Harry Price (17 January 1881 – 29 March 1948) was a British psychic researcher, author, and prominent public figure in the investigation of paranormal and psychical phenomena during the early and mid-20th century. He is best known for his investigation of the purportedly haunted Borley Rectory in Essex, England, which he dubbed "the most haunted house in England," as well as for exposing fraudulent spiritualist mediums.
Early Life and Education
Price was born in London at Red Lion Square, though he later claimed to have been born in Shropshire. He was the only son of Edward Ditcher Price, a travelling salesman for a paper manufacturing firm, and Emma Randall. He was educated at Waller Road Infants School, Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Boys' School in New Cross, and later at Goldsmiths College, where he studied chemistry, photography, and electrical and mechanical engineering.
Price developed an early interest in conjuring at age eight after witnessing a travelling medicine show. He joined the Magic Circle in 1922 and maintained a lifelong interest in stage magic and sleight-of-hand, which later informed his investigative methods.
Psychical Research Career
Price joined the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in 1920. His first major success came in 1922 when he exposed the fraudulent "spirit" photographer William Hope. Price secretly marked Hope's photographic plates, and when Hope produced images lacking those marks, it proved he had substituted prepared fraudulent plates.
In 1925, Price founded the National Laboratory of Psychical Research as a rival to the SPR, equipping it with scientific instruments such as electroscopes, barographs, and thermographs. In 1934, this was reconstituted as the University of London Council for Psychical Investigation, with Price as Honorary Secretary and editor.
Price investigated numerous mediums, including Rudi Schneider, Helen Duncan, Jan Guzyk, Maria Silbert, and Eileen J. Garrett. He was effective in exposing fraudulent practices, revealing mediums who used cheesecloth, rubber gloves, and cut-out magazine covers as fake "ectoplasm."
Notable Investigations
Borley Rectory: Price's most famous case. He investigated the Essex rectory from 1929 until its demolition in 1947, renting it for a year in 1937. He published two books on the subject: The Most Haunted House in England (1940) and The End of Borley Rectory (1946). After his death, three SPR researchers (Eric Dingwall, Kathleen Goldney, and Trevor Hall) published a critical study in 1956 concluding that Price had fraudulently produced some of the phenomena.
Helen Duncan: In 1931, Price examined the medium Helen Duncan and proved that her "ectoplasm" was made of cheesecloth she had swallowed and regurgitated. His evidence was later used in her 1944 fraud trial, for which she was convicted and jailed.
Gef the Talking Mongoose: In 1935, Price investigated claims of a talking mongoose on the Isle of Man, publishing The Haunting of Cashen's Gap (1936) with R.S. Lambert.
Rudi Schneider: Price initially endorsed the Austrian medium but later produced photographic evidence in 1932 that appeared to show Schneider freeing his arm during a séance to move objects fraudulently.
Fire-Walking: Price conducted televised experiments into fire-walking with Kuda Bux (1935) and Ahmed Hussain (1937).
Organizations and Legacy
Price re-established the Ghost Club in 1938, serving as its chairman and modernizing it from a spiritualist association to a group of open-minded sceptics. He was also involved in the formation of the National Film Library (British Film Institute), becoming its first chairman until 1941.
His collection of some 13,000 books and periodicals on psychical research, magic, and the occult was deposited with the University of London, becoming the Harry Price Library of Magical Literature at Senate House Library, where his archives are also held.
Criticism and Controversy
Price was a controversial figure. Biographer Trevor Hall (1978) was highly critical, accusing Price of dishonesty and fraud in several investigations. The stage magician and sceptic James Randi wrote that Price lived "a strange mixture of fact and fraud." Psychology professor Richard Wiseman praised Price's work in debunking fraudulent mediums, though noting his methods sometimes invited criticism. Price's exact date of birth and place of education were also subjects of misrepresentation in his own accounts.
Death
Price died of a heart attack at his home in Pulborough, West Sussex, on 29 March 1948. He was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's, Pulborough.
Selected Published Works
- Revelations of a Spirit Medium (1922, with Eric Dingwall)
- Cold Light on Spiritualistic "Phenomena" (1922)
- Stella C. (1925)
- Rudi Schneider (1930)
- Leaves from a Psychist's Case Book (1933)
- Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter (1936)
- The Haunting of Cashen's Gap (1936, with R.S. Lambert)
- Fifty Years of Psychical Research (1939)
- The Most Haunted House in England (1940)
- Search for Truth: My Life for Psychical Research (1942)
- Poltergeist Over England (1945)
- The End of Borley Rectory (1946)
