THE NON-EXISTENT BROTHER THAT CHARLES LEADBEATER INVENTED

The first time Leadbeater mentioned having a brother

The first time Charles Webster Leadbeater (CWL) claimed to have a brother was when he resided in Ceylon (between 1886 and 1889) where he met a boy named Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa.

(Detail of the group photo taken at the meeting between the Buddhists of Ceylon and Colonel Olcott in 1889; standing in the middle is Leadbeater and the boy next to him is Jiranarajadasa.)

Leadbeater told that Jinarajadasa was the reincarnation of his brother Gerald, who had died as a child in Brazil in 1862. And that is why Leadbeater took Jinarajadasa with him when he returned to London in 1889.

Jinarajadasa narrated the following about this matter:

« When C.W.L. went to Ceylon, his Master told him that he would there find his brother Gerald, who had been killed in Brazil in 1862 under dramatic circumstances. He has narrated the story of that period of his life with his brother in Brazil in his book, 'The Perfume of Egypt', and the story is called “Saved by a Ghost”.

The Master did not tell him who his brother was in this incarnation, except that he was in Ceylon. C.W.L. therefore was on the look out for this brother.

I was not in the first group of boys round him, though towards the end I did join one of the carol parties. But there were several other boys who took part with enthusiasm in his many schemes, my brother being one of them.

I think he must have “tried out” several of the boys to see which was his brother. Finally, in various ways, he found that I must be the brother. I had joined the School in 1886, and so he knew me.

On my side, there was no special emotional recognition of an old link, as has happened to me often with regard to many persons; but on the other hand, there was an intuitive understanding of him and of his work, and a full co-operation.

I think he must have been quite sure that I was his brother after a certain incident. This was when, after an afternoon’s walk, he explained to me a little about the work of the Masters, and described briefly the characteristics of the Masters M. and K.H. He then asked me if I cared to be one of Their disciples, and of which Master.

After a few moments’ thinking I replied that the Master K.H. attracted me….I left with C.W.L. for England in November, 1889.

The chief events of my subsequent life are known to most of my friends. He had by this time told me that I had in my last incarnation been his brother Gerald Leadbeater.

Once he mentioned casually that one of my habits as Gerald was to get under the dining-room table and there sit singing some of the hymns I learnt about Jerusalem the Golden, and similar attractive hymns about Heaven.

I have often thought of this characteristic of Gerald, because it is now pronounced in me, for all the Theosophical knowledge concerning the Heaven World is always vivid in my mind.

Indeed, sometimes I think that I am the only Theosophist who really has any real belief in Devachan. Years afterwards I found a book of verses of my then mother, with poems to Gerald. »

("Occult Investigations. A Description of the Work of Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater", by C.Jinarajadasa, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1938, pp. 116-117, 123.)

The adventures of Leadbeater and his family in Brazil

Leadbeater claimed that he and his family (his father, his mother, and his younger brother, Gerald) were in Brazil between 1858 and 1862.

Leadbeater's account of his alleged stay in Brazil is found in the text "Saved by a Ghost. A True Story of an Adventure in Brazil, near Bahia, 1861-1862," initially published in 1911 in the magazine 'The Theosophist'.

Later this same year was edited and annotated by Jinarajadasa with the title "Saved by a Ghost. A True Record of Adventure in Brazil, Near Bahia, 1861-1862, of Charles Leadbeater (Senior), Charles Webster Leadbeater, and Gerald Leadbeater," and included in Leadbeater's collection of stories in his book 'The Perfume of Egypt' (1911).

Presumably, if it was not a true story, Leadbeater had the opportunity to correct it, or at least to prevent the publication of the second edition (1912).

The published account can be supplemented by the notes that Jinarajadasa and AJ Hamerster left in the archives of the Theosophical Society in Adyar.

Jinarajadasa also later conducted investigations in Brazil to try to confirm the details, but obtained no results.

AJ Hamerster's biographical notes, corrected by Leadbeater (who wrote to Hamerster acknowledging the veracity of his account), record that the family was in Brazil from approximately 1858 to 1862.

