Gilbert, Mostyn (d. 1992)

Noted psychical researcher and active member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Although born in the United States, he lived and worked in Britain. Gilbert had special interests in table turning, mediumship, materialization, electronic voice phenomena, and the history of nineteenth-century Spiritualism. He became secretary of the Survival Joint Research Committee (SJRC) of the SPR in 1963 and prepared its quarterly agenda and minutes of meetings. The SJRC, now a trust, was concerned with investigating evidence for survival after death, and Gilbert was actively involved in its formation, together with such Spiritualists friends as Maurice Barbanell (former editor of the newspaper Psychic News ). The committee brought together Spiritualists and scientists.

Gilbert was a friend of Eric J. Dingwall and helped him prepare his book The Critic's Dilemma (1966), dealing with the research of Sir William Crookes, a subject on which Gilbert also made contributions to the Journal of the SPR (in volumes 41-44). He did valuable work in editing the society's Combined Index, part IV (1973), and also cataloged the collection of the Britten Memorial Library in Manchester prior to its transfer to the Spiritualists' National Union headquarters at Stansted.

Gilbert did not hesitate to criticize what he considered shortcomings in council proceedings, but many members believed that his comments were a valuable stimulus. He was extremely helpful for several years in the organization of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP).