage in as they said, that it was not right for them to sit quietly fant, D.D., with Revs. Bruce, Burt, Nichols and Fisk supply of teachers for our Wei at their books when their comrades were dying in the representing the English Baptist part of the Union Hsien country girls' schools, as cause of freedom; accordingly, all who wished to do so work.” SHANTUNG, THE SACRED PROVINCE OF CHINA BY ROBERT COVENTRY FORSYTH, 1912. LIST OF ENGLISH BAPTIST MISSION STAFF 57 In 1915, when their daughter was aged five years, the couple decided to ward in Hunstanton. I am not sure whether by ‘father’ they refer to his cle- return to England, for what was probably the first time since they had rical post or the fact that he was George Fisk’s father, but perhaps after moved to China seven years before. In part this decision may have been all those years away, they wanted Ebenezer Edward, who was 71 by this for the sake of their daughter, in order for her to receive a British educa- stage, to meet his granddaughter and see if they could heal the bad fee- tion and upbringing. But there may have been any number of other moti- lings between them. ves, for these were very unstable times to say the least. They arrived in New York on August 11, 1915, so the journey across Ame- Britain had declared war on Germany, although the Fisks, like everybody rica took nearly two weeks. There was a 29 year old English lady called else, would not have known just how big the war going to be. Not even in Henrietta Lifton sharing their carriage, who was also arriving from China, Shantung were they safe from trouble. The Germans and British had had but I have no idea who she was. She is not recorded as having any job – conflicting interests in the province for some time, and in the Battle of perhaps she was a servant, perhaps she was a friend or colleague, per- Tsingtao, British and Japanese forces combined to conquer the German haps she was just somebody they met along the way. They then sailed on coaling port of Qingdao. the Allan Line’s Sicilian, arriving in Plymouth on August 30. For whatever reason it was, George and Florence, with their daughter Mu- If any attempt was made to patch things up with the Fisk family, then they riel, made the long journey back to England. No direct flights in those were probably not very successful. But relations with the Watsons were days, it was a mammoth expedition. First they had to travel 1000 miles presumably good, and mum tells me that the daughter, Muriel, went to south to Hong Kong, from where they could get a ship to Vancouver, Ca- live with Florence’s sister Hetty, who now lived in Harrogate. nada. They sailed on the Monteagle, and are recorded as arriving in Van- That was because George and Florence didn’t stay in England long, they couver on July 30, 1915. were soon back off to China, and as a child, Muriel would see very litle of From there they took the Canadian Pacific Railway across Canada, and her parents on the other side of the world. crossed the border near Niagara Falls (which they visited on the way). On Little Muriel did not travel with them. Says mum “I remember Granny te- his immigration card, Fisk claims to have been a minister. It also says he lling me that she travelled on the trans-Siberian Railway when she went had brown hair and grey eyes, was 5 ft 7 ins, and had no distinguishing back to China to visit them in her school summer holidays (she only saw marks. Florence, meanwhile, had hazel eyes, dark brown hair and was 5 her parents once in every two or three years). That was the quickest way ft 3 ins. They state that their destination is England, to visit ‘father’ Ed- to get there.”

Border crossing from Canada to U.S, 11 Aug 1915 UK immigration, Plymouth, 30 Aug 1915

Canadian Passenger List, 30 Jul 1915 for the ‘Monteagle’. Port of Departure: Hong Kong - Port of Arrival: Vancouver, British Columbia His teaching days now behind him, tish imperialists seized the Kaiping George started working as British mines. vice-consul at the Chinese Emigra- “Subsequently the Chinese organi- tion Bureau Center, North China zed the Luanchow Coal Mining Com- (1915-19). This more or less coinci- pany, which was later incorporated des exactly with the dates of the First into the Kailan Mining Administration. World War, but I cannot be sure ei- Both coalfields thus came under the ther where exactly he was based or exclusive control of British imperia- whether his work was in any way di- lism.” rectly connected to the war effort. “We can see the important position of However, he then became labour su- the industrial proletariat in the Chi- perintendent of the Kailan Mining Ad- nese revolution from the strength it ministration (1919-30). has displayed in the strikes of the last This company was based in Tientsin four years, such as ... the strikes in (also commonly spelled Tianjin). Not the Kailan and Tsiaotso coal mines.” far north of Shantung, where they Being the labour superintendent, the had lived before, this is the sixth big- Kailan strike, which took place in Oc- The outside of the former gest city in China, and currently has tober 1922, must have given George Kailan Mining Administra- a population of over 11 million. Fisk plenty to deal with. These mines tion building today, and According to an article written in supplied no less than 60 per cent of 1926 by none other than the father of China’s entire coal supply. the street outside appa- Chinese communism Mao Tse-tung, He was granted Royal Licence in rently still has red British “the Kailan Coal Mines was an inclu- 1921 to wear the insignia of the 5th style phone boxes sive name for the large contiguous Class of the Order of the Excellent Kaiping and Luanchow coalfields in Crop, conferred on him by the Presi- Hopei Province, then employing over dent of China for valuable services fifty thousand workers. During the Yi with the Kailan Mining Administration Ho Tuan Movement of 1900 the Bri- during the war. 58 THE KAILAN MINING ADMINISTRATION

