The Spiritualist movement came to Britain in 1853 with the visit of two American mediums, Mrs. W R Hayden and Mrs. Roberts. It was after this introduction to the world of spirit that Britain then began to produce its own remarkable mediums the most famous characters being D. D. Home, Mrs. Guppy and Katy King. Spiritualism gradually gained a huge following with some great notables amongst the believers including Queen Victoria, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and, later, Sir Winston Churchill.

The first Spiritualist church in England was opened in Keighley, Yorkshire, and two years later the first Spiritualist newspaper in Britain, the Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph was published. During the nineteenth century the movement gained disrepute through the work of fraudulent mediums whom extracted money from unsuspecting clients by faking trances and creating false ‘happenings’ during séances.

     Spiritualist meetings became commonplace throughout the north of England and a like-minded group of people began to meet in York. As I was to find out, my own Great-Grandfather, William Smith, was a very well respected Spiritualist Medium in the late 19th Century and held his meetings in the City.

     I am often asked about how I came to be a Medium. Looking back over my life it now seems obvious to me that I was different to other children. When I was very young I seemed to be overly sensitive and had a perspective of the world that was at odds with that of many of my peers. By the time I reached my teens I had already had many experiences of spirit and spirit activity and I was hearing voices, having premonitions, seeing auras and having ghostly encounters. However, I was also confused and anxious. “Was I mad?” “Was I imagining it all?” “Were these experiences real?” At that time in my life I did not understand why this was all happening to me and, worse still, I had no-one to talk to about my experiences. One day I was sitting talking to my maternal Grandmother and she began reminiscing about her life in the City of York during the latter 19th and early 20th Century when she was a young and newly married. Granny was chatting about her life in general and about her Father-In-Law (my Great-Grandfather William Smith) in particular. Born in the early 1850’s William was, apparently, a man of striking looks being a good few inches taller than 6ft with, in his later years, a long, white beard that made him look like Santa Claus! To keep his typically large Victorian family of thirteen children William had a variety of jobs including Hawker, Brick Burner and Policeman. Most interesting to me, however, were Granny’s stories of how she used to go into town to listen to her Father-In-Law preaching and giving demonstrations of Clairvoyance and Mediumship.

     I went to my first Spiritualist Church Service in October 1971 and felt at home immediately. It was when I began to talk to the church members about my spiritual encouters that I realised that they did not consider any of my experiences to be weird or worrying – in fact they thought is was all quite natural. I began to read and learn about the philosophy of the movement and, a couple of years later, sat in my first development circle - and so began my professional life as a Clairvoyant/Medium. I have worked hard for spirit over my life-time and have served many churches whilst continuing my private work such as private readings and psychic training (see other pages on this website for details). I still attend church most weeks either away as a visiting medium or as part of the congregation in my local church.

     Now people come to me to learn how to protect themselves from psychic intrusion, to help them analyse their dreams, for psychic counselling, for private readings and for psychic development.

      "I am always interested in hearing from people, wherever they live, who believe that they have experienced paranormal activity; who have examples of sightings of ghosts, angels or faeries; stories of poltergeist activity or hauntings; or of premonitions and strange happenings".

Patricia Sadler C.Ed, FMANAF