Author: Fred Gettings

Another suggestion is putting an appeal in a parish newsletter or magazine.

But...
I'd suggest that given the nature of his tragic death, his family might not wish to have that wound re-opened. Please tread carefully.
I think the best thing to do, other than his will, is to try and identify his wife's solicitor (he's mentioned but not named in the article). He will almost certainly know what happened to the estate.
 
Frideswide said:
yup! I recognise this boat we are both in :D

it's no problem to do this.
Click to expand...
I see from your profile that you’re from “An Eochair” . . . and I have to confess I’m not sure what this means (I presume it is Irish?)

I come from Naarm, the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung (although I’m not indigenous)
 
DrPaulLee said:
Another suggestion is putting an appeal in a parish newsletter or magazine.

But...
I'd suggest that given the nature of his tragic death, his family might not wish to have that wound re-opened. Please tread carefully.
I think the best thing to do, other than his will, is to try and identify his wife's solicitor (he's mentioned but not named in the article). He will almost certainly know what happened to the estate absolutely will tread carefully
Click to expand...
Parish newsletter is another good suggestion

And just to reassure you I absolutely will be sensitive in any enquiries I make

I’m not sure if I mentioned in a previous post but I’m an oncology nurse in my day job, which means a fair bit of talking to believed and traumatised people, and I won’t be insensitive in any enquiries that I make
 
Marsyas said:
I see from your profile that you’re from “An Eochair” . . . and I have to confess I’m not sure what this means (I presume it is Irish?)

I come from Naarm, the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung (although I’m not indigenous)
Click to expand...

Scots rather than Irish :) Western end of the Central Belt which is the coast to coast lowlands between the hills of the border with England and the mountains to the north.

Oncology nurse? I now have total confidence in your discretion and discernement

There are a number of down under persons here.

:bpals:
 
Marsyas said:
Alumni office. Hmm, another good suggestion that I haven’t tried yet. I’ll certainly give that a try – although, as I think I mentioned, Mr Gettings if he was still alive would be something like 85 - 86 years old so it may be getting hard to find too many of his contemporaries.
Click to expand...
That said, people do sometimes donate their papers to their alma mater? ETA: Ah it seems you gave them a try already.



Poor gentleman. I'd suspect, someone who died in these circs might be harder for you to follow up on, as loved ones may not want to speak to a researcher. You never know, though.

We used to do talks (nothing folklore/paranormal) in Skipton every year til the pandemic and I could even have subtly asked around for you, as many of those who attended were local arty types... and may well have been friends of friends or similar. Damn. We never go up there now. Or not for work.

Problem with this, Marsyas, is it's easier to do on the ground.

Have you tried:

https://www.yas.org.uk/

Also:

https://thoresby.org.uk/

Leeds archives generally are the sort you might need to be on the ground for, as well. I've worked in a number of them and indexing isn't always the best so you're less likely to find anything without physically being in the buildings where this stuff is deposited. I've spent a frightening amount of the past 15 years or so cultivating librarians and curators but that has to be done face to face.

I used to go on research trips, deliberately, with an extremely charismatic friend with an incredibly posh accent, who'd charm them to the point we could spend that extra couple of hours looking/documenting or they'd email us and invite us along. Will never forget the curator - not from Yorkshire but a neighbouring county - who beckoned us up to their library to see their latest acquisition, behind a number of alarm systems etc (since gone on display). It was a Turner. Original. Just propped against a book shelf in a backroom... Can't tell you how many trips that took to earn that level of trust! She'd schmooze them so I could just quietly work without them standing over me. It is an art and it's hard to deal with people and get their trust via email, sometimes. But in person and over time, you can get research paydirt.
 
Last edited:
Frideswide said:
Scots rather than Irish :) Western end of the Central Belt which is the coast to coast lowlands between the hills of the border with England and the mountains to the north.

Oncology nurse? I now have total confidence in your discretion and discernement

There are a number of down under persons here.

:bpals:
Click to expand...
Ah, wonderful. And most of my ancestors are Scottish (although they came to Australia quite a few generations ago)

Some at least came as part of the Highland and Island Emigration Society, and apparently they still spoke Gaelic rather than English when they first arrived:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_and_Island_Emigration_Society
 
Marsyas said:
Ah, wonderful. And most of my ancestors are Scottish (although they came to Australia quite a few generations ago)

Some at least came as part of the Highland and Island Emigration Society, and apparently they still spoke Gaelic rather than English when they first arrived:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_and_Island_Emigration_Society
Click to expand...
One of my mum's ancestors went to Tasmania in 1840-something and never got the Ticket of Leave home... Another relative on the other side of the family, was a marine on the Third Fleet who became a farmer and left a load of horses behind, somewhere that became wild...
 
Ghost In The Machine said:
That said, people do sometimes donate their papers to their alma mater?

Poor gentleman. I'd suspect, someone who died in these circs might be harder for you to follow up on, as loved ones may not want to speak to a researcher. You never know, though.

