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COTTINGLEY FAIRIES

In 1916/17 Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright, two young girls living in Cottingley, produced the most famous fairy pictures in Britain which are still talked about today.

The first photograph was taken in July 1917 and showed Frances with the fairies.

Frances and Elsie had been teased about their story of seeing fairies near Cottingley Beck. Elsie borrowed her father's quarter plate camera ,which he set to 1/50s at f/11 for her, and after some rudimentary instruction on how to operate it, she went off with Frances into the area where the beck ran among the trees behind the family home. An hour later they returned triumphant.

When Mr. Arthur Wright (one of the earliest qualified electrical engineers), and Elsie went into the dark room that evening to develop the plate, there were the fairies. Arthur asked what those bits of paper were doing on the picture?

The second photograph of the gnome resulted in the girls being banned from borrowing the camera again. The photographs were put away by Mr. Wright in a drawer as he considered them to be pranks. (Mrs. Wright was convinced of their authenticity.)

In 1918 Frances wrote to her friend Johanna Parvin in South Africa and enclosed a copy of the photograph. On the back of the photo she had written 'Elsie and I are friendly with the beck fairies. Funny, I never used to see them in Africa. It must be too hot for them there. The letter from Frances ran thus: '. . . all think the war will be over in a few days, we are going to get our flags to hang up in our bedroom. I am sending you two photos, both of me, one is me in a bathing costume in our back yard, uncle Arthur took that, while the other is me with some fairies up the beck, Elsie took that one. Rosebud is as fat as ever and I have made her some new clothes. How are Teddy and dolly?' In her letter to Johanna, Frances was more interested in talking about the war and her dolls and the photo with the fairies was given but scant and matter of fact reporting. As if seeing fairies was to her an every day occurrence of little importance.

Three years later Mrs Wright went to a folklore lecture in Bradford with a friend. This lecture included references to fairies and following the lecture in conversation with her friend mentioned the fairy pictures. They were overheard by a friend of Edward Gardner, a leading theosophist, and Edward asked to see them.

Fred Barlow, a leading authority on psychic photography, commented to Gardner in June 1920 - 'I am inclined to think, in the absence of more detailed particulars, that the photograph showing the four dancing fairies is not what it is claimed to be....' and in December 1920 - 'I am returning herewith the three fairy photographs you very kindly loaned to me, and have no hesitation in announcing them as the most wonderful and interesting results I have ever seen.'

Gardner sought a photographer who had the ability to examine the photographs fully and so it was that Harold Snelling came to his notice. He was informed that 'What Snelling doesn't know about faked photographs isn't worth knowing.' Snelling's considered judgement, in his letter to Edward Gardner of July 31 1920, was 'These two negatives are entirely genuine unfaked photographs of single exposure, open-air work, show movement in all the fairy figures, and there is no trace whatever of studio work involving card or paper models, dark backgrounds, painted figures, etc. In my opinion, they are both straight untouched pictures.'

Mr. Gardner asked Snelling to make contact positives and two lantern slides of the photographs. These lantern slides were shown by him at a lantern lecture at Mortimer Halls, London. Through this the photographs came to the notice of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Edward Gardner then travelled to Cottingley and spoke to Mrs. Wright and Elsie, who answered his questions willingly and candidly. He spoke separately to Mr. Wright later the same day and found him to be of forthright speech and character and having a cheerful disposition. Mr Wright told Mr. Gardner that he had been so convinced at the time that the figures must be made of paper or something like paper, that while the children were out he searched their bedroom for some sign and he also searched the glen and waterfall. But in neither the house nor the glen did he find anything. Mr. Wright agreed to the Strand publication as long as proper names were not used. Sir Arthur had wished to make some monetary payment for this but Mr. Wright very firmly declined, saying that if the photographs were genuine they shouldn't be soiled by being paid for!

In 1920 The Strand magazine published an article entitled ";An Epoch Making Event - Fairies Photographed";, (the publication sold out within days), and so began a controversy which raged on the the following sixty-three years.

The articles in The Strand:
The Absolute Proof. November 1920, Vol. 60, pp. 439 - 445.
December 1920, Vol. 60, pp. 463 - 468. Doyle's acceptance and publication of pictures showing young girls photographed with fairies caused a sensation and great controversy.
March 1921, Vol. 61, pp. 199 - 206. More pictures attempting to prove the genuineness of fairies.- Fairies Photographed. The Cottingley Fairies.
February 1923, Vol. 65, p. 105- The Evidence for Fairies.

In 1921 Conan Doyle arranged for Geoffrey Hodson, a medium, to come to Cottingley, sit with the girls, in the hope that even stronger shapes would materialize. In August 1921 Mr Hodson reported seeing wood elves under some beech trees as well as dancing fairies in the field. These incidents are reported in his book 'Fairies at Work and Play'. He also states in his book 'I am personally convinced of the bona fides of the two girls who took these photographs. I spent some weeks with them and their family, and became assured of the genuineness of their clairvoyance, of the presence of fairies, exactly like those photographed, in the glen at Cottingly(sic), and of the complete honesty of all parties concerned.'

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame, was entirely convinced by the photographs and to demonstrate his unshakeable belief in the spirit world, he published The Coming of the Fairies in 1922. It recounted the story of the photographs, their supposed provenance, and the implications of their existence.

Frances moved to Scarborough in the 1920's and Elsie worked at several jobs mainly with an artistic background.
Elsie eventually emigrated to the USA where she met her husband Frank Hill. They moved to India and lived there until 1949. They then settled back in England in the Midlands with their son and daughter.

Frances married a soldier in 1928 - Sydney Way - and after many postings overseas finally settled in Ramsgate.

