Jack Webber

Jack Webber (1907-40) was an ex-miner from Loughor, Swansea, who became a renowned medium. Demonstrations of his amazing ‘gift’ became well-known in Spiritualist circles throughout the 1930s. During his séances objects (particularly trumpets) were levitated and spirits of the dead conjured up. Sometimes ‘astral heads’ were manifested. On other occasions electrical appliances went a bit faulty in his presence. Sceptical journalists would regularly turn up at his Spiritualist events ready to expose his fraudulent activities but none ever succeeded in doing so. In fact they often went away credulous. There are several startling photographs of Jack Webber circulating on the internet. In the above picture you can see ectoplasm seeping from his mouth during one of his intense deep trance sessions. To my untrained eye it merely looks like he has a piece of diaphanous material clamped between his teeth. But what do I know about the paranormal?

If you want to discover more about the intriguing Swansea Spiritualist you need to get hold of The Mediumship of Jack Webber (1940) by Harry Edwards. Also check out this interesting website.