The job obviously had George moving around the country, for he must have also spent considerable time somewhere called Tongshan. We know this because mum has an old silver cigarette box (shown in the pic- ture above left) that is inscribed with the words “G W Fisk Esq - a token in recognition of his services as Ho- norary Treasurer of the Tongshan Club - May 1923.” Just what kind of club it was that he was treasurer for is Rowland Gibson’s 1914 book “Forces Mi- past the sites of former temples. Corn- not clear. There is a golf club nearby, but as mum says, ning and Undermining China” dedicates a lands will cover forgotten graves. The bang “I don't remember him playing golf. His great loves whole chapter to the Rise of the Kailan Mi- and clatter of sorting-rooms, the whirr of were books, classical music, poetry, cricket and chess.” ning Administration. machinery, or the telephone-bell will have Tongshan is indeed the name of the mine that GW Fisk “We may trace in the Kailan Administratio- drowned the shouts of rebel soldiery. mentions in a later article of his own, where he met a n's history China’s attempts to keep the fo- “The bang and clatter of coal-tubs, the miner with incredible directional sense. reigner out. All through the story about to whirr of machinery, or the telephone- GW Fisk would probably have been around at the time be related we hear Chinese officials saying bell may be heard at Tongshan any day of a major disaster in which 422 people were killed, as to one another, " We must not allow these of the week. They sing a song of wages, reported here in Australian newspaper, The Argus. barbarians to mine China, or they will un- war, and cheque-books, but the war is Tongshan is also mentioned in Rowland Gibson’s book, dermine China." We can also follow the va- only commercial war and the cheque- highlighted in bold type in the text. rious phases whereby any big Chinese books flutter in London as much as they concern gradually falls into debt, passes do in Peking. losing her heritage to the foreigner, and only gives him mining through a stage of foreign possession or “In 1909 European mining circles were in- control when she is feeling distinctly prostrate. This is twice control, and eventually emerges success- terested to know that China proposed is- exemplified in the history of the Kailan Mining Administration: fully as a joint Chinese and foreign ... Ins- suing amended mining laws. Being first, in 1900, when the Kaiping Mines were allowed to come tead of the foreign directors of the Chinese ignorant of China and her customs, these into the hands of the Chinese Engineering and Mining Com- Engineering and Mining Company we see mining men were foolish enough to expect pany; secondly, in 1912, when the Lanchow Mining Company the foreign Powers. Instead of a Chinese much instead of little, though they after- agreed to amalgamate its business with that of its old enemy coal-mining company falling into debt we wards found out their mistake. Some of the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company and come under see the Chinese nation falling into debt. them were on the tip-toe of excitement, pic- foreign control. “But, after a while, we shall see China de- turing to themselves a great unlocking of a “July 1st, 1912, was an epoch-making date in the history of Chi- veloping as a big Chino-foreign concern virgin Eldorado. nese mining. It was the birthday of the Kailan Mining Adminis- under joint management. We shall hear no When the new Chinese mining laws even- tration. For a period of ten years from that date both the more of Chinese resentment, because tually made their appearance, all these vi- Lanchow and the Chinese Engineering and Mining Companies prosperity will have soothed it. And after- sionary hopes were doomed to receive a agreed to sink their separate identities under the name Kailan. wards we shall see the most glorious dawn very rude shock. Instead of unlocking her From that date the new Administration became the dominating of industrial development which the world treasures to the western barbarian, China mining power in the whole of China. has ever known. In this story lies a trusty offered, with a smile, to let the barbarian “It is a story where Mr. Chang Yen Mow stands out as a foolish key to China's unborn history. It is not diffi- risk his money, provided China should re- Chinaman. It is a story where Mr. Hoover stands out as a cle- cult, therefore, to prophesy good things. tain the soil and receive whatever profits ver foreigner. It is remarkable that such a young man should Just in the same way that Chinese share- should come out of it. In a word, the new have been able to secure such a good bargain as the control of holders in the Kailan Administration now mining laws were ridiculous in the extreme, the Kaiping coal-fields. Of course he was lucky. touch dividends they never did before, the and they were promptly returned by the Bri- “The year 1912 was the year of anarchy and revolution, the year Chinese of to-morrow will reap the benefit tish Minister as unacceptable and wanting when Manchu rule was thrown upon the scrap-heap. The Lan- of factories and mills and railways. Busy revision. chow Mining Company's business came under foreign control trains will be rushing with feverish activity “It is interesting to reflect that China fears that year. HOUSE OF COMMONS DEBATE, 1933 “The story of the Genesis of the Kailan Administration is rather Earl WINTERTON asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has re- a peculiar one. From a Chinese point of view, it is not altogether ceived any information as to the effect of the recent military operations in China upon a pleasant one. Even now there are Chinese who try not to think the property of the Kailan Mining Administration; and, in particular, whether there has of it. In it they see a reflection of their country's undermining, been any interference with the railway built by this British company for their use bet- and they do not see the industrial advantages which a prospe- ween Tongshan and Chinwangtao? rous, well-equipped mining concern is bound to bring in its Sir J. SIMON I have no information of any damage to the property of the Kailan Mi- wake. ning Administration. As regards the second part of the question, my understanding is “Like the jovial surgeon returning to look up a patient whose leg that the railway was not built by this company; it is a Chinese Government railway, he has taken off, the Administration's ruler now says to China, though built with British Capttal. Part of the second track of the railway was raised " Was it not good for you ? " But China takes time to consider some weeks ago for strategic reasons by the Chinese military authorities, and the rail- before she answers the question. She sees in the new amal- way bridge over the Lwan river has Since been damaged. gamation a thorough exploitation of coal, but she sees her ide- Earl WINTERTON Is it not the fact that this railway is essential in order that the mines als are broken. She sees the control of the Kaiping coal-fields may be carried on; and 1532 has not the mining company a very large share in the gone from her hand for ever. When, therefore, her operator railway? friend repeats his question, "Was it not good for you ? " she Sir J. SIMON I cannot answer that question with precision, but I have no doubt that sadly shakes her head as she answers : " That may be, sir, that the railway is essential to the mining company. may be, but it still hurts." 58a “In order to understand these feelings we must wander back some thirty-four years over the hills of time ... Chi- nese coal-mines were only scratched on the outcrop, they were not treated scientifically, for the very simple re- ason that the yellow men of the day had no facilities for modern mining. Their commercial instincts told them rightly enough that "black stones" had some calorific value. “Accordingly they searched for them, found them all along the Kaiping Coastal District, and dug up as many of them as they could with the miserable appliances at their disposal. Beyond that they merely sat down satisfied more or less at having accomplished so much, but who- lely unaware of the huge unsuspected potentiality which lay like the genii of the story-books, bound and black and mighty beneath their miserable mortal feet. “The new Chinese Engineering and Mining Company existed for over ten years in direct opposition to Chinese government circles and to the wishes of the Kaiping local people. Major Nathan publicly stated this fact in his after- dinner speech at the Kailan Mining Administration's in- augural banquet which was held at the Astor House Hotel in Tientsin in 1912. “It is extraordinary how wonderfully tenacious the Chi- nese as a nation are. When a foreigner has secured some mining or other right which the Chinese Govern- ment considers should never have passed out of Chi- nese hands, no effort is spared by the officials and local gentry to harass and annoy the intruder. There is nothing extraordinary in this feeling itself. The astonishing thing is the pertinacity with which Chinese public opinion makes itself felt. “In course of time, as we have seen, the old Mining Com- pany passed into foreign hands under circumstances to which the Chinese frankly objected. The latter felt they had lost an invaluable treasure. From their point of view they certainly had, but it was to benefit them later on.” The soapstone that GW Fisk brought back from China, and that now belongs to his granddaughter Jenny Roberts (mum), and that once featured on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.

