Fanny Collier was born in Staffordshire, England in 1889, the eldest of eight children born to Thomas and Fanny Whitehouse Collier. According to the church’s history, she first attended Longton Spiritualist Church with her aunt when she was 14, in 1903. It was at this church that Fanny was given a message by well-known British Trance Medium, Annie Brittain.
Brittain told Fanny that she would have a future as a trance medium. During the reading, a spirit who also called herself Fanny spoke to Brittain. Since mother and daughter shared the same name, Fanny informed Brittain that her mother was still very much alive. Upon her return home, Fanny discovered her mother had died unexpectedly. She passed from a hemorrhage in the brain at the age of 41 in 1905. Annie Brittain’s message became a milestone in Spiritualism history, providing prophetic evidence that validated belief in life after death.
Fanny followed Brittain’s advice and pursued physical and trance mediumship. Another medium also told Fanny that she would have a son who would become a world-famous platform medium. Fanny married Arthur Higginson in 1910. They had three sons and a daughter. Her youngest son was Gordon Mons Higginson, born in 1918. Gordon first sat in a Spiritualist circle with his mother when he was only three years old. He began his career as a medium at age 12 and became famous throughout the world for his mediumship abilities. He credited his mother with helping him develop his skills.
Fanny was known to be strong, outspoken and determined. She served in the Longton Spiritualist Church as a trance medium, giving over one thousand private sittings over 70 years. People described her readings as “life changing.” One mining company even consulted her before digging test bores. She died in 1978, at the age of 89.
Additional Reading:
Longton Spiritualist Church History https://www.longtonspiritualistchurch.com/history
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The History of Spiritualism. New York: Charles H. Doran, 1926. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1975.
Twycross, Martin. “Gordon Higginson – Spiritualist Medium & Teacher”. Gordon Higginson Tribute Site
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