GREGORY TILLETT WAS LEADBEATER'S MAIN BIOGRAPHER

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:

www.cwleadbeater.wordpress.com

Below, you can read the interview that Leslie Price did him regarding this blog:

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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)

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Rest in peace Gregory Tillett and thank you for detailing us the dark side of Charles Leadbeater