It is not clear why GW Fisk left China in 1930, but with war brewing between China and Japan, it was not a comfortable place to be. The article on the right from Austra- lian newspaper The Age - May 19, 1933, mentions how the Kailan mine in Tongshan, where GW Fisk was based until three years earlier, was siezed by the Japanese.

Below, the Kailan Mining Administration building, where GW Fisk worked for at least some of his time in China, photgraphed around 1906. LONDON GAZETTE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY BY LEWIS SPENCE

Although most of the foreigners working in China generally lived in fairly isolated fashion from the country around them, George Fisk was very dif- ferent. He had a huge interest in Chinese culture and language, and trans- lated several English physics textbooks into Chinese. He was also the author of a Chinese-English-French phrase book for the use of mining en- gineers. But his fascination for Chinese culture soon led to what would become so- mething that interested him for the rest of his life. He was spellbound with the examples of paranormal activity he saw in the Orient, and as early as 1910 (the year Muriel was born), Fisk joined the Society for Psychical Re- search (SPR). While still maintaining his other jobs, he spent much of his spare time exploring supernatu- ral phenomena. In 1912, the SPR CHINESE ECONOMIC STUDIES, M.E. SHARPE (1989) membership lists “Fisk, Rev. Ge- orge, Tsingchowfu, Shantung, China”. By 1924, the ‘Reverend’ bit has most definitely been drop- ped from his name, and he is now just “Fisk, George W., c/o The Kailan Mining Administration, Tientsin, N. China”.

Rosalind Heywood wrote an arti- cle shortly after George Fisk’s death, and in it she provides the full text of a fairly autobiographi- cal text that George himself had written. It goes as follows: “I was living in China at the time of joining the S.P.R. and as that was a country of spooks and de- mons I ought to have had many opportunities for original rese- arch. The Chinese had a theory that the demonic fauna can only travel in straight lines, and the builder of the house I first lived in had erected a ten foot demon-de- fence wall immediately in front of the main gate. It was effective, for I regret I had no firsthand oppor- tunity of way-laying spooks. “I remember I did initiate a few crude telepathy experiments. Some results seemed remarka- ble to me but I had not even then begun to appreciate the neces- sity for strict control. I had been struck by the ability many Chinese seemed to possess of orientating them- ting as labour superintendent in a coal mining company not far from Tient- selves in respect to the points of the compass, even in complete dark- sin. I made a practice of going underground myself to see the working ness. I tested this by experimenting with some dozen of my students. conditions of the miners at the coal face. “I had a revolving office-chair. The subject was seated in the chair in the “Tongshan mine is an old and deep mine and one day I visited a coal face centre of a darkened room and blindfolded. This was done thoroughly and perhaps a mile or so from the main shaft. There was a single miner there a sack was finally pulled over the head. He was then whirled round a num- hewing away with his pick in the dim light of an oil lamp. I stopped for a ber of times in both directions. On coming to rest he had to point his fin- chat. What was his name? How old was he, etc? Finally, where was his ger to the south. (Chinese always orientate themselves by the south). With home? several subjects the number of exact successes was remarkable. As con- “He did not answer in words. He laid down his pick and silently pointed in trols, I tried it on two or three Europeans, and they, as I anticipated, com- the darkness. I had my compass with me and took a bearing of the direc- pletely failed. I should, of course, have followed it up by imposing an tion he was indicating. extraneous magnetic field, and now I much regret that I failed to do so. Do Chinese share this possible faculty with dogs, cats—or pigeons? “I recall one other striking instance when after the 1914-18 war I was ac- 59

