Harris, Bertha (1900?-1981)

Bertha Harris, a leading British Spiritualist medium, was born in Chester, England, around the turn of the twentieth century. There is no record of her birth and the exact date is unknown. What is known is that as a child she experienced her initial spirit contacts and reported seeing auras as nice lights around people. Her brother's death in 1917 became traumatic for her; she claimed he appeared to her. Frantic, she found her way to a medium. In the accepting atmosphere, her own mediumship blossomed. About this time her father died, and she was forced to give up her plans for a career as a pianist. She left school and took a job as a bookkeeper.

Over the next years she continued to develop her mediumship. She also married Robert Harris, who also eventually developed mediumistic abilities. In 1923 she accepted the invitation of Ernest W. Oaten in Manchester and made her first trip outside of Chester to demonstrate her mediumship. Oaten assisted her on her stage presence, and the reports of her appearance led to numerous bookings across northern England. Oaten also introduced her to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and she toured with him. After Doyle died in 1930, she reported on his visits to her.

Through the 1930s, Harris made regular visits to London and received the valued diploma of the Spiritualist National Union, indicative of its acceptance of her psychic abilities. Just after World War II began, in 1940, she moved to London. Reportedly, a number of important people sought her advice during the war, including Charles deGaulle, King George of Greece, and Winston Churchill.

During the decades after the war, Harris emerged as one of the most prominent of London mediums. In 1949 she became a minister with the Spiritualist National Union and in 1953 was honored by her colleagues with an invitation to demonstrate her mediumship for the annual gatherings of the Marlybone Spiritualist Association (now the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain ) held in Albert Hall. In 1956 she took the lead in organizing the Union of Spiritualist Mediums (now the Institute of Spiritualist Mediums ), an organization for the training of young mediums. She made her first tour in North America in 1973.

Harris suffered a stroke in 1979 that hobbled her during her last years. She passed away on March 17, 1981, in London.

Sources:

Leonard, Maurice. Battling Bertha: The Story of Bertha Harris. Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1974.