WILL DISPUTED

Southland Times, Issue 22486, 22 January 1935, Page 5

WILL DISPUTED

LATE LADY CAILLARD

FORTUNE FOR SPIRITUALISTS’ SOCIETY

ACTION BY RELATIVES

(United Press Assn—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 9 p.m.) London, January 20. The relatives of Lady Caillard are contemplating taking action.to prevent the probate of the will leaving a fortune to the Society of Progressive Souls Limited. Sir Vincent Caillard died in 1930 after which his widow became interested in spiritualism and founded the Society of Progressive Souls, of which Viscount Molesworth is president. The society published a book, allegedly written by Sir Vincent’s spirit. She believed that immediately the book was finished in August, 1934, she would die. She asked Mr Arthur Ford, a highly reputed United States spiritualist, to come to England 'and speak at her funeral. Mr Ford came and waited until November, the widow surprising herself by surviving. She told Mr Ford that she had received messages from Sir Vincent whose book purported to be written on “Communigraph,” resembling a glorified ouija board. The widow, under her husband’s alleged spirit instructions, told Mr Ford that she was deeding her town house, “The Belfry” to the. Progressive Souls for carrying on spiritualistic activities. Mr Ford declares that he visited five Belfry seances. “My investigations did not satisfy me that the communigraph dictated from the spirit world or the voices heard were spirit voices.”

Mr Maurice Barnbanell, editor of the Psychic News, says: “Mr Ford is one of the world’s leading mediums, but I attended the Belfry seances and have no reason to doubt the genuineness of the manifestations.”

Commander Guy Maund, a son of Lady Caillard by her first husband, told the Daily Mail: “I am taking legal action because I have reliable information of strange doings at these seances. Once the communigraph was smeared with lipstick, after which the fingers of the person sitting near the communigraph were found to be smeared with red. Spirits attending these seances were supposed to bring a sweet aroma from the other world, but at one sitting a friend of mine grabbed in the darkness in the direction from which he heard a sound and seized a scent spray which he still possesses.” Before her death on January 16 Lady Caillard arranged a seance on January 18. The listeners included Viscount and Viscountess Molesworth, Mr Barbanell and a Red Indian Chief, Oske-Non-Ton. Mr Barbanell deciares' that Lady Caillard addressed everybody, by their Christian names. The voices were weak, but easily recognizable. When the lights were turned on the spirit hand had left behind a red tulip, a symbol of love from the other world.