Tientsin, pictured in 1926

“On further questioning I learnt that his home limestone, and I wondered where they had been meet some of my fellow members of the S.P.R. was in a village near Tai-en in the adjacent pro- quarried. However, I found out nothing of im- and take a more active interest in its affairs. I vince of Shantung, nearly a thousand miles portance. was fortunate to come across a percipient who away. Back on the surface I examined a map of “About a year later I visited this village again. I was patient enough to submit to a lengthy se- North China. I found the old miner, in the dark- remembered the memorial arch but it had di- ries of ΕSΡ trials, but my first introduction under ness of the mine's inner workings, had pointed sappeared. Rather intrigued, I asked the innke- really strict conditions of control was in about exactly to the direction of his home with a pos- eper what had happened, but received only 1934 when I was asked by Mr G. N. M. Tyrrell to sible error, so far as I could estimate, of not evasive replies. I instructed my Chinese assis- act as an alternative agent to himself in tests more than three or four degrees. This was not tant to make a few discreet enquiries while I re- with Miss Johnson—first with Zener cards and just a case of locating a definite point of the examined the spot. I found several of the largest then with his improved ESP machine. compass. The man was quite illiterate; had pro- stones—probably weighing well over a ton— “He was anxious to discover if her remarkable bably never seen a map, or if he had, certainly scattered around at over a hundred paces from powers would be manifest with an experimenter could not have understood it. But somehow he the original site. My assistant reported that the other than himself. That certainly proved to be knew the exact direction of his home. How? And villagers said it had all happened one night, the case, though her successes were on a so- if he had had wings like an angel—or a pigeon— some months previously. They had heard no- mewhat lower order with me than when working could he have flown from Tangshen straight thing, but next morning they found that the with Tyrrell. back to his village? whole structure had disintegrated, the stones “Still her scores were of a significance suffi- “Another lost opportunity for investigation was being scattered over a wide area. ciently high to undermine my persistent linge- into the many stories of poltergeists I came “The smaller stones they had collected and ring doubts as to the genuineness of ΕSΡ across when chatting with my Chinese friends. used for their own building repairs, but the hea- phenomena. For the conversion of a sceptic like Most followed the same pattern—yarns of mis- viest blocks remained where the 'poltergeist' myself is a long process—as Charles Richet chievous sprites throwing about small articles in had thrown them. Knowing the inherent inertia once said, 'to believe a new fact one must get the home, generally quite harmlessly and often of the Chinese peasant I find it hard to believe used to it'—and it certainly was many years be- exhibiting perverse streaks of humour. Had I that they themselves had voluntarily performed fore I crossed the Rubicon. Not that one’s per- known then of the Underground Water Theory, I the demolition of a revered monument, but...” sonal beliefs are of any importance whatsoever, could probably have disposed of any abnormal In 1930, and for unknown reasons, George Fisk except to oneself. I always dislike being asked, element in most of them. But one case, at least, returned to England at the age of 48, and to the 'Do you believe this or that?' It is the wrong was an unresolved puzzle. Some 30 miles from best of my knowledge, never returned to China. question. What should be asked is, 'What is the the pithead is a village I happened to visit one Among the many things he brought back with evidence on the basis of which you ought to be- day while engaged on a geological survey, loo- him was an engraved soapstone, the signifi- lieve—or doubt?” king for, in particular, any outcrops of limestone; cance of which is a mystery. It now belongs to for coal, in the Tongshan area, is always found mum, Jenny Badenoch, who in the 1980s, took under layers of limestone. Outside the entrance it to the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, and was into this village was a large and imposing pylon amazed to learn that its value was £2000, and or memorial arch, probably centuries old, com- probably a lot more than that by now. memorating some virtuous man or woman of the Going back to George Fisk’s own memoirs, he past. I gave it special attention because the writes “in 1930 I left the Far East and returned to large stone blocks of which it was built were of England, where, for the first time, I was able to 60 In the meantime, as Donald West wrote, on return Said partner would have been George Carwar- Redditch, England. Terry's manufactured and to England, Fisk “joined up with a partner who was dine, who is recognised as the creator of the de- marketed the lamp, while Carwardine continued an expert in springs. They produced, among other vice. to develop the concept, producing a number of inventions, the anglepoise lamp so popular today.” Carwardine was indeed an expert in springs, or other versions and applications (for example, better put “a freelance design consultant spe- for supporting microphones). cialising in vehicle suspension systems.” “The original four-spring design was made for According to Wikipedia, “while developing new working environments, such as workshops and concepts for vehicle suspensions, he created a doctors' and dentists' surgeries, but he also de- mechanism which he recognised had applica- signed a three-spring version for use in the tions in other fields. home (patented on 10 February 1934, patent “He particularly saw its benefits for a task lamp. number 433,617). Despite many claims to the contrary, his con- “The design was extensively copied and is still cept had nothing whatever to do with mimicking in use today. the actions of the human arm. “The arm has been employed in other devices “The joints and spring tension allow the lamp to where it is necessary to hold an object statio- be placed in a wide range of positions and re- nary at a convenient point in space, notably the main stationary without the need for clamping. copy holder for typists and in some applications, “Carwardine applied for a patent for a lamp de- the computer display screen.” sign using the mechanism on 4 July 1932, and However, I have found no evidence of any link manufactured the lamp himself in the works- between George Fisk and Carwardine’s inven- hops of his own company, Cardine Accessories, tion, or of George Fisk being involved in any of in Bath, England. Carwardine’s later projects. “The patent number was 404,615. He soon I seem to remember mum saying how foolish it found the interest and demand so great that he was of her grandpa not to have patented the needed a major expansion or partner and, on design, but it seems that the design was paten- 22 February 1934, entered into a licensing ted, not by Fisk but by somebody who might agreement with the Terry Spring Company in have been his partner.

The four parents on the day of Muriel Fisk’s wedding. Left to right, we have Caroline Badenoch, George Fisk, Florence Fisk and George Badenoch.

Not long after that, the Second World War broke under his control the Ministry presided over an Once the war was over he was 57, and it was at out, and George Fisk spent the war years wor- enormous increase in British aircraft production. this point that he retired and gradually started king at the Ministry of Aircraft Production. “The Ministry was characterised by, for its time, dedicating his life full-time to psychical research. As Wikipedia explains, “one of the specialised highly unorthodox methods of management, He had become a grandfather by this stage. His supply ministries set up by the British Govern- that included its initial location at Beaverbrook's daughter Muriel had remained in Britain all the ment during World War II. As the name sug- own home (Stornoway House). The personnel time, but travelled to China occasionally to visit gests, it was responsible for aircraft production was personally recruited from outside the Air Mi- her parents. According to mum, when she left for the British forces; primarily the Royal Air nistry, interaction was informal, characterised by school, Muriel went to art school, and then wor- Force, but also the Fleet Air Arm. personal intervention, crisis management and ked as a commercial artist, drawing the pictures “The department was formed in 1940 by Wins- application of will power to improve output. "Few for advertisements etc (they didn't use photos in ton Churchill in response to the production pro- records were kept, the functions of most indivi- those days). Then in 1936, Muriel, now 26, ma- blems that winning the Battle of Britain posed. duals were left undefined and business was rried our grandfather, Kenneth Badenoch, in Su- The first minister was Lord Beaverbrook and conducted mainly over the telephone." rrey. 61

