British National Association of Spiritualists
A society formed in 1873 mainly through the instrumentality
of Dawson Rogers to promote the interests of Spiritualism in
Great Britain. The British National Association of Spiritualists
(BNAS) numbered among its original vice-presidents and
members of council the most prominent Spiritualists of the
dayBenjamin Coleman, Mrs. Macdougall Gregory, Sir
Charles Isham, Mr. Jacken, Dawson Rogers, Morell Theobald,
Dr. Wyld, Dr. Stanhope Speer, and many others. Many eminent
people of other countries joined the association as corresponding
members.
In 1882 BNAS changed its name to the Central Association
of Spiritualists. Among its committees was one for systematic
research into the phenomena of Spiritualism, in which connection
some interesting scientific experiments were made in
1878.
Early in 1882, conferences, which were held at the associations
rooms and were presided over by William Barrett, resulted
in the formation of the Society for Psychical Research
(SPR). Many members of the SPR were recruited from the
council of the BNAS, such as the Rev. Stainton Moses, Dr.
George Wyld, Dawson Rogers, and Morell Theobald. The
BNAS was at first associated with the Spiritualist, edited by W.
H. Harrison, but in 1879 the reports of its proceedings were
transferred to Spiritual Notes, a paper which, founded in the
previous year, came to an end in 1881, as did the Spiritualist.
In the latter year Dawson Rogers founded Light, with which the
society was henceforth associated.
Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology 5th Ed. British National Association of Spiritualists
217
From the beginning, the BNAS held itself apart from religious
and philosophical dogmatism and included among its
members Spiritualists of all sects and opinions.
In 1884 the association reorganized as the London Spiritualist
Alliance. The journal Light is now published by the College
of Psychic Studies, London, which developed on similar
lines to the former British College of Psychic Science.
Sources
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The History of Spiritualism. New York
Charles H. Doran, 1926. Reprint, New York Arno Press, 1975
