Gregory John Tillett is the researcher who has most investigated Charles Webster
Leadbeater, his book "The Elder Brother" (1982) is the most
important biography that has been written about this individual. And the most curious is that Gregory is not a theosophist, but an Australian priest.
You can also read his PhD
thesis from the University of Sydney, titled “C.W. Leadbeater. A Biographical Study”
(1986) which contains more information and you can download it (here).
And apart his book and his thesis,
Gregory Tillett also published a blog where he added still more information:
Below, you can read the interview
that Leslie Price did him regarding this blog:
«
What is the purpose of the new blog?
As described on the site: “This
blog has been established to encourage and promote scholarly research into and
discussion and dialogue about the life of Charles Webster Leadbeater
(1854-1934). It will publish details of works about Leadbeater and sources of
information about his life. It will also publish articles and comments about
Leadbeater, his work and works about him provided that these maintain a
scholarly standard.”
Traditionally, academics cling to
research materials until they are published in peer-reviewed academic journals.
Putting research into the required form for such journals is time-consuming and
tedious, and publication takes a very long time. Leadbeater and matters
associated with him are unlikely to attract much interest from scholarly
journals and the number of papers that would ever be accepted will be very
small.
I want to make as much material
as possible available to the widest possible readership – including but not
limited to scholars interested in the field – as quickly as possible in the
most easily accessible way.
The blog will also serve as a
clearing-house, providing information on sources (libraries, archives, theses,
books, articles), especially those which may not be well-known. New researchers
in the field should not have to “re-invent the wheel”. Information should be
freely available and readily accessible.
How important were archives in your Leadbeater research?
Particularly regarding
Leadbeater’s early years, archives were essential resources since all the
published material was simply factually inaccurate. Fortunately for the early
years, the archival material was almost all outside Theosophical archives and
therefore in the public domain.
Is there significant Leadbeater material still withheld from scholars?
The major sources of material
still being withheld are those within the archives of the Esoteric Section (or
School) of Theosophy, notably that held at Adyar, but there are also ES
archives in the USA and at The Manor in Sydney, and, possibly, at Naarden (formerly
Huizen).
What will happen to your own archives?
Following the untimely death of
John Cooper in 1998, his family asked me to serve as the literary executor of
his estate, and to locate a repository for his extensive library and archives.
Stringent conditions were to be imposed on any recipient: the collection must
be maintained as a special collection; it must be properly catalogued and
preserved; the collection must be accessible to researchers; and nothing from
the collection could be dispersed or disposed of which my permission. Various
institutions were approached, and the National Library of Australia was chosen
as the most appropriate recipient (link).
The National Library dealt with
John’s library and archives in such a professional manner, and has met all the
conditions imposed, that I plan to donate my Theosophical library and archives
to the Library.
Given the trouble that it caused, have you ever wished that you had
never found Leadbeater’s birth certificate?
The discovery certainly didn’t
cause me any trouble. And I found observing how various Theosophical groups
dealt with it fascinating, particularly as an example of “cognitive dissonance”
which had always been an academic interest of mine. “Cognitive dissonance” is a
concept in psychology referring to how individuals, or groups, deal with
mutually contradictory beliefs: in this case, for example, “Leadbeater said he
was born in 1847 but he was born in 1854”, or “Leadbeater would not tell a lie
but he lied about his birth date”. The concept was originally developed by Leon
Festinger (1919-1989), an American Sociologist, in his book “When
Prophecy Fails”
(1956). It also obviously has relevance to the failed “Coming” centred on
Krishnamurti. [For cognitive dissonance, see definition in Wikipedia (link).
Are there any remaining “mysteries” relating to Leadbeater?
