Arthur Findlay

Arthur Findlay MBE JP (1883 – July 1964) was a writer, accountant, stockbroker and Essex magistrate, as well as a significant figure in the history of the religion of Spiritualism, being a partial founder of the newspaper Psychic News and also a founder of the International Institute for Psychical Research. In his will he left his home, Stansted Hall, to the Spiritualists' National Union.

Biography

Early life

Aged 17, he had become interested in the field of comparative religion, something of which his staunchly Christian parents disapproved of - they even burned many of his books on the subject.

In 1913 he was awarded the title of Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his organisation work for the Red Cross.

John Sloan

In 1918 Findlay attended a séance with the direct voice medium John Campbell Sloan at a spiritualist church in Glasgow. During the next five years Findlay attended many seances at the medium's home and became convinced spirit voices were speaking through Sloan. However, the psychical researcher Malcolm Bird investigated Sloan and wrote he had no doubt that all the voices heard could be produced by the medium talking into the trumpet in a normal fashion. Bird also wrote the information given to the sitters could have easily been taken from public records and there was a lack of control in the séances. Bird wrote "the phenomena themselves were not particularly impressive; with the intermittent freedom of the medium, it seemed simple enough for him to have done most of them himself."

Arthur Findlay College

Arthur Findlay College is a college of Spiritualism and psychic sciences at Stansted Hall in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England.

Stansted Hall was built in 1871, and the college was founded there in 1964. In accordance with Arthur Findlay's wishes, the college building and grounds are administered by the Spiritualists' National Union (SNU). The head offices of SNU at Red Woods are within the college grounds. Course prices include daily meals, tuition and accommodations.

History of Stansted Hall

Stansted Hall, built in 1871, was given to the Spiritualists' National Union in by J. Arthur Findlay, MBE, JP, a former Honorary President of the Union, and in accordance with his wishes is administered by the Union as a College for the advancement of Psychic Science.

Mr Findlay bought the estate in 1923 upon his retirement from business and first mooted the idea of a Spiritualist College at Stansted to the Union in 1945. After personal contacts with three successive Union Presidents a will was drawn up and in 1954 the National Council accepted the proposed bequest of Stansted Hall with an endowment. This was followed by a later gift in the form of stock to be used for furnishing and decorating, and in 1964, a year after the death of his wife, Mr Findlay transferred the Hall, grounds and endowment to the Union. Mr Findlay died in July 1964.

University of Findlay

The University of Findlay (UF) is a private university in Findlay, Ohio. It was affiliated with the Churches of God General Conference. Nearly 3,700 students are enrolled at Findlay, with more than 2,700 undergraduate and nearly 1,000 graduate students. Approximately 1,300 students live on campus in University housing. Approximately 340 full-time and part-time faculty teach regular and online classes, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 15:1.

The University of Findlay encompasses more than 388 acres, including its 73-acre main campus and six off-campus facilities.

UF has been recognized as a “Best in the Midwest” college by the Princeton Review. UF ranks consistently in the top tier of U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” in the Midwest and was also named to the “A+ Schools for B Students” list for the second year. UF has been recognized as one of “America’s Best Private Colleges” by Institutional Research and Evaluation Inc., an independent research organization specializing in higher education. In addition, the city of Findlay was chosen as one of Ohio’s Best Hometowns for 2012–2013 by the editors of Ohio Magazine.