Three granddaughters followed, Susan (i.e. Aunty Sue), born in 1938, Jennifer (i.e. mum), born in 1942, and Elizabeth (i.e. Aunty Mitty), born in 1947. Mum has this picture, which shows her grandparents, Florence and George Fisk, with what is most probably Aunty Sue. Going back to his research interests, and as DONALD JAMES WEST George himself wrote “came the war and dis- From the Survival After Death website. location. It was not until 1949 that I took up “Professor West's main career has lain in systematic research again, when under the the medical, legal and psychological study direction of our Research Committee I began of crime. He is the Director of the Institute a series of group experiments. of Criminology, and Professor of Clinical “Of the results some were encouraging or at Criminology at Cambridge, where he is a least puzzling, but most were either quite ne- Fellow of Darwin College. He has written gative or of marginal significance only. eleven books on various aspects of this “Helped by Fraser Nicol and Donald West I in- subject and contributed to many specialised periodicals and troduced into my experiments a new techni- symposia. que of differential scoring with clock-cards, “Between 1947 and 1950, he served as Research Officer to which enabled a value to be assessed for the Society for Psychical Research. Numerous SPR Journal 'near-misses' as well as for 'direct hits.' articles record his energetic careful work, including reports “My first guinea pigs were my grandchildren on Mass Observation's study of hallucinations; on the fable who took part in the 'game' on Sunday after- that a well known medium had once disclosed to the Home noons for many months. Susan was consis- Office the identity of Jack the Ripper; on some Proxy Sit- tently successful with her scores. tings; and on a supposed case of xenoglossy in which two “Afterwards I discovered other good perci- mediums claimed to have spoken in trance the languages of pients, in particular Miss Symonds, who for their Chinese and African 'spirit guides'. several years was my star performer in a se- “At a subsequent meeting experts in both languages said and on a series of long distance clock- ries of varied tests. [Rosalind Heywood des- only that the mediums had produced 'sounds no one could card guessing experiments on volun- cribes Symonds as “an old friend of G. W. understand'. One African tribal language was however unk- teers, carried out with G. W. Fisk. This Fisk's and his best 'subject' in experimental nown to them. West found a man who could speak it and yielded evidence of what is called 'ex- work”]. organised another séance at which the latter addressed the perimenter effect' (the idea that sub- “Dr West collaborated with me in most of the medium involved but elicited no more than 'long, voluble, jects score more successfully with one work and it is to his guidance and advice that unintelligible replies'. West commented that this did not ne- experimenter than with another); a any value there may be in our research is cessarily involve bad faith on the medium's part. theme taken up again in West's SPR due. “He also investigated a 'haunted' dance hall, spent a night Presidential Address. Here, while dis- “Thus it will be seen that almost the whole of there listening to a tap dripping, floors creaking, and doors missing the idea that psi is 'an illusion my research, if my dilettante efforts may be rattling in the wind; found a disused sewer which was 'a run- founded on a mixture of careless ex- honoured with such a fine name, has been way for rats'; interviewed the three main witnesses to the periment, fraud and statistical arte- concerned with the experimental quantitative haunting; and found nothing necessarily paranormal. His re- facts', he suggests that 'a high degree side of parapsychology. port on the year's work in 1948 made some interesting sug- of elusiveness is almost the only re- “Not that I now consider that it is more impor- gestions for further study, notably of physiological changes cognisable characteristic of ESP', and tant than what may be termed the qualitative in mediums, of extra sensory perception in animals, and of that 'if resistance to progress may lie side, such as the collection and analysis of folklore. partly in our own unconscious reluc- spontaneous cases of apparently psychic “Later, he contributed papers on ESP tests with psychotics tance to face the phenomena squa- happenings, the examination of mediums, au- (outlining his own experiments at three different hospitals, rely' this should not be impossible to tomatists, alleged poltergeist phenomena, and surveying the results obtained by other psychiatrists) overcome.” etc.” ASSORTED SNIPPETS FROM JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH

BASIC RESEARCH IN PARAPSYCHOLOGY PARAPSYCHOLOGY AND THE NATURE OF BY RAMAKRISHNA RAO LIFE ESCRITO BY JOHN L. RANDALL

THIRD EYE: MYTH OR A SCIENTIFIC REALITY? RAI AND AGRAWAL (1995)

THE ELUSIVE SCIENCE: ORIGINS OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHICAL RESEARCH

BEYOND THE REACH OF SENSE GEORGE W FISK BY ROSALIND HEYWOOD (1861) ACADEMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fisk, G. W., and MITCHELL, A. M. J. “ESP tests with clock cards: A new technique with differential scoring” (1953). PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS (1955) Fisk, G. W., and West, D. J. “ESP tests with erotic symbols” (1955). Mitchell, A.M.J. & Fisk, G.W. “The applica- tion of differential scoring methods to PK tests” (1953) Fisk, G. W., and West, D. J. “Dice-casting experiments with a single subject.” (1958). ESP: A PERSONAL MEMOIR Fisk, G. W., "Psychokinetic Experiments with a Single Subject", (1957). BY ROSALIND HEYWOOD He is also the author of "How Primitive Is Here, for instance, is a case in which a name which had simply been ESP?" (Spring 1957), and "We Card-Gues- forgotten was brought back by means of an associated idea. In 1960 I sers” (Winter 1957), both published in Tomo- asked the editor of the SPR Journal, Mr rrow magazine 62 “Perhaps it was because I felt that quantitative experimental work was were developed for selecting and presenting targets. He was a singularly more likely to produce tangible results, or, possibly, my long sojourn in the open-minded and sympathetic observer, but also astute and critical. He spook-infested, credulous land of China had conditioned me into too pro- noticed and demonstrated to Tyrrell that when the target sequence was found a disbelief in the genuineness of such phenomena; a negative scep- deficient in repetitions of the same symbol, a loophole was left for the sub- tical attitude that only the experience of later years has modified. ject, who was shown the result of each guess, to produce a spurious “Have there been any tangible results from my efforts? Probably only one above-chance score. She had merely to go on calling the same symbol of any importance and one that is peculiar to myself—I have convinced until a hit was scored and then to change her call to a different symbol. myself of the reality of some neglected and disputed faculties of man's “Most of Fisk's published experiments took place in the decade beginning mind; faculties apparently inexplainable in physical terms as we at pre- 1950. He started by collecting and analysing a large body of data from sent understand them. But that is only a personal reaction, valueless to home-testing ESP experiments (S.P.R. Journal 36, 369-70, 518-20). others. For the rest, I may have partially confirmed some of the findings “The hope was to produce some new star subject, such as Basil Shac- of other workers, e.g. that the ESP faculty is widely, if sparsely spread; kleton, but mass screening methods have never been particularly suc- that the mood of a percipient is an important factor in success; that some cessful for that purpose. The Fisk data were more interesting for the sort of sympathetic rapport between agent and percipient is of value ; and curious, small displacement effects to which large numbers of different also, although it cannot be considered proved, it appears likely that the subjects all appeared to contribute (S.P.R. Journal 37, 14-25). mood, personality—call it what you will— of the experimenter himself, “Fisk returned briefly to the screening approach in 1956, when he colla- apart from the agents and percipients employed, has some bearing on borated with Donald Michie and myself in a mass test using television. the success or failure of the experiments performed. One successful subject did emerge from this, but his abilities proved ephe- “Alas, that it should add up to so little. But then I am only like a man stro- meral (S.P.R. Journal 39, 113-133). king the fur of a cat and wondering at the faint crackle of the tiny blue Much better results were obtained when Fisk recruited his own subjects sparks occasionally produced. He must leave to others the understanding and introduced as targets cards bearing a clock face with an hour hand of what that phenomenon may mean and also the development and har- nessing of that scarcely perceptible power into the dynamos and engines pointing to one or other of the twelve hour positions. In scoring the res- that will rock and illumine the world. Why should one believe that evolu- ponses, one could either count only completely correct calls, or one could tion on this planet has reached its peak with the appearance, within the take into account near misses by noting the number of hours each call last few seconds of geological time, of the mind of man?” deviated from the target. The latter method of scoring proved to be gene- rally the more sensitive (S.P.R. Journal 37, 1-13). With this technique Fisk In his obituary, Donald West provides further, and less modest, insight into discovered a number of successful guessing subjects. George Fisk’s work. “He served on the Council and on various committees “In 1953 we did some tests jointly. Fisk's subjects had to guess the order for many years, and was Editor of Proceedings and Journal for nine years of randomised clock cards posted to them in well-sealed packets. Unk- from 1957. In 1958 he received from Duke, jointly with the present writer, nown to them some of the packets contained cards randomised by me. the McDougall Award for distinguished work in parapsychology. He was The subjects, with one outstanding exception, gave significant results on one of the Vice Presidents of the S.P.R. since 1963. Fisk's cards but not on mine (S.P.R. Journal 37, 185-197). This strange re- Fisk's best known work in psychical research was done during his retire- sult has been the forerunner of much research on the role of the experi- ment, which began at the end of the last war. Nevertheless, he had been menter in psi phenomena. quite active long before then. For instance, he participated in some of G. “Whatever the magic necessary to elicit successful psi results, Fisk seems N. M. Tyrrell's pioneer ESP testing experiments, in which mechanical aids to have possessed it.”