Over the years Elsie stated constantly that, although the fairies were wonderful, she needed to try to forget all about them. She said that down the years she got fed up of talking about them.

Elsie and Frances remained tight-lipped until 17th February 1983 when Elsie admitted in a letter of confession that the photographs were a hoax, claiming that they had drawn the fairies, cut them out and fastened them to the ground with hatpins. So that was that!

Or was it? The mystery still lives on with many people still believing that the Cottingley fairies existed. Frances maintained in her last television appearance in 1986 that 'there were fairies at Cottingley'.

Elsie died in April 1988 and Frances died in July 1986. They gave us a story that has stood the test of time and has done no harm to anyone. It may be that the real hoax was 'the confession', made in the hope that they could spare their families from the press, and that somewhere in the spirit world they are both having the 'last' laugh.

Even today these photographs continue to mystify and fascinate the world. All this with the first photograph that a young girl took.

In 1990 Joe Cooper's book ";The Case of the Cottingley Fairies"; was published. He investigated the whole story and Colin Wilson in the foreword to the book states that it is ";as near as we shall ever come to the complex truth behind the case of the Cottingley Fairies";.

A Warner Bros Film ";Fairy Tale - A True Story"; held its British premiere in Bradford in 1998 which tells the story of Frances and Elsie.

Frances was born 1907 and following the fairy affair returned to South Africa. She always maintained that at least one of the photos was not fake. She died in 1986.
Elsie was born 1900. Due to hounding by the English press following the fairy story, she went to America, married and eventually returned to Britain. She died in 1988 at the age of 88.

• In 1972 Stewart Sanderson of Leeds University persuaded Leslie Gardner (son of E. L. Gardner) to donate Cottingley Fairy correspondence and the five glass plates of the fairies to the Brotherton Collection at Leeds University, where they are still housed. (1972 was 50 years after the first publication of the fairies photos). It is understood that E. L. Gardner persuaded the Wright family to sign over copyright of the photos to him when he took away the original plates.

• In 1998 Geoffrey Crawley's collection of Cottingley Fairy Photographs, two of the cameras used by the girls, 3 sketches by Elsie of Cottingley Fairies, a letter from Elsie to Geoffrey Crawley (1988) and a book 'The Coming of the Fairies' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1st Edition 1922) were purchased by public subscription and are held at the National Media Museum at Bradford. These are all available to be viewed and there are frequent gallery talks about them. The cameras etc and a reproduction of one of the photographs are on display in their Kodak Gallery on the history of popular photography. The photographs themselves are housed in Insight - their Collections and Research Centre and anyone who wishes to is welcome to make an appointment to go and see them. This can be done via their website: (www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/Collections/Insight.asp) or by getting in touch in person. Copies of these photographs held at SSPL are subject to reproductive copyright

• July 16th 1998 Frances' collection of a boxed set of 37 glass slides of the fairy pictures, together with a signed first edition of Conan Doyle's book "The Coming of the Fairies", were auctioned by Sothebys and were purchased by a London bookseller for £21,620. Both lots were sold on to private buyers in America. (See Reference 1 and Reference 2 )

• In 2001, An 84-year old photographic archive relating to the celebrated Cottingley Fairies hoax fetched £6,000 at auction. The collection of glass plates and other negatives, was bought by an unnamed buyer at the Bonhams & Brooks auction in London's Knightsbridge. The archive consisted of master copies of the original photographs along with a three-page commentary by Gardner, who commissioned photography experts to prove that the pictures were not faked. It included previously unpublished pictures of Elsie and Frances holding hands and posing with Arthur and Polly Wright. Gardner had passed this collection on to the British Theosophical Society, from where they were handed down to a series of owners until their present owner (reportedly Hodson) put them up for sale.

• The only known surviving contact print from the original Arthur Wright negative (unfortunately very frail and not in very good condition) is owned by J. Mawson.

• Original copies of the photographs were on sale in the late 1990's at a photography gallery in Massachusetts. They were reputed to come from Edward Gardner's collection. The copy mentioned is mounted on a heavy/stiff brown paper with set type stating "D. Fairy offering flowers to Iris. Copyright. Photograph taken August 1920." The measurements are : Mount: 20.5cm high x 15.3 cm wide. Image: 15.5 high x 11.5 wide.
  I am grateful to John L Rossetti for this information

• Photo on heavy brown paper with set type stating B. IRIS AND THE GNOME Copyright. Photo taken 1917. This photo in A Reed's posession. Mount is 19.1 cm high and 14 cm wide. Photo is 15.5 cm high and 11 cm wide. The original owner of this photo was a personal friend of E.L.Gardner

• Other copies which were given to friends by Elsie and Frances remain in private ownership. It is not known how many of these still exist. (I am aware of 3) If you know of any more please email
  
  

The Arthur Conan Doyle Society - An alternative view of the episode of Cottingley Faries by Barbara Roden

James Randi's page giving transcripts of letters at the time

The fairies return - Telegraph & Argus 14/8/2004

Next Stop Fairyland - BBC Spring 2005

"Cottingley Fairies Are Real Shock! - Yorkshire Browser Issue 1 - 2001

If you would like to know what else the press has had to report about the fairies etc.,over the later years you can access the press cuttings page

Cameras on display at Cottingley Town Hall Heritage Day




Frances' grave in Scholemoor Cemetery
photo courtesy M. Atack

Top of page

Watercolour painting by Elsie
to demonstrate her drawing and painting skills to E L Gardner
Courtesy CTH

Click on Watercolours to see recent paintings "Where Fairytales Begin" Courtesy of Mrs. V. Youell. and
"The Cottingley Fairies" by Terry Saglibene of New York.