A certain cottage on the cliffs of Bournemouth remains strewn with wreckage following the Bishop's recent birthday bash. More than a week has passed, yet attendees (calling themselves "the wild bunch") still linger about the property in various states of inebriation. "One night we were keen to have a bonfire," recalled a party-goer, "so we lit the rubbish bin on fire and gathered round it to chant David Farrant's name." A jolly time was had by all, until "the bishop discovered someone had accidentally heaved his holy vestments into the fire, and he went mad. The poor sod began chasing us about the cottage with one of his antique swords. His wife had to hit him over the head with an iron skillet, after which it was noted that he calmed down considerably."
Monday, July 27, 2009
Bishop's Birthday Party Ends In Chaos
A certain cottage on the cliffs of Bournemouth remains strewn with wreckage following the Bishop's recent birthday bash. More than a week has passed, yet attendees (calling themselves "the wild bunch") still linger about the property in various states of inebriation. "One night we were keen to have a bonfire," recalled a party-goer, "so we lit the rubbish bin on fire and gathered round it to chant David Farrant's name." A jolly time was had by all, until "the bishop discovered someone had accidentally heaved his holy vestments into the fire, and he went mad. The poor sod began chasing us about the cottage with one of his antique swords. His wife had to hit him over the head with an iron skillet, after which it was noted that he calmed down considerably."
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Just out of interest this 'party house' in Bournemouth is tiny - that's if you could even callit a 'house'.
It is dwarfed by two magnificant houses either side of it, and people could well be forgiven by referring to it as a bungalow by such comparrison!
"Five bedrooms" . . . now who said that?! You'd be lucky to fit just two inside of it!
Oh sorry' I forgot! The bonky guy also owns other huge mansions in the English countryside - and we have all seen pictures to
'prove'.
Only thing is, he was just getting his wife to take some tourist shots of him standing (posing) outside. And he forgot to mention that these splendid were really in the opwnership of the National Trust!
'Bonkier and bonkier', I say!
David Farrant.
Re: when did the feud begin?
- "...(Bonky & I) did not share the same views and this became more apparent as the weeks progressed in 1970. Eventually this led to severe conflict in the Society’s work, and really the ‘feud’ started from there"
Define severe conflict. Was there a phone call, a letter, a conversation you can remember? An argument about who ran the "society"? Did you argue? Were solicitors involved? Messages sent? Paint me the picture.
First Cat, had another slight problem with my Google account, fixed again now. If you see "Anonymous" from me, that's why.
Yes, all what you say is correct. It was a combination of all those things - although the alleged phone call business did not occur until a year later in November 1971. That really escalated things still further. 'The Eggmanne' was involved in that as well.
Look Cat, they are fair points but I really must answer them tomorrow. No evasion intended but I really am rather tired having been writing and answering things all evening.
I WILL answer your points tomorrow. There was a huge dispute within the Society which started in1970 and which was covered by the English Press. Threatning phone calls were made a year later and Bonky got convicted of making them. He was bound over to keep the peace on the sum of &200 which was quite a lot of money then. Anyway, I'll give to the facts to all this tomorrow.
I just don't think I could at the moment. Even 'us witches' can get tired you know!
So till then,
David
PS I also need to sort out a couple of newspaper cuttings to quote from which are just not to hand as I write.
Yes, yes, we understand he wanted to call it a vampire and you wanted to call it a ghost. But our discerning readers here at The Cat's Miaow will only put up with so much cut and paste. They demand visual detail, dialogue excerpts, and subtle emotional context that propels the overall story arc to unexpected heights.
"It is dwarfed by two magnificant houses either side of it, and people could well be forgiven by referring to it as a bungalow by such comparrison," claims Farrant.
In actual fact, the house on one side is an exact replica in size and appearance and the one on the other side, which in the past was an Edwardian hotel but is now a private residence, is a little larger.
Bungalows, just to educate Farrant, are dwellings that have everything on the ground floor. They can be small or large. There are almost none in the immediate vicinity of the five-bedroom house in question which Farrant describes as "tiny."
Farrant's entire Muswell Hill home would fit in one of the medium size rooms at the house he erroneously describes as "tiny."
Farrant was never a member of the British Occult Society. This can be proven by extant records, many members from that period who are still living (Peter Underwood, for example) and the fact that when the bona fide president of the BOS appeared on television he was captioned as such. Farrant was not described in the press as holding membership in the BOS in 1970 which was a time when he did not claim any association. This is clearly demonstrated by the prison correspondence he wrote to the society's president in August 1970. There was no alleged "dispute covered by the English press in 1970" as now being claimed by Farrant who will be unable to produce evidence as it simply does not exist.
The Society was founded by myself in 1967, "Demonologist", though mention of it was not made in the Press until 1970.
