Catherine Amy Dawson-Scott was born in Dulwich, England in 1865. Her father was a brick manufacturer. Her mother died when Catherine was 11 and her younger sister, seven. That is probably why she was pragmatic about death when she was young and uninterested in the possibility of an afterworld. Catherine’s father remarried when Catherine was twelve. After finishing school, Catherine began work as a secretary at the age of 18.

Catherine wrote while she worked as a secretary, publishing Charades for Home Acting in 1888, and “Sappho”, an epic poem, in 1889. Three years later, William Heinemann published a collection of her poetry, Idylls of Womanhood. Over her lifetime she wrote about 70 works, many under a pseudonym, Mrs. Sappho, and was founder of the International PEN, a writers’ association, in 1921.

Catherine married Dr. Horatio C.L. Scott when she was 33 and they moved to the Isle of Wight in 1901 where she gave birth to three children over their seven-year stay there. It was during this time that she began to develop psychic abilities. Once, while resting after a meal, she found that she could close her eyes and see a dark tunnel which she then explored, reaching an “unknown country.” Later, she found she could use the tunnel to travel to other rooms in her house. She saw and spoke to a dead friend.

After a woman she knew lost her husband, Catherine believed she could use her psychic powers to communicate with the dead to help others. Her grandfather’s cousin, Edmund Dawson Rogers, was a well-known Spiritualist, so communicating with the dead did not seem so unusual at the time. She formed a circle with her husband; George Dawson, a cousin; H.D. Lowry; and W.T. Stead. She would close her eyes and as words formed, she would write them down. He husband assisted by recording the messages.

Catherine’s spiritual experiences led to the publication of her 1926 book, From Four Who Are Dead: Messages to C. A. Dawson Scott. She founded “The Survival League,” with Desmond Shaw in 1929. The spiritualist organization attempted to unite all religions to study psychical research. She wrote that “Many members of my family had […] seen phantasms, and auras, had had prophetic dreams and so on.”

Catherine joined the International Institute for Psychical Research in 1934. The group met for tea and held seances. They discussed methods of investigation and individual cases.  The institute attracted scientists such as Julian Huxley and Ernest MacBride, but they became dissatisfied after a few months with the lack of scientific method and the spiritualist leanings of the institute. By that time, Catherine, who died in November of 1934, had passed on to the other side.

Additional Reading:

Mrs. Dawson Scott: Founder of Survival League Passes on. Psypioneer, Vol. 1 No. 17, Sept 2005

Watts, Marjorie (1987) Mrs Sappho: The Life of C.A. Dawson Scott, Mother of International P.E.N.. Duckwort, UK