Gordon Higginson passed to the spirit world 26 years ago today on the 18th January 1993. The following memoir was written by Jean Bassett and circulated to SNU members shortly after his passing. Jean wrote Gordon’s biography ‘On the Side of Angels‘ which was published just a few days after his passing. In this memoir, she summarises his life and achievements.
GORDON HIGGINSON MEMOIR – BY JEAN BASSETT
Gordon Higginson was a great man! He gave the best part of his life to the Spiritualists National Union. Born on 11th November 1918, he took his first service in Longton Spiritualist Church when he was only 12 years-old, and he had just returned from taking the Sunday service in Blackpool when he passed into spirit on Monday 18th January 1993, aged 74.
His birth and destiny were predicted to his mother, Fanny Higginson, by a medium, Annie Brittain, at Longton Church when she was only 14 years old. The message was said to have come from her mother, whom the medium described: the description fitted but Fanny had only just left her mother, alive!
Returning home, Fanny found that her mother had died just after she had left the house. All that Annie Brittain predicted that afternoon came true. This was not the only time that seemingly impossible spirit advice and intervention played a [art in Gordon Higginson’s life.
He became the President of Longton Church when he was 26 and remained its President throughout his life; he was ordained a Minister of the Spiritualists’ National Union in 1956 and was appointed the Principal of the Arthur Findlay College in 1977. His first role in administration was as the National Class B Representative, then in 1969 he was elected the Vice-President of the Union and since 1970 had been annually elected the leader and President of the SNU. In Spiritualism he was the most acclaimed medium of this century.
As President he tackled the severe financial problems of the Union by organising a series of publicity meetings and by personally securing interest-free loans from many of the affiliated churches. Without his hard work and energy, the Union might well have been forced into liquidation.
It was due to his mother’s rigorous training that Gordon developed a link with the spirit world, which was so accurate that he was known to the papers in the Potteries, where he lived and worked as the ‘Boy Wonder’. He was an immediate success when he started working in London after the war: his style was different and the evidence which he gave was considered to be outstanding.
He was the first medium to be invited to work in Europe after the war. Although he had never used interpreters before, he found no difficulties in adapting his style and no difficulty in giving many foreign names and addresses. He worked with all the best mediums in this country and in many of the largest halls, including four Remembrance Day Services at the Albert Hall.
From the time Gordon was sixteen he had been facing audiences of a thousand or more. When he came out; of the Forces and started working in London, his fame spread rapidly and he was asked to work in Scotland and Wales, as well as the length and breadth of England. He was particularly well-known for his ability to give full names and addresses, descriptions of localities and even the names of shops in these localities, telephone numbers, identity card numbers , house numbers and car numbers.
There were many times during these years when Gordon faced controversy and was tempted to give up; however, he was given encouragement to continue through the support; of the members of the SNU, districts and churches, and also from one of the most respected ‘guides’ in Spiritualism, Silver Birch.
Gordon devoted his life to the promotion of Spiritualism in Britain and the preservation of the Arthur Findlay College of Psychic Studies at Stansted in Essex. It was largely due to his vision and determination that this building has been retained for the use of Spiritualists and the promotion of Spiritualism.
Gordon Higginson is considered to have been one of the finest mediums of this century. He was not just one of the best exponents of clairvoyance in this country, but he also spent much time and effort teaching the young mediums of tomorrow, seeing in them our future. He always said that he wanted to die while still working actively for the promotion of Spiritualism: whenever possible he returned home after a meeting. On Monday 18th January, he achieved both.
Truly a giant of a man, he will not be forgotten. The organisation to which he gave so much of his life will honour him by continuing its work in strength and harmony.
Source: SNU Circular