We used to do talks (nothing folklore/paranormal) in Skipton every year til the pandemic and I could even have subtly asked around for you, as many of those who attended were local arty types... and may well have been friends of friends or similar. Damn. We never go up there now. Or not for work.
Click to expand...
Yes, re: the alma mater I tried contacting Sussex, where he got his MA but unfortunately they don’t hold anything of his

I think you are quite right about the circumstances probably meaning it is less likely that family will want to talk with me, but I guess you won’t know unless you (sensitively) ask

My current problem is that despite quite a bit of digging I haven’t been able to find contact details for any of his family

I think his daughter would be about 62 and his granddaughter in her early 30s but I haven’t been able to find anything about either of them despite quite a bit of digging.

I guess this means it is likely they don’t use their own names when accessing the internet, and don’t have jobs that would give them an internet presence
 
Ghost In The Machine said:
One of my mum's ancestors went to Tasmania in 1840-something and never got the Ticket of Leave home... Another relative on the other side of the family, was a marine on the Third Fleet who became a farmer and left a load of horses behind, somewhere that became wild...
Click to expand...
So interesting!

My ancestors who came as part of the Highlands and Islands scheme arrived in Portland (obv free emergents rather than convicts) and a couple of the sons of the family went on the become “horse breakers” between Victoria and South Australia, which I think means they’d catch wild horses and then “break them in” so they could be sold as riding horses.
 
Iris said:
There's quite a bit of information on him on google.
Click to expand...
I’ve possibly got close to talking out the easily available internet

I’m aware of the angle that as well as the books he published under his own name there is quite a bit of speculation that he used several non de plumes to publish other work for instance

I say the easily available internet because I know some people block their websites from being accessible to normal search engines, but I’m probably not tech savvy enough to go scouring the dark web for information about Fred (or any of his aliases).
 
There is a group on Facebook called 'Yorkshire Writers' (I'm a member but very peripherally, most are self published, but they have a lot of get-togethers and do a lot of good work re publicity). It's a relatively new group (I think about ten or fifteen years old), but it may be that one of the older members might remember Fred - either knowing personally or having gone to readings or other writers' meet ups. It could be worth you asking them if anyone remembers him?
 
catseye said:
There is a group on Facebook called 'Yorkshire Writers' (I'm a member but very peripherally, most are self published, but they have a lot of get-togethers and do a lot of good work re publicity). It's a relatively new group (I think about ten or fifteen years old), but it may be that one of the older members might remember Fred - either knowing personally or having gone to readings or other writers' meet ups. It could be worth you asking them if anyone remembers him?
Click to expand...
Excellent, thanks for the tip @catseye

I think maybe one of these community groups is probably my best chance of finding one or two people who have known Fred who might be happy to talk to me about him.

I think prior to him losing living in Hellisfield he may have lived in Haincliffe for a period of time but I have to admit I’m finding it very difficult to piece together a timeline for his life.
 
queenofwands said:
http://manmythandmagic.com/

click on the link in red that shows his vast collection of occult paraphernalia. Sire also says part of his collection was purchased by well known author Andrew Collins
Click to expand...
Amazing! Thanks for this!

I will certainly follow this up so see if any this information can be obtained through Andrew Collins or Rachel Ward.

m.
 
Coming late to this correspondence, which I've only just discovered - to some people Fred Gettings is known the man who in 1977 proved that the famous Cottingley Fairies purportedly photographed by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths in 1917 were cut outs copied from a drawing in a children's book owned by Frances. I've recently published a couple of articles on the subject, one including as much information about Gettings as a could find.

See https://www.academia.edu/127385071/Fred_Gettings_and_the_Cottingley_Fairies

John Clark ‘Fred Gettings and the Cottingley Fairies’ Fairy Investigation Society Newsletter 21 (January 2025) 60–67

I gave up when I found I was heading into conspiracy theory territory!
 
John_Clark said:
I've recently published a couple of articles on the subject, one including as much information about Gettings as a could find.
Click to expand...

Fabulous @John_Clark - I've just downlaoaded for reading over coffee :twothumbs:

And you have a fascinating CV.
 
@Marsyas

Here's my attempt at a bibliography of Fred Gettings's publications. . May be incomplete, some books may be reissues under new titles.
CW: are titles issued under his pseudonym Charles Walker.

