Routledge Revivals The Elder Brother A leading figure in the Theosophical Society, Leadbeater was a prolific author, writing on subjects ranging from Buddhism, Masonic history and the origins of Christianity through to the power of thought and the fourth dimension. Leadbeater was also the force behind Annie Besant, the discoverer and edu- cator of Krishnamurti, and became Presiding Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church. For all his influence Charles Leadbeater remains largely unknown as a man. This biography, first published in 1982, dispels many of the mysteries sur- rounding his life, and Leadbeater emerges as neither evil degenerate or infallible saint, but as a complex and eccentric adventurer into the realm of the occult. This title will be of particular interest to students of history and theology. This page intentionally left blank The Elder Brother A Biography of Charles Webster Leadbeater Gregory Tillett Firstpublishedin1982 byRoutledge&KeganPaulLtd Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2016byRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN andbyRoutledge 711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©1982GregoryTillett All rightsreserved.No part ofthis bookmaybe reprintedor reproducedor utilisedin any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers. Publisher’sNote Thepublisherhasgonetogreatlengthstoensurethequalityofthisreprintbutpoints outthatsomeimperfectionsintheoriginalcopiesmaybeapparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondencefromthosetheyhavebeenunabletocontact. ALibraryofCongressrecordexistsunderLCcontrolnumber:81021133 ISBN13:978-1-138-11980-2(hbk) ISBN13:978-1-315-65186-6(ebk) T he E lder B roth er A biography of Charles Webster Leadbeater Gregory Tillett Routledge & Kegan Paul London, Boston, Melbourne and Henley First published in 1982 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd 39 Store Street, London WC1E 7DD, 9 Park Street, Boston, Mass. 02108, USA, 296 Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park, Melbourne, 3206, Australia, and Broadway House, Newtown Road Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 1FN Set in Journal by Columns, Reading and printed in Great Britain by The Thetford Press Ltd, Thetford, Norfolk ©Gregory Tillett 1982 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Tillett, Gregory. The elder brother. Bibliography: p. Includes index. I. Leadbeater, C.W. (Charles Webster), 1847-1934. 2. Theosophists — Australia — Biography. I. Title. BP585.L4T54 299\934'0924 /B/ 81-21133 ISBN 0-7100-0926-7 AACR2 Contents Preface and acknowledgments vii A note on sources xii 1 The man and the myth 1 2 A life of manifold adventures: mysterious beginnings 11 3 The High Church curate: Ang^canism and psychic research 19 4 Through spiritualism to Theosophy: Spirit guides, Masters and Mr Sinnett 26 5 ‘A nice occultist’: Madame Blavatsky startles the curate 33 6 Buddhism in passing and Adyar at last 41 7 The Masters and the Path: the rising star 46 8 The ‘astral plane’: the inner side of things 56 9 Serious charges preferred: the fallen prophet 77 10 A disciple reinstated: the prodigal returns 91 11 Many candles in the sun: Krishnamurti and the new vision 103 12 ‘In the lives, in the lives . . .’ in which everyone is reincarnated 114 13 Eggs, English and exercises: the preparation of the Vehicle 123 14 The rising star: the emerging Arhat and a question of custody 140 15 Masonry, the war and a new sub-race: preparation for the Coming 158 16 The priesthood recovered: Leadbeater and the Liberal Catholic Church 171 17 ‘Where Leadbeater bishes’: the Sydney police investigate 185 18 ‘Amid the Stygian darkness’ — towards the sunrise 205 19 A star sets suddenly: the abdication of the Messiah 226 20 The elderly patriarch: the final years 240 21 ‘To those who mourn’: the judgment after death 256 Notes 288 Bibliography 316 Index 331 v Illustrations between pages 148 and 149 1 Charles Webster Leadbeater (Theosophical Publishing House) 2 The birth-certificate: seven years later than the myth 3 The Curate at Bramshott, 1882 (Theosophical Publishing House) 4 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Theosophical Publishing House) 5 The rising star of Theosophy, with Colonel Olcott and Mrs Besant (Theosophical Publishing House) 6 (i) Adyar: The headquarters from the river (Theosophical Publishing House) (ii) Adyar: the Octagonal Bungalow (Theosophical Publishing House) 7 Mrs Annie Besant (Theosophical Publishing House) 8 Rukmini Devi Arundale (Theosophical Publishing House) 9 Research on the Lives: from left to right, Dick Balfour Clarke, Irving Cooper, Fabrizio Ruspoli, Leadbeater (private collection) 10 A genealogical chart of the Lives: from left to right, Ernest Wood, Mrs Gertrude Kerr, Leadbeater, Mrs Dorothy Jinarajadasa, Dr Raimond van Marie (private collection) 11 Two bishops: Leadbeater and Wedgwood in Sydney, 1920 (private collection) 12 (i) The Manor: from Sydney Harbour (private collection) (ii) St Alban’s Cathedral: exterior (private collection) 13 St Alban’s Cathedral: the consecration of Irving Cooper as Bishop by Mazel, Wedgwood and Leadbeater (private collection) 14 Leadbeater and students on a picnic (private collection) 15 The cremation of Annie Besant at Adyar, 1933 (private collection) 16 The requiem for Leadbeater, Perth, 1934 (private collection) vi Preface and acknowledgments The elderly lady gestured towards the large portrait dominating the library. ‘That is Brother/ she said in a voice reflecting awe and reverence, ‘our Elder Brother, Bishop Leadbeater.’ The eyes in the portrait were sparkling, almost laughing; a large pectoral cross hung ostentatiously on the breast, and an episcopal ring was much in evidence on the right hand. ‘He was the world’s greatest clair­ voyant and occultist,’ she said, leading me to a shelf of books, ranging from pamphlets to weighty tomes. ‘He wrote all these books from his clairvoyant investigations.’ Her hand brushed lightly over titles ranging from Occult Chemistry and Life after Death, Man Visible and Invisible, to Thought-Forms, The Lives of Alcyone and The Science of the Sacraments. Such was my introduction to Charles Webster Leadbeater, in the library of the Theosophical Society in Perth, Western Australia. I later learnt that he had died in that city in his eighty-seventh year, and that in the wall of a church not ten minutes’ walk away from the library reposed a small portion of his ashes. At the librarian’s suggestion I read his books, two a week, until I had read them all; fascinated, I wanted to know more about the man who had written them. There was no biography, only fragments of biographical material scattered in various Theosophical magazines. And so, having entered the library to obtain a book on hatha yoga, I began an investigation that is still not completed, twelve years and many thousands of miles later. The subject is as controversial today as he was in his lifetime, from his birth in the obscurity of an English industrial town, seven years later than he claimed it had been, to his death as a figure of acclaim and notoriety. Of his birth there is but a certificate to demonstrate the falsehood of the date he gave; of his death there are obituaries in The Times of London, The Hindu of New Delhi and the Sydney Morning Herald. vii