George W Fisk, not long before he died, with his beloved Ptolemy, the cat that Mitty gave him after his wife Florence died. 63 “In experiments with erotic symbols (S.P.R. psi. Not surprisingly, West suggested a collabo- Fisk and mailed the score sheets directly to him. Journal 38, 1-7), in experiments designed to rative effort between himself and Fisk aimed at Fisk scored the sheets for his targets and mai- show the effect of mood on scores (S.P.R. Jour- discerning differences in the data collected by led the remainder to West for scoring. Fisk and nal 38, 320-329), and in experiments in dice the two of them. Several studies were carried West were unaware of each other's targets, and throwing aimed at concealed targets (S.P.R. out which, by and large, conformed to a single early results of the experiment showed positive Journal 39, 277-287), he was able to obtain pattern: Fisk's data yielded positive results and deviations for both experimenters' results. Wes- highly significant results from a variety of sub- West's data were close to chance. t's data declined to nonsignificant missing as the jects under widely different conditions. “The first West-Fisk study was a home test for test continued, although Fisk's maintained an “As one who was privileged to collaborate with clairvoyance (West & Fisk, 1953). Packets con- overall positive direction (p = .013). The diffe- him in much of this work I know at least some of taining clock-card targets were mailed by Fisk rence between Fisk's and West's results was the reasons for his success. He was a patient, to twenty subjects, who proceeded to record marginally significant (p = .05). meticulous worker. No amount of labour in coun- their guesses for each clock card and return the “It is not clear, however, whether this difference ting, checking, dispatching targets, or writing let- record sheet and unopened target packets to may be attributed solely to a psi experimenter ters to participants was ever too much for him. him. (Clock cards consisted of a diagram of a effect, inasmuch as the subject was expecting He just went about it all quietly, efficiently, wi- clock face upon which the subjects made their all of the targets to be in Fisk's home. The non- thout fuss. guesses by drawing an arrow from the center to significance of West's data could reflect a failure “Even more important, he was a consistently ge- one of twelve sectors. This allowed an analysis on the part of the subject to locate the targets.” nial, sympathetic, likeable person who put ever- of the degree of missing involved when a sub- Mum, Jenny Badenoch (now Roberts), remem- yone at ease. Finally, he was a man of extreme ject's response was not correct.) The clock- card bers how “he was actually an amazingly clever modesty. He found the data he accumulated targets had been generated from a table of ran- and knowledgeable man, but I do know that he fascinating and puzzling, but he had no set dom numbers, with each of the experimenters used to stretch the truth a bit with the stories he ideas about an explanation, and no particular generating the targets for, and checking half of, told us as children. We were totally gullible and axe to grind. Unlike those researchers who the data. believed implicitly all he told us. Years later guard their finds with jealous zeal, he welcomed “The overall results of the study showed signifi- Granny told us that he made a lot of it up. As anyone who would help him solve the riddle.” children we used to go to tea with him and G Granny every Sunday. A simple Google search reveals how much of “They had a TV, which was a rarity in those this research is still used as a reference today. days. So we were able to watch Muffin the Mule, For example, in “The world of the paranormal: and we used to watch 'The Brains Trust' with G the next frontier” by Lawrence L. LeShan Grandpa. He used to have at least one amazing (2004), the author describes the “famous Fisk- fact for us each week, no doubt his imagination West experiment. Identical packs of cards – in had run away with him again!! Then he would all their known properties – were sent to a group read through 'Punch' magazine with us and ex- of widely scattered participants who attempted plain the jokes to us. (Punch was a bit like a very to guess their order without opening them. toned down Private Eye, out of print now I think). Some of the cards were shuffled by Fisk, some Then, of course he would do his experiments on by West. The card guessers had no means of telepathy with us. knowing who had shuffled each pack, nor that “Again, I'm not sure how honest he was with his there were different shufflers. Packs shuffled by results. I don't really think he would have chea- Fisk were guessed at a much higher success cant hitting (p = .0011), all of which had been ted though, his work was very important to him. rate than were the cards shuffled by West. contributed by Fisk's data (which were indepen- He was the most incredible Grandpa to us girls, The cards were alike in their properties, different dently significant at the .00015 level). The re- we all loved him to bits.” in their histories.” sults from West's half of the data were at “I can remember him being on telly, talking chance. There were several weaknesses in the about it. That would have been the BBC as that Basically, George Fisk seemed to think that he study: some of the subjects were close friends was the only channel then. I don't know if they had some kind of ESP ability that West did not. or relatives of Fisk, and the security involved in would hold records, or even old tapes of pro- In their 1976 report “Experimenter effects in pa- "mail-order" home testing of this type was ge- grammes. I doubt it, it is so long ago. I remem- rapsychological research”, J. E. Kennedy and nerally not ideal. These weaknesses were off- ber as well that as children he used us for his Judith L. Taddonio look into this. set by the fact that the subjects did not know research. He used to hold up special cards, so They write that “it is common knowledge that that two experimenters were involved or that we couldn't see them. They use cards with va- English investigators have been plagued with each of them would be preparing and checking rious symbols on, and we had to guess what psi-elicitation troubles. An exception to this was half of the clock-card material.” they were, whilst he tried to transfer the picture G. W. Fisk, a retired businessman and inventor “Another Fisk-West study (Fisk & West, 1958) to us, via his mind. We were all pretty useless, who became active in parapsychological rese- also relates to the question of psi experimenter and after weeks of doing this every Sunday, I arch in the 1950's. Fisk's parapsychological ca- effects. A blind PK experiment was conducted don't think he was overly impressed with the re- reer was marked by the attainment of which required that a "special subject" match sults.” consistently significant results. His counterpart dice targets displayed alternately in either Fis- Mum might say that, but Donald West seemed was D. J. West, an experimenter who had been k's or West's home. to be of the opinion that “his own grandchildren generally unsuccessful in his attempts to elicit “The subject thought she was dealing only with were among his most successful ESP subjects.” 1935 PHONE BOOK