I maintain a “checklist” of such
mysteries! Three I have recently resolved:
1) How did Leadbeater’s father’s
two sisters, Jane Livesay Leadbeater (1836-1904) and Mary Leadbeater
(1837-1908), move out of an impoverished working class family, with illiterate
parents, and each marry very eminent Anglican clergymen who were Oxford
graduates? The answer was the intervention of a fascinating and somewhat
mysterious woman! I will publish more on this later. (see link)
2) How did Leadbeater acquire the
influential patronage of William Wolfe Capes (1834–1914), a very eminent
Anglican clergyman, Oxford graduate and Oxford academic, enabling him to become
ordained in the Church of England? (see link)
3) Why did Leadbeater suddenly
leave his Theosophical-Buddhist work in Ceylon? The strange story of
discovering the reincarnation of his (non-existent) brother, Gerald, in the
person of Jinarajadasa is insufficient. The real explanation comes from the eminent
Buddhist teacher, Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933), who was involved in
Leadbeater’s work at the time. (see link)
The most intriguing remaining
“mystery” is why Leadbeater abandoned his Anglican ministry at Bramshott so
suddenly and dramatically, and secretly, on November 4 1884. His story of a
message from the Master is not adequate. Research continues!
What research are you undertaking now?
I am trying to complete a book,
“The Origins of the Liberal Catholic Church: 1915-1920”, on which I have been
working for far too many years.
My academic career in Law,
membership of a Federal appellate tribunal, and my private practice got in the
way! Now that I have retired, I hope finally to complete this by the end of the
year.
I am also writing a series of
papers on Leadbeater: “Leadbeater: The Early Years”, “Leadbeater: The Anglican
Years”, “Leadbeater and Spiritualism” and, just to maintain a reputation for
being controversial, “Leadbeater, Gardner and Sex Magic”.
The eminent English Theosophist,
E.L. Gardner (1892-1969) was the author of “There is No Religion Higher than Truth. Developments in
the Theosophical Society” (1963) which was highly controversial
because it challenged Leadbeater’s claim to psychic powers. But Gardner also
wrote a series of papers, never published, claiming that Leadbeater engaged in
a form of “sex magic”; he also corresponded on this topic with several eminent
Theosophists, including Boris de Zirkoff. I hope to publish the papers and the
correspondence, with an introduction and annotations. »
(https://cwleadbeater.wordpress.com/2018/06/24/fota-interview)
DEATH
Unfortunately Gregory Tillett passed away on December 6, 2018, and below you can read
two obituaries.
By Peregrin Campbell-Osgood
« For those who do not
know Fr Gregory Tillett hermit, priest, academic, author and advocate, died
last month. It is hard to know where to begin to pay tribute to this amazing
human being (and this is just dashed off at lunch). He was always unfailingly
kind, supportive, and generous with his time, resources and deep wisdom. I do
hope someone writes a good biography soon. His life spanned many spheres, but
always at the centre was his deep and rich Christian practice, which he
embodied through his love.
Greg was one of the early
researchers in esoteric, pagan and occult spirituality in Australia, focusing
particularly on the Theosophical Society. He earned his doctoral thesis with an
expansion of his wonderful biography of C.W. Leadbeater and produced much
ground-breaking research in this area.
He was a legal advocate for
members of the Gay and Lesbian community when homosexuality was still illegal
in some states. He was particularly active and instrumental in this field
during the awful AIDS panic of the 80s. Greg was also an expert in conflict
management, teaching it at an academic level and co-writing one of the standard
texts on the subject.
In the early 90s Greg was active
in the British Orthodox Church, becoming one of its leading priests, archivist
and historian. Greg was one of the key people who helped bring the Church into
the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in 1994, where he was ordained. He became the
first non-Copt to undergo the traditional Forty Days intensive training program
following ordi- nation. As a Coptic priest Greg was an outspoken advocate for
those excluded by Orthodoxy and Orthodox superstitions, particularly LGBTIQ
people, women and non-Copts. He butted hard against the church hierarchy many
times in his defence of the excluded.
Upon retirement Greg broke new
ground by transforming his home in suburban Sydney into a consecrated Coptic
hermitage. There he lived simply but reaching out to help many people through
advocacy, sharing of wisdom and the incredible blog, City Desert (link). I am blessed to count myself as one of those people.
There is so much more I could
say, but much cannot be, and time prohibits me. This morning as I practiced the
form of the Jesus Prayer he taught me I cried and cried – both for loss and for
the joy and love this Great Man brought to the world. I will be forever richer
for his life and love. I’ll leave off for now by linking to one of his
homilies.
