Guppy-Volckman, Agnes |
| PSYCHIC MEDIUM (ENGLAND) |
|
BORN 22 Oct 1838, Horncastle, Lincolnshire - DIED 9 Dec 1917, Brighton, East Sussex BIRTH NAME White, Agnes Elisabeth GRAVE LOCATION Teddington, Greater London: Teddington Cemetery, Shacklegate Lane (Section Cu, Grave 33) |
|
Agnes Guppy-Volckman was born as Agnes Elizabeth White. Her father was Charles Taylor White (d.1839). She became an orphan and she was known as Agnes Nicholl. She lived at the house of the sculptor William Grinsell Nicholl (1796-1871) and his wife. Statements that he was her grandfather and adopted her seem to be incorrect. Fanny Sims, the sister of Alfred Russel Wallace, thought she had special powers and she gave her first demonstration at the Wallace's home in 1866. On 10 December 1867 she married the wealthy spiritualist Samuel Guppy at St Luke's Church in Chelsea, London. She worked with the fraudulent spirit fotographer Frederick Hudson (1818-1900). On 3 June 1871 she was supposed to have levitated out of her house in Highbury to a séance room three miles away. Sceptics considered it a hoax, but Arthur Conan Doyle and other spiritualists believed it was real. The write Ronald Pearsall (1927-2005) described Agnes Guppy's fraudulent techniques. After Guppy's death in 1875 she married the confectioner William Volckmann. Volckmann died in 1913 and Agnes died in Brighton in 1917. They were buried in Teddington, Greater London. |
| Images |
 The grave of Agnes Guppy-Volckmann at Teddington Cemetery, Teddington, Greater London. Picture by Androom (11 Aug 2025) |
Sources • Chasing Down Emma: Assertions and Evidence: The Case of Elisabeth White • Burial registers search - London Borough of Richmond upon Thames |