1964 PHONE BOOK

Phone book entries for George William Fisk from 1935 right through to 1964 show that he was living at 6 Ditton Grange Close, Ditton Hill, not far from Hampton Court Palace. The house was known as Apple Tree Cottage. It is currently the residence of an interior designer called Carole Julia Box. 64 But in 1965, the Proceedings and Journal was sorry to an- nounce that “Mr G. W. Fisk, who has been Editor since 1957, has had to resign, on leaving the neighbourhood of London to reside in Cornwall. He carries with him into reti- rement the best wishes of all his friends in this Society. He took up the appointment at a time when he had made his name in psychical research as a resourceful experimenter, and as winner, with Dr D. J. West, of the Second William MacDougall Award. Mr Fisk was also skilled in the field of radio transmission; and he made a number of experiments in this connection in China, the results of which, communi- cated to the Journal in 1935 (29, 35-6), are of considerable interest in relation to the question whether a physical ex- planation of telepathy is possible. His duties as Editor took up so much time that his own research work had to cease. During the period of his editorship the task of collecting sui- table material became more difficult. At the same time the cost of printing increased to a level which greatly restricted the amount of space which could be devoted to current con- troversies. In spite of these difficulties Mr Fisk maintained the standard of the Society's publications, and dealt wisely and tactfully with the numerous questions which take up an Editor's time without any visible results.” When George Fisk moved to Cornwall, the man who took over his position was Alan Gauld. Gauld is still involved with the society today. He recently wrote to me, and said that “I took over from him in 1965 as the editor of the SPR's Jour- nal, and I remember visiting him during the transition to co- llect relevant materials at his pleasant home in Ditton Hill, Surrey. He was a round (that is, not exactly plump but not slim either!) friendly and cheerful person, much liked by his SPR colleagues. He was generally called 'Fisky'! The living SPR member who knew him best was probably Donald West who collaborated with him in some well-known expe- riments.” As mum says. “Great Granny and Grandpa Fisk’s last home

was the little bungalow next to Dolphin Cottage, Porth- leven which is in the Kerrier District of Cornwall.” Dol- phin Cottage was where his daughter (our grandmother) Muriel, once lived with her husband, and our grandfa- ther, Kenneth Badenoch. On the final years of his life, Donald West wrote that “In later years his wife was invalided by a chronic, painful condition. He loyally and cheerfully stayed by her side, declining all invitations that might take him too far from home. Occasionally he was touched by the sadness that comes with increasing age. He feared mental deteriora- tion. Happily, he remained alert and active to the end. Indeed, he admitted to developing at a late age a sur- prising ability to recall details of events long past. He re- tained a keen interest in world affairs, sport [mum says he was particularly passionate about cricket], and chess, and loved to listen to classical music].” Just a year before they moved to Cornwall, George Fisk wrote the letter to mum (Jenny Badenoch) shown on this page, in which he describes how Florence’s health was deteriorating.

Porthleven, Cornwall 65 Florence Fisk finally died in 1965, only a few months after they had moved to Cornwall, and she is buried there. Shortly after her death, George Fisk sent the letter shown on this page to mum (Jenny Badenoch), about a year be- fore she married dad. Seven years later, in 1972, George Fisk died, at the age of ninety.

According to Donald West, Muriel, our grandmother told him after he died that “he went just as he had always hoped he would, very quickly, and causing no trouble to anyone— as indeed he never did.”