The Meaning and Wonder of Art (1963)
You Are an Artist: a Practical Approach to Art (1965)
Dreams & omens (1967)
Techniques of drawing (1969)
Dreams & Omens Revealed (1969)
Book of the Hand (1971)
The Book of the Zodiac: An historical anthology of astrology (1972)
The Book of Tarot (1973)
The Hand and the Horoscope (1973)
Book of Palmistry (1974)
Arthur Rackham (1975)
Palmistry Made Easy (1977)
Ghosts in Photographs: The Extraordinary Story of Spirit Photography (1978)
The occult in art (1978)
Wonders of the Ancient World (1980)
Fate & prediction: An historical compendium of astrology, palmistry & tarot (1980)
The Salamander Tales (1981)
Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils (1981)
How to Interpret Dreams Omens and Fortune Telling Signs (1982)
Understanding Painting: Introduction to Art Appreciation (1982)
CW: Natural Wonders of the British Isles (1982)
Arkana Dictionary of Astrology (1985)
The Encyclopedia of the Occult (1986)
Secret Symbolism in Occult Art (1987)
CW: Atlas of Occult Britain (1987)
The Secret Zodiac (1987)
Dictionary of Demons: A Guide to Demons and Demonologists in Occult Lore (1988)
Att förstå konst (1988)
The Secret Lore of the Cat (1989)
CW: Strange Britain (1989)
CW: Atlas of Secret Europe: A guide to sites of magic and mystery (1990)
CW: Mysterious Britain (1992)
Palmistry (1993)
CW: The Encyclopedia of Secret Knowledge (1995)

Additions/corrections welcome!
 
Last edited:
Steven said:
Given all the fascinating subjects he wrote about, I'm amazed and disappointed that he's not more well-known by the wider public.
Click to expand...

bingo! that's how I feel. I'm certainly enjoying the cat one :)

I also got one on er.... palmistry? which may have been borrowed by this young person that I keep asking for book recommendations for. :)
 
Frideswide said:
bingo! that's how I feel. I'm certainly enjoying the cat one :)

I also got one on er.... palmistry? which may have been borrowed by this young person that I keep asking for book recommendations for. :)
Click to expand...
I'm afraid I've only got his books related to my work on the Cottingley Fairies - Arthur Rackham (1975) and Ghosts in Photographs (1978) where he identified the source of Elsie Wright's cut-out fairies - plus one of his 'Charles Walker' books. Also worth looking at ‘The Charles Walker Collection of Mystery Myth and Magic’ which is I assume Gettings's photographic archive. See https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/r...-collection-of-mystery-myth-and-magic-topfoto . The photographs are also available via Alamy, but you have to use the filters to find them!
 
Thanks for your further replies @John_Clark and @Frideswide (and everyone who has contributed)

@John_Clark I think it is the combination of extreme erudition tinged with what seems to be some genuine belief in conspiracy theories.

@Frideswide excellent work on the bibliography

I’ll read the essays you’ve posted in the next few days

My own enquiries have been pretty exhaustive but I’ve run into a lot of dead ends. I have corresponded with a couple of people who knew him, but only knew him in passing. If also corresponded with a couple of people who knew people who knew other people who knew him quite well.

I think I have enough information for an article – probably not a linger work. The problem for me is that a lot for my research rather peters out, meaning there is no very satisfying end to the story. Unfortunately after a fairly large amount of work I haven’t been able to track down anyone who really knew him who’d be prepared to tell me about what he was like personally.
 
Marsyas said:
The problem for me is that a lot for my research rather peters out, meaning there is no very satisfying end to the story.
Click to expand...

This will come as soon as you go to press, beyond reach of additions!
 
Frideswide said:
This will come as soon as you go to press, beyond reach of additions!
Click to expand...
Oh yes. I found an entire diary for the relevant period, for someone I'd written an intro to a new edition of their book for (great English, sorry am pre coffee), but it wasn't digitally indexed til a while after we went to print. I'm currently persuading the publisher to go to a new edition, if possible, so I can heavily re-write the intro in the light of all the diary info I have since found, about this Yorkshire writer. Her diary was actually sitting in one of the archives where I did research and I went there several times. But it wasn't indexed and the curator either didn't know it existed or didn't think to tip me off. It's a new curator now and she told me immediately that entire volumes of handwritten, unpublished journals existed.

I have since gone back and photo'd every relevant page of diary and it's gold dust info I would have given my right arm for at the time of working on her book.

That's the same archive where I got chatting to a random man in there, who was sat in the archive with a violin, playing bits of folk music as he found them in the archive... Turned out he'd been the next door neighbour of the writer I was in there to research. He told me some great stuff but not much of it publishable!
 
Ghost In The Machine said:
Oh yes. I found an entire diary for the relevant period, for someone I'd written an intro to a new edition of their book for (great English, sorry am pre coffee), but it wasn't digitally indexed til a while after we went to print. I'm currently persuading the publisher to go to a new edition, if possible, so I can heavily re-write the intro in the light of all the diary info I have since found, about this Yorkshire writer. Her diary was actually sitting in one of the archives where I did research and I went there several times. But it wasn't indexed and the curator either didn't know it existed or didn't think to tip me off. It's a new curator now and she told me immediately that entire volumes of handwritten, unpublished journals existed.

I have since gone back and photo'd every relevant page of diary and it's gold dust info I would have given my right arm for at the time of working on her book.

That's the same archive where I got chatting to a random man in there, who was sat in the archive with a violin, playing bits of folk music as he found them in the archive... Turned out he'd been the next door neighbour of the writer I was in there to research. He told me some great stuff but not much of it publishable!
Click to expand...
You know what you need to do with the unpublishable stuff?

(Write it out long hand in an exercise book and hide it in an archive)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top