The Curious Tale Of The Cottingley Fairies, The Photo Hoax That Fooled The Creator Of Sherlock Holmes
Captured by two young girls in the early 20th century, the photos of the Cottingley Fairies appeared to show the girls posing in a garden with tiny, winged sprites.
Public DomainNine-year-old Frances Griffiths posing with the Cottingley Fairies.
Following the intense turmoil of conflicts like the U.S. Civil War and World War I, people were in search of miracles. The immense loss of life in both Europe and America led many to ponder deeply about life after death, spirituality, and the mystical realm — leading to the rise of the spiritualist movement.
In this era of yearning for the extraordinary, various infamous fake photos and supernatural tales captivated the world’s imagination. Among these, the Cottingley Fairies hoax stands out prominently.
It all began in 1917, when two young girls took a series of photos that appeared to show fairies in their English garden. This mischievous prank fooled photography experts, spiritualist leaders, and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famed creator of Sherlock Holmes.
This is the intriguing story of the Cottingley Fairies and how they intertwined with the spiritualist movement to achieve global fame.
The Cottingley Fairies Prank
In the summer of 1917, nine-year-old Frances Griffiths and her mother moved to Cottingley, England, to live with Frances’ 16-year-old cousin, Elsie Wright, and her family.
The Wrights resided in a charming wooded area near a garden stream called Cottingley Beck. Frances and Elsie quickly bonded and frequently explored the stream.
One day, their muddy return from the stream led to parental scolding. The girls countered by claiming they had been “to see the fairies,” according to BBC News.
Paul Glazzard/Wikimedia CommonsThe spot where Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths claimed to have seen the fairies.
As supposed proof, they took a camera to the stream and captured the first photo in the series now known as the “Cottingley Fairies.”
The Photos Spread Throughout England
When Elsie’s father, Arthur Wright, developed the film, he was skeptical of the photo showing young Frances with four fairies. Despite his doubts, the girls took more photos, including one of Elsie with a fairy.
Polly Wright, Elsie’s mother, was intrigued by the photos. An enthusiast of the spiritualist movement, she shared the images with local spiritualist groups.
In 1919, Polly introduced the photos at a meeting of the Theosophical Society in Bradford. The society’s leader, Edward Gardner, found the images fascinating.
To Gardner, these photos corroborated the group’s belief that profound metaphysical changes were underway and humanity was progressing towards a perfect form. He used the photos in his spiritualism lectures as “evidence” of the supernatural.
Gardner also consulted photography expert Harold Snelling. According to Paul Smith’s essay in The Good People: New Fairylore Essays, Snelling confirmed their authenticity, stating, “These are straightforward photographs of whatever was in front of the camera at the time.”
Public DomainElsie Wright with the “Cottingley Fairies.”
The photos quickly captivated all of England. By 1920, they caught the interest of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a noted spiritualist and the author of the Sherlock Holmes novels.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Fairies Photographed”
Upon hearing of the Cottingley Fairies, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle decided to include the photos in an article he was writing for The Strand magazine about fairies.
Initially skeptical, Conan Doyle consulted numerous experts. Dr. Merrick Burrow, Head of English and Creative Writing at the University of Huddersfield, noted that Conan Doyle believed that if the photos were genuine, they could revolutionize spiritualism.
In his December 1920 article, Conan Doyle stated that after thorough examination, a strong prima facie case for their authenticity had been established.
“The recognition of their existence will jolt the material twentieth-century mind out of its heavy ruts in the mud, and will make it admit that there is a glamour and a mystery to life,” Conan Doyle wrote. “Having discovered this, the world will not find it so difficult to accept that spiritual message supported by physical facts which has already been so convincingly put before it.”
The article’s success propelled the photos to international fame. In 1921, Elsie and Frances were given cameras to take more photos, completing the series with five images.
This family prank morphed into one of history’s most legendary photo hoaxes.
Public DomainElsie Wright playing with a winged gnome.
The Rise Of Spiritualism Across Western Europe And The United States
The Cottingley Fairies phenomenon can be partly understood through the spread of the modern spiritualism movement.
Born in the 1840s during America’s Second Great Awakening, the movement was driven by the conviction that life persisted after death, and the living could communicate with spirits.
Key figures in spiritualism included Emanuel Swedenborg, Andrew Jackson Davis, and the Fox sisters: Leah, Kate, and Maggie. The Fox sisters popularized spiritualism through seances where participants experienced knocks and noises allegedly made by spirits.
Lily Dale, a New York hamlet founded in 1879, remains the largest spiritualist community to date.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Fox sisters played a major role in popularizing spiritualism.
The late 19th century and early 20th century saw an upsurge in spiritualism, fueled by the tragedies of the U.S. Civil War and World War I, which left families yearning for contact with lost loved ones.
This cultural milieu gave rise to “spirit photography,” involving techniques like double exposure to create ghostly illusions.
Against this backdrop, the Cottingley Fairies captured public imagination.
The Legacy Of The Cottingley Fairies
Over time, people began to see the Cottingley Fairies for what they were: a hoax. In 1983, Frances Griffiths admitted that she and her cousin Elsie had staged the photos using paper cutouts and hatpins.
“I never thought of it as a fraud,” Griffiths told the BBC. “It was just Elsie and I having fun.”
They had copied images from Princess Mary’s Gift Book, a 1914 children’s book, added wings, and used hairpins to position the “fairies” for the photos.
Griffiths had no regrets, saying, “People wanted to believe. It was all in good fun.”