But this still leaves the question, how could you possible be expected to know about events which took place some 42 years ago now?
You cannot even get fairly recent facts correct; let alone concerning facts of history that involved people you di not even know - that's if you were even born then!
David Farrant
The British Occult Society was originally formed as an umbrella organisation circa 1860. From June 1967 the BOS was presided over by Seán Manchester who placed emphasis on investigating the claims of the occult and the study and research of paranormal phenomena. Out of this sprang the Vampire Research Society, founded by the president of the British Occult Society who appeared on British television on 13 March 1970 in that role and was captioned as such. Farrant also appeared on the same programme as one of a number of witnesses to what was already being described as a vampire. Farrant made no claim of membership of even loose association with the British Occult Society.
At no time was Farrant ever a member of the British Occult Society. (See page 70 of Fortean Times magazine #252).
The Vampire Research Society is functioning as effectively today as ever it did in years past.
In 1990 it was decided by the Executive Committee that membership of the Vampire Research Society should only be available by invitation, usually upon the recommendation of an existing member who has a proven track record. It had never been a subscription club of any sort prior to this, and the majority of those applying at the close of the Eighties were patently unsuitable. Moreover, the "invitation only" rule was introduced due to a clear compromise to the society's security by the media and certain others with, to quote Seán Manchester, "motives hidden in the darkness of the absurd."
The Vampire Research Society actually originated in 1967 as a specialist unit within the British Occult Society (an organisation for paranormal and occult investigation). Seán Manchester was responsible for the vampire research unit becoming a self-governing body on 2 February 1970 by which time he had already initiated, as president of the British Occult Society, a full-time investigation into the Highgate Vampire case. It would last thirteen years.
The first published account of the case (including initial discovery of the suspect tomb and a spoken exorcism) was given in "The Vampire’s Bedside Companion" (Leslie Frewin, 1975; Coronet Books, 1976). The first complete account was published in the best-selling "The Highgate Vampire" (British Occult Society, 1985; Gothic Press, 1991). The current Gothic Press edition is completely revised, enlarged and updated with new illustrations. Final comment on the Highgate case in print appeared in "The Vampire Hunter’s Handbook" (Gothic Press, 1997) while "Carmel ~ A Vampire Tale" (Gothic Press, 2000) draws on real experience which is based on the mysterious happenings in and around Highgate Cemetery. These works contain photographs and graphics from the Vampire Research Society's case files.
The purpose of the Vampire Research Society is implicit in its name. Several projects are currently underway with an ever increasing public and media interest in its work.
http://www.gothicpress.freeserve.co.uk/Bookshop.htm
The British Occult did not exist or originate 'in 1860'. What sheer and utter fantasy. I should know. I founded the BOS in 1967 and "Demonologist" certainly had nothing to do with it.
Other people made false claims to the presidency (mostly for the puposes of publicity seeking) which is how this whole dispute began.
In 1983, I changed the name of the Society to the British Psychic and Occult Society in an attempt to avoid all these erroneous statements and claims.
One particularly 'bonky person' was expelled from the BOS in 1970:Mainly for using the Society's name in connection with amateurish and insane 'vampire beliefs'.
There were other reasons for this person's expulsion as well; not least not least that he began canvassingfor the national Front Party in May/June 1970 and had the Siociety's name on a NF election sticker. This person was never 'president' of the Society - I was. He was a 'fringe member' at one time who was helping with the Highgate ghost investigation, that's all.
David Farrant, President, British Psychic and Occult Society.
Farrant cannot produce one single scrap of evidence to substantiate what he is claiming. Everything he is saying is lies from start to finish.
In 1967 he was with Mary Olden in Bordeaux, France. They returned to England later that year and she became Mrs Farrant. Mary Farrant stated under oath that her husband had nothing to do with the occult or investigating the hidden world.
“The wife of self-styled occult priest David Farrant told yesterday of giggles in the graveyard when the pubs had closed. ‘We would go in, frighten ourselves to death and come out again,’ she told an Old Bailey jury. Attractive Mary Farrant — she is separated from her husband and lives in Southampton — said they had often gone to London’s Highgate Cemetery with friends ‘for a bit of a laugh.’ But they never caused any damage. ‘It was just a silly sort of thing that you do after the pubs shut,’ she said. Mrs Farrant added that her husband’s friends who joined in the late night jaunts were not involved in witchcraft or the occult. She had been called as a defence witness by her 28-year-old husband.” (The Sun, 21 June 1974)
After discovering Seán Manchester through the television programmes of 1970 where Seán Manchester was captioned “President, British Occult Society,” Farrant slowly began to fraudulently adopt this nomenclature as his own. Later he described himself as being not just the “President” but also the “Founder” of the BOS, all of which was denied by the BOS, needless to say, who were quick to point out that their Society was founded circa 1860. When Farrant appeared at the Old Bailey in 1974, he still described himself this way. Hence court proceedings were quoted with the prefix “self-styled” by newspaper editors and media journalists. In 1983, however, Farrant decided to amend the usurped name to “British Psychic and Occult Society.” He had spoken to the press about his “thousands of followers” (Hornsey Journal, 23 November 1979), and even went so far as to claim a number as high as 20,000 (Finchley Press, 22 February 1980). The bona fide BOS president was quoted in the same Finchley Press report: “On Monday, Seán Manchester, president of the British Occult Society, disclaimed any connection between Mr Farrant and the society. … [Seán] Manchester believes that Mr Farrant’s activities — including the libel action [which Farrant lost] — have been publicity-seeking.” This was Seán Manchester's assessment ten years earlier when he first made the acquaintance of Farrant who had written to a local newspaper, the Hampstead & Highgate Express, with his “Some nights I walk past the gates of Highgate Cemetery” letter, published on 6 February 1970. Farrant’s letter concluded with the frank admission: “I have no knowledge in this field and I would be interested to hear if any other readers have seen anything of this nature.”
Farrant's fraudulent claim that he was somehow part of a serious investigation into the supernatural goings on at Highgate Cemetery are exposed to the light of day when anyone who actually knew him at the time is heard.
Deme, please post on my blog. If you don't, I'm going to call you a coward.
BTW- Why is Manchester attending vampire raves?
"Farrant cannot produce one single scrap of evidence to substantiate what he is claiming. Everything he is saying is lies from start to finish."
Really "Demomologist"? Lets look at some of your 'facts' then.
Firstly, I was not in Bordeaux in early 1967, I was in Spain. I already had an occult group which I left behind when I left England in September 1966. I returned to England in MARCH 1967.
Secondly, YOU cannot produce one shread of evidence that that Bonky person had had any connection with the society before those fraudulant claims he made on the television programmes.
Perhaps you would care to read the first paragraph of a repoprt in the North London Press Series which was published one week BEFORE the BBC programme.
"It was headlined . . .
"TRACKING DOWN A ZOMBIE IN HIGHGATE CEMETERY" and sub-headlined , , ,
"There has definitely been black magic".
It reads ;
"A nightly vigil is being kept by members of the British Occult Society to track down Black Magic ceremonies and also observe as evil spirit which "floats" about in human form, Mr David Farrant, a committee member of the society, said this week."
[North London Press, October 9th1970]
So get your facts right "Demonologist" as you are really just making a fool of yourself!
David Farrant
"Firstly, I was not in Bordeaux in early 1967, I was in Spain. I already had an occult group which I left behind when I left England in September 1966. I returned to England in MARCH 1967," says Farrant.
Wherever Farrant was (and he was in both France and Spain in 1967), he was not in England until he came home to marry Mary Olden in a Roman Catholic Church. There was no "occult group" belonging to Farrant and everyone who knew him during the Sixties, including Mary Farrant, will absolutely confirm this to be the case. By claiming he returned home to England in March 1967 Farrant is contradicting his claim earlier this year when he stated that he returned home in July 1967.
"Secondly, YOU cannot produce one shread of evidence that that Bonky person had had any connection with the society before those fraudulant claims he made on the television programmes," claims Farrant.
The evidence comes in the form of extant ex-members of the dissolved British Occult Society, some of whom are pre-eminent in their own right. But let's reverse what Farrant is saying. Can Farrant produce any evidence? Can Farrant produce one member of his so-called "society" from 1970 or earlier who is willing to be identified. No he cannot!
"Perhaps you would care to read the first paragraph of a repoprt in the North London Press Series which was published one week BEFORE the BBC programme," asks Farrant.
We don't, of course, have the benefit of viewing the cutting itself, but let's take Farrant's statement at face value. He is apparently self-described as "a committee member of the society." He had obviously not yet evolved his fraudulent claim into "president" and "founder" of the society. That would come later, as would, bizarrely, "high priest." This effort is merely something written by Farrant and submitted to the editor of a small local newspaper for publication. If accurately quoted, it is certainly the very first claim made in print by Farrant of membership preceded by Seán Manchester being described as "president of the British Occult Society" on the front page of the Hampstead & Highgate Express, 27 February 1970, under the headline "Does A Wampyr Walk In Highgate?" That is eight months before Farrant first attempted his interloping in print. I am absolutely confident that the North London Press article would have been quickly followed by a rebuttal statement from the British Occult Society in that local newspaper's next issue, refuting Farrant's phoney association with them.
These are the facts and they are spot on. Farrant calls me a fool for calling him to account when he is the fool if he believes for one minute that anyone buys his charlatanry.
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