A "Memorandum for a Biography of CWL," written by Jinarajadasa based on information provided by Leadbeater, states that the family traveled to Brazil in 1858 and returned to London in 1862.

DID LITTLE BROTHER GERALD REALLY EXIST?

In his account, Leadbeater stated that his family was in Brazil between 1858 and 1862, and that Gerald was seven years younger than him. Leadbeater also claimed that Gerald was killed by rebels in Brazil in 1862.

But there is no historical evidence of the existence of this brother.

There is no record that Charles and Emma Leadbeater had any other children besides Charles Webster Leadbeater.

Nor are there any records of another person whose parents were named Charles and Emma Leadbeater.

None of the major international genealogy search engines yield any results for "Gerald Leadbeater".

There is no birth record in the United Kingdom for the period 1850-1860 for any child named Gerald Leadbeater.

Nor is there any record in British death records of British citizens abroad of any person with the surname Leadbeater, much less Gerald Leadbeater, although there were already death records of British citizens in Brazil for the period 1858-1862.

No British press reports have been found recording the murder of a British child in Brazil between 1860 and 1870, and it is inconceivable that the brutal murder (as described by Leadbeater) of a British child in Brazil at the hands of rebels went completely unnoticed.

The hagiographic website published by Pedro Oliveira has published claims that the Leadbeater family traveled to Brazil:

http://www.cwlworld.info/CWL_in_Brazil.pdf http://www.cwlworld.info/From_Southampton_to_Bahia_and_Back_Again.pdf

And he states:

« Certificates issued by the Public Archive in Bahia, dated 2 February 2007, attest the arrival of Charles Leadbeater, his wife and one young son on board of the steamship “Tamar” 30 May 1858, from Southampton in England, and their departure on board of the steamship “Tyneon” 13 June 1859, bound for Southampton. Both Certificates were issued based on the contents of Passenger Lists of that period. »

The passenger list published by Pedro Oliveira shows that a man named Charles Leadbeater, his wife and son arrived in Salvador, Brazil, on May 30, 1858, from England, but this document indicates that only one child accompanied the two adults.

And the British census of 1861, presented on Sunday, April 7 of this year, shows Leadbeater and his parents back in England, registering them as tenants in the house of Mr. William Henry Allen, being a railway employee, in Brompton, London.

There is no record of Gerald Leadbeater in the British censuses of 1851 or 1861, and the 1861 census declaration filed by Leadbeater's father lists only one son: Charles Webster Leadbeater.

Resolution

Unless it is claimed that Leadbeater's father took his family to Brazil in 1858, then returned to London the following year with his family, stayed there until at least the census that was carried out on April 7, 1861, and then returned to Brazil to live the adventure that Leadbeater recounted in his book, and where Gerald –who does not appear in any record– was murdered (in 1862 according to Leadbeater and Jinarajadasa), so that the family then returned to London again, so that finally the father died a few days later on June 17, 1862 of tuberculosis; the facts do not add up.

And to consider this chronology true is as outlandish as considering the story that Leadbeater told about his fictitious brother in Brazil to be true, because even assuming that Gerald had been a very precocious child, the behavior that Leadbeater describes is not tangible.

According to Leadbeater: he, his father (without his mother), and Gerald traveled to the jungle. Gerald always carried a revolver. During one attack, he shot at least two Indigenous people and wounded another.

When Leadbeater, his father, and Gerald were captured by the rebel general Martinez, Gerald was ordered to trample a cross, but he refused, saying, "I won't. You are a very wicked man." Then Martinez killed him with his sword.

If we consider the false birthdate Leadbeater invented (1847), Gerald would have been around five years old at the time. Which is grotesque!

And if we consider Leadbeater's true birth date (1854), Gerard would have been around two years old at that time. Which is absurd!

And it also makes no sense that Leadbeater's father made all those journeys when he was already seriously ill with tuberculosis.

CONCLUSION

Brother Gerald was another lie invented by Charles Leadbeater.