Higginson, Gordon (1918-1993)
Higginson, Gordon (1918-1993)
President of the Spiritualists' National Union (SNU) in Britain for 23 years and one of the country's leading mediums. In Spiritualist circles he was popularly known as "Mr. Mediumship."
Higginson first sat in a Spiritualist circle with his mother at age 3. He manifested mediumship at age 12. His mother, Fanny Higginson, demonstrated clairvoyant mediumship for some seventy years. At age 14, she had been told by the trance medium Annie Brittain that she would become a medium, that she would bear a son, and that mother and son would span two lifetimes in the service of the Spiritualist Church. Gordon Higginson took his first Spiritualist service at age 14 in Nantwich, Cheshire.
During World War II he served as a lance corporal and took part in the Dunkirk landings. Although at that time the British army did not recognize Spiritualism as a religion, Higginson fought for such recognition.
He became president of the SNU in 1970 and came to be its longest-serving president, holding that office for more than 23 years. He was a tireless worker in the cause to "put the spirit back into Spiritualism."
Higginson died in January 1993 at age 74. His place as president of the SNU was filled by Eric Hatton.