Says mum, Jenny Badenoch (his granddaughter), “The only one of you that knew them was Dave, who was very scared of Great Grandpa because he was so old. He adored you boys though. He had never had a son or a grandson He told my Mum, that when he died she was to sit in his bun- galow and try to make contact with him. He would be doing his best from the other side!! Mum did as she was told, but sadly got nothing.” This obsession with being able to communicate from be- yond the grave is also discussed by Rosalind Heywood. In her article written shortly after George Fisk died, she wrote that “Fisk was entirely convinced by the evidence for ESP. As to the reality of survival after death, though he seems to have found some of the evidence impressive, he was less sure. The following extracts from comments he wrote in his last Christmas card to me may give some idea of his atti- tude. “Well, I'm sitting on the fence, but not at all uncomfortably. I've provided myself with a cushion—or at least a broade- ning of the top rail! I've decided that I know so very little about the meaning of Being, that, so far from answering, I'm not even capable of asking the great question. . . What is mind, time, space or matter? I just don't know. “Years, years ago I lectured (ye gods!) on physics, and gle- efully, on the Occam's razor principle, reduced all the com- plexity of matter to a simple fundamental particle—the atom—that which is not divided! And today what has hap- pened? It has exploded into 90 or 100 'fundamentals,' and Occam's razor is blunt indeed! ... So I just sit quietly on the fence to wait, and perhaps see.” Rosalind Heywood continues by saying that “In view of a letter from Fisk to me from which I quote below, I feel bound to add the mental impressions which caused me to approach Miss Symonds. But he would be the first to ad- vocate neutral open-mindedness as to their origins. “His son-in-law [this would be our grandfather, Ken] wrote to me on the day of his death (10.9.72), saying that he had asked him to inform me of it at once. As soon as I had time I got out the file of his letters to me, which I had kept on account of their wisdom and humour, and found the following, written in 1967, which I had quite forgot- ten.” George Fisk’s letter to Heywood went “I suggest, if ever you have reason to think I may be trying to communicate with you from the other side, you should bear in mind my intention would possibly be trying to communicate, not in- cidents relative to the S.P.R. in general or yourself in par- ticular, but relative to Miss Symonds ... about whom you yourself know very little indeed—though I believe you have written to her. “Would it not be a good test if I were somehow able to impress you with some little word or name which could not possibly have any interest for you, but might interest her? So IF (what a big IF!) at any time after Charon has ferried me across, you get something puzzling and mea- ningless associated with me, I suggest you pass it over to her to see if by any possible chance it rings a bell with her?... You may be sure I shall do my damnedest to break through—if there is anything through which to break.” Going back to Heywood, she then says “On reading this letter I felt what I can only call a 'flash', as if from Fisk— 'Don't bother about that nonsense'—which gave me a so- mewhat painful shock; but I rationalised it away by telling myself that no doubt, if it were he, in his new situation priorities would appear very different.” 66 “In any case, its vividness effectively discouraged me from making any effort to get a further 'message' from him. I even forgot the exact wording of the above letter, remem- bering only that he had written that he would try to get through something relative to Miss Symonds. “A day or two later came another 'flash', this time about Miss Symonds having to move, but I still did nothing about it at once, partly because of the discouraging 'nonsense' flash, partly because the sceptical side of my nature was on top. But yesterday (17.9.72) it struck me as being unfair to a possible Fisk not to ask Miss Symonds if my impression of her moving—which I had no conceivable reason to en- visage—was correct. I'd better write. Then came a flash, 'No, telephone.' “Though embarrassed, I got her telephone number from Enquiries and did so. I first told her of Fisk's letter saying he would try to get through an item relative to her (I had still forgotten his remark about a puzzling and meaningless one relative to him) and I added that on re-reading the letter after his death I had had the impression that he no longer wanted us to bother about 'that nonsense.' “This distressed her and made me realise how deeply she was feeling his loss, so, in an effort to comfort her, I tried my little rationalisation about fresh priorities and then added, casually, 'Are you by any chance thinking of moving?' “Oh, yes,' she said, 'I'm trying desperately to find a friend to share this large house with me, because if I can't I shall have to move." The prospect seemed to be causing her much anxiety and she looked upon my enquiry as a direct hit. “How should this be assessed? I recently found an old let- ter from Professor C. D. Broad, commenting with some hu- mour on the strictness of a judge in a drawing experiment, who had counted the guess, 'Flit Spray' for a target, 'Flit Gun', as a miss. From that approach there is nothing here at all. But Fisk was well aware of the devious ways in which subconscious material may have to rise to consciousness, whether or not it was due to ΕSP— he gave me an anec- dote illustrating this for my book, The Infinite Hive —and he also knew my feeling that if I tried for ESP or even ex- pected it, I should get nothing. “Here then, on the hypothesis that my flashes were not due to chance, vivid imagination or telepathy with a stranger, but to him, he could be said to have handled me very skil- fully with the rather crushing impression, 'Don't bother about that nonsense,' got rid of my inhibitions and thus, perhaps, freed me to be receptive to the information that Miss Symonds might be moving. It also, in an unexpected way, fulfilled the requirement 'puzzling and meaningless' in George William Fisk and Florence Fisk’s grave in Porthleven Churchyard relation to him, for it seemed distressingly unlike him, and hurt me until I managed to rationalise it away. recording errors is eliminated and targets (and presumably not suspect of having pu- “It is easy for a judge to deny that Flit Spray is a hit on Flit are electronically registered in the compu- rely prurient motives). Actually, the targets Gun. It is not easy for an experient to deny impressions ter so sensory leakage of clues is also vir- were pictures taken from a popular French which seem at the time to be simply what they purport to tually eliminated. Sadly, as research magazine and, on present day standards, be. It is even less easy when a number of such impressions techniques have become more sophistica- would be far from pornographic. have a meaningful factor in common ; that, if acted upon— ted, and lone experimenters outside uni- “I knew that he was extremely fond of and and to do so can feel embarrassing—they relieve some- versity departments are more or less concerned about his grandchildren. If he one else's sorrow or difficulty. extinct, the elusiveness of ESP effects has pleased them with fairy tales and exagge- “Here again this was the case. On October 9, the day after if anything increased. rated ideas about their ESP powers, I doubt I wrote the original draft of these notes, a letter came from “Strictly repeatable experiments yielding that it had relevance to his serious rese- Miss Symonds which said: 'Through you and our beloved clear-cut effects not linked with a particular arch. mutual friend, the 'blinds' have gone up’.” experimenter do not exist, so the orthodox “He was very far from lacking in critical po- scientific view remains that claims to para- wers. He observed early on that human at- As for Donald West, George W Fisk’s old research collea- normal information transfer are either frau- tempts to produce random sequences gue, he was very much the younger of the two, and I was dulent or due to experimental error and ‘out-of-the-head’ normally yield a deficiency most surprised to learn while looking into GW Fisk that he experimenter incompetence. of repeats, with the consequence that un- was actually still alive and still actively involved in the so- “My own opinion about the Fisk experi- less targets are chosen from random num- ciety. He wrote me the following e-mail on August 22, 2009: ments is that if Fisk was not a cheat - some ber tables, or produced by mechanical or “Dear Mr Roberts – I have read your biography of G.W. Fisk of his results are otherwise inexplicable wi- electronic randomisation, guessers given with great interest. Since you have already read what I thout a paranormal factor. Despite the ab- feedback as to the success or failure of wrote about him you have left me nothing much to add, sence of modern equipment, his each guess, can produce extra-chance save to confirm that my respect and affection for him re- procedures and his checking systems were scores by simply changing their guess after mains unchanged after many years. thorough. I am very resistant to the idea every correct call. He felt, probably rightly, “I regret losing touch in his final years when he was far that he was a cheat, but that opinion is not that this criticism of Tyrrell’s experiments away in Cornwall and I was busy with a career in crimino- scientific evidence. was not welcome among emotionally com- logy in Cambridge. “Your reference to his Baptist upbringing mitted believers. “As for his extensive work on ESP and PK experiments, in makes me recall an amusing episode when “Thanks for causing me to recall what was which I was a collaborator, it now looks primitive in com- he wanted to publish his experiments using an interesting and pleasant episode in my parison with modern work using computers. The procedu- erotic targets. He insisted on attaching my life. res today are automated, so that scope for human name to them as I was a ‘medical’ person “Sincerely – Donald West.”