Aliffe On RDS,Gurney,Blavatsky and Brighton

[Howard Brown]

I have recieved permission to review the article that Mr. Andy Aliffe compiled for the attendees at the recent Brighton Ripper Conference.I will try my damndest to transcribe it so all may read it here a.s.a.p.

Mr. Aliffe's article touches on the death of Edmund Gurney at the Royal Albion Hotel during June of 1888.

A few of the statements that Mr.Aliffe made within the fine article have captured my attention .

Hopefully by October 22nd, I will have a post ready regarding the story.

Many thanks to my special friend who sent me this article as well as some other Brighton memorabilia that were very nice gestures on that person's part.

[Howard Brown]

Well....the best laid plans of mice and men often go wrong.

I was not able to transcribe Andy's fine article on RDS as planned...yet. However,I do have some comments to make about it for other Donstonians....

Andy told me that he used the claim that Madame Blavatsky was possibly a friend and/or mentor of Stephenson from a recent book on Stephenson.

Blavatsky may not have even known Stephenson personally prior to Collins association with him in 1889.

Its impossible that RDS did not know of her....however,there is no evidence that she knew RDS. Where does that claim come from?

Andy's article,which discussed Gurney and the possible homosexual associations in his life who were also involved in what Martin Fido called the "opium of the bourgeoise", occultism and sham psychical junk, was touched upon. It looks like a suicide from what I gleaned.

Stephenson,if staying in Brighton for a rest cure,sure picked a good spot to do that....in the notorious meeting place of drinkers and prostitutes,The Cricketers Inn...

When Andy told me where he gleaned the Blavatsky-RDS connection, I knew whom that came from immediately. I then contacted Jeff Bloomfield about the excerpt in his essay on RDS and Gurney which appeared in that same book.

Jeff,ever the helpful and courteous man that he is, told me point blank that he had no source for that claim. It may be,in my opinion, that the fact that since the world of occultist goofballs was limited,it would seem likely that Blavatsky knew RDS. It isn't a stretch to assume that if you are writing an essay as Jeff did,with another purpose in mind. It wasn't of seminal importance to Jeff's overall theme.

We remember that when Cremers went to visit Collins in 1889,that Collins says she had corresponded with RDS while the latter was in hospital and now was caring for him.

To me,this indicates that RDS didn't know Blavatsky prior to meeting Collins.

It is impossible for RDS to NOT have known of Collins who was the right hand man of Blavatsky until their falling out later on,if he was as heavily involved with occultism as claimed. Collins met Blavatsky in November 1884. To not know Collins previously is to not know Blavatsky previously. They went hand in hand from 1884 until their split.

Furthermore,the mutual service to Garibaldi by Blavatsky and RDS do not coincide. They may have never met during each other's service to Giuseppe at all.

For RDS served 7 full years before Blavatsky did in 1860. The guru served in 1867.

It was a nice article which brought out some of the sources for assumptions on RDS to me.


Hats off to Mr. Aliffe.