Eternal rest grant to him, O
Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon him »
(http://www.britishorthodox.org)
By Leslie Price
« The life of Dr
Gregory Tillett, who passed away from cancer last month, was irrevocably
changed, when about 1979 he obtained from the registrar in London the birth
certificate of C.W. Leadbeater, the Theosophical clairvoyant whose biography he
was writing. He was surprised to find eventually that from 1890 CWL had falsely
claimed to have been born in 1847, the same year as Annie Besant (with whom he
began to work about 1890) instead of 1854. The account by Leadbeater, of having
been at the Great Exhibition of 1851, was thus impossible. Subsequent
examination of other personal details, especially the existence of a brother
Gerald who was killed young in Brazil, did not substantiate them.
Although there had been many
criticisms of Leadbeater over the years, no one had questioned his official
biography, not even Arthur Nethercot, who had spent years working on his
biography of Annie Besant.
The Adyar TS international
president John Coats had encouraged Greg’s biography, but he passed away on 26
December 1979. His successor Mrs Radha Burnier, who was also head of the
esoteric school, was hostile to the project. In India, she was able to prevent
attention to Greg’s 1982 book “The Elder Brother” and to his subequent doctoral
thesis, which had more discussion of Leadbeater’s sexual life, as was Dora Kunz
in America, an old pupil of CWL, who was president of the TSA.
This meant few reviews in
Theosophical publications, absence of the book from Theosophical libraries and
low book sales. (England was an exception, where Lilian Storey the librarian
was a family historian, and indeed had checked Greg’s data on behalf of John
Coats.) On the Adyar T.S. international web site, until a year or two ago,
Leadbeater continued to be born in 1847.
Having joined the T.S. in England
in 1980, I realised that free discussion of historical facts was not always
possible in the T.S., and this was a factor in my decision to start the
independent journal “Theosophical History” in 1985.
Many Theosophists were led to
believe that Greg was a bad person who had maliciously attacked a noble
Theosophist. Even quite senior Theosophists never read his book which was (in
retrospect) not unsympathetic to CWL. There is no doubt that the realisation
that Leadbeater had fabricated a more impressive curriculm vitae, presented
acute problems.
He was a close colleague of the
revered T.S. second president, Annie Besant. He was head of the esoteric school
at his death. He was a pillar of the Liberal Catholic Church. He was an eminent
co-mason, and so on. Yet his colleagues, some of them also great occultists,
such as Jinarajadasa, Arundale and Mrs Besant herself, do not seem to have
suspected that CWL was romancing.
Although Greg professed not to be
upset by the antagonism of some Theosophists, it must have been painful to see
his work traduced.
Perhaps one day, a future
Theosophical leader will say “Sorry Dr Tillett. We ought to have remembered
that there is no religion higher than truth, even if it is a threat to our
power.” »
(https://www.facebook.com/friendsoftheosophicalarchives/posts/leslie-price-writesthe-life-of-dr-gregory-tillett-who-passed-away-from-cancer-la/2078886125510131)
~ * ~
Rest in peace Gregory Tillett and thank you for detailing
us the dark side of Charles Leadbeater
Have you read Pedro Oliveira's new book "CWL Speaks"? Garry Trompf, Emeritus Professor in the History of Ideas, University of Sydney, wrote an interesting review about it. You can find some references to it here:
ReplyDeletehttps://theosophy.wiki/en/Charles_Webster_Leadbeater#Gregory_Tillet.27s_biography
Have you read Edward Gardner’s investigations on Leadbeater?
Deletehttps://esoteric-guide.blogspot.com/2020/09/edward-gardner-leadbeater-investigations.html
Have you read Mr. T.H. Martyn’s letter on Leadbeater?
https://esoteric-guide.blogspot.com/2021/07/charles-leadbeaters-dates-exposed-by.html
Have you read what science said on the atomic investigations made by Leadbeater and Besant?
https://esoteric-guide.blogspot.com/2019/07/atomic-investigations-leadbeater-besant.html
Have you read what Leadbeater said about life in Mars?
https://esoteric-guide.blogspot.com/2019/07/mars-charles-leadbeater.html
Have you read what Leadbeater said about life in Mercury?
https://esoteric-guide.blogspot.com/2019/07/life-mercury-charles-leadbeater.html
Conclusion: Gregory Trillet is not the only person who affirms that Leadbeater was a pedophile and a charlatan.