Minnie Harrison was born in 1895 in England, one of eleven children who were all said to possess mediumistic abilities. When she was a teen, she was already adept at clairvoyance and clairaudience.

Minnie and her older sister, Agnes Abbott, became successful mediums. Agnes was influential in convincing Arthur Findlay that his mother had passed on to the spirit world in 1936. It was that experience that led him to bequeath Stansted Hall to the Spiritualist National Union.

Agnes passed on to the spirit world in 1942. Minnie, her son, Tom, his wife, and others formed a home circle in 1946 that they called the Saturday Night Club in Middlesbrough. The circle was held in total darkness with Minnie sitting in a cabinet. They had no plans to experience physical manifestations, but Sunrise, the spirit who spoke through Minnie, informed them that if they used a trumpet, they would experience such phenomena.

Tom recorded all the events that took place in the circle. Over the next seven years more than 1,500 spirit people visited them.

Sunrise would communicate with direct voice from the cabinet. Other voices spoke through the trumpet while the participants sat in total darkness. By November 1946, they began to use subdued red light and witnessed the materialization of hands. A month later, fully materialized spirits were joining the circle. In December of that year, Agnes Abbott appeared.

Tom wrote, “She stood in the centre of the Circle, leaned towards me and held my hand.” She handed Tom four carnations, one of which he kept. Agnes and a Mrs. Lumsden would remain in the circle for up to fifteen minutes at a time. In February 1948, a photograph was taken of Agnes which showed her standing beside Minnie’s husband (see photo above).

At Sunrise’s instruction, the cabinet was replaced by a piece of blackout curtain hanging across the corner of the room.  Members of the circle were able to witness bright flashes of light coming from behind the curtain through a gap between the curtain top and ceiling.

Materializations improved. Minnie’s seances produced many apports, including hundreds of flowers, a badge with the image of Andrew Jackson Davis, a button from the Royal Artillery uniform, and a red cloth British Legion poppy. In January 1954, an apported bell was left on the floor. Circle members also witnessed direct writing and lights.

Minnie was eventually able to produce ectoplasm and a photograph was taken during one seance. Tom wrote, “I must admit that when my mother first saw this photograph she was rather taken aback and somewhat queasy to think that this was happening to her whilst she was ‘asleep.’ But it did not deter her from sitting for many years to come – thus giving so much joy and pleasure to so many people, both here and in the Spirit World.”

Healing also occurred in the circle. Minnie had survived cancer in the early 1940s but lost full use of her left arm. During the seances, healing occurred in the arm. In 1958, despite the spirit healing and several operations, Minnie died.

Additional reading:
Harrison, Tom (1989) Visits By Our Friends From The “Other Side” (Swanland: SNPP, 1989), p.6.

Harrison, Tom (2008) Life After Death, 2^nd ed. Saturday Night Press Publications, UK

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