Ep 126: Cottingley Fairies Unveiled: Frances' Side of the Story with Dr Simon Young

About this episode

The episode explores the Cottingley Fairies case from Frances Griffiths' perspective, discussing the impact of the hoax on her life with Dr Simon Young.

The case of The Cottingley Fairies has captured people's imaginations for over a century. But the photos that Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths created of the "Beck Fairies" near their home on the outskirts of Bradford in 1917 are now more famous for being the subject of a hoax. However, there is much more to the story and it is really one of tragedy rather than trickery. I chat to Dr Simon Young about the lesser known aspects of the case, predominantly from the perspective of the younger child, Frances who was the only one who had claimed to see the fairies. We discuss how her personal experience became twisted into a painful untruth which burdened Frances for her entire life. The work of Dr Simon Young is highly respected in the fairy community and much loved for his resurrection of The Fairy Investigation Society and subsequent Fairy Census, which is ongoing. Simon will be joining TMFSP members for an exclusive Patreon Zoom on Thursday April 30th 🤩 In 2024 Simon released two books: Essays on The Cottingley Fairies featuring offerings from Neil Rushton, Kate Ray, Meri Dickson and Joshua Cutchin among others together with a Source Book of primary material. Simon's podcast…

People in this episode

Host: Jo Hickey-Hall

Guest: Dr Simon Young

Topics covered

• Cottingley Fairies
• fairy folklore
• childhood experiences
• hoaxes
• personal narratives
• fairy investigation

Keywords

• Cottingley Fairies
• Frances Griffiths
• Dr Simon Young
• fairy hoax
• fairy investigation
• personal experience
• tragedy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Fairy Investigation Society, Boggart and Banshee

Books & works: Essays on The Cottingley Fairies, Source Book of primary material

Places: Bradford

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