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Edward Arthur Wilson, better known as Brother XII, (July 25 1878-November 7 1934?) was a notorious English mystic who founded a spiritual community in the Pacific Northwest near Canada's Nanaimo region in the late 1920s and eventually swindled his followers of their money.
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History
Born in Birmingham, England, Wilson attracted a devoted following of wealthy, socially prominent followers. As Brother XII, he established an organization called "The Aquarian Foundation" (not to be confused with Keith Milton Rhinehart's Aquarian Foundation) in 1927, which owed its origins to the teachings of the Theosophical Society. Wilson encouraged the society's members to build homes at the colony headquarters. With the goal of being a self-sufficient community separate from the outside world, the Foundation acquired additional property on nearby Valdes and De Courcy Islands through the donation of a wealthy socialite from Asheville, North Carolina. Claiming to be the reincarnation of the Egyptian god Osiris, Wilson took command of the colony and its funds, becoming increasingly dictatorial and paranoid, fortifying his island kingdom, accumulating a fortune in gold, and acting unilaterally without the consent of the original Foundation Governors. His mistress Mabel Skottowe, née Rowbotham (under the name "Madame Z") worked the members unceasingly, the tasks given being considered tests of their fitness to advance spiritually. As conditions at the colony deteriorated, the disciples eventually revolted. One man, who had been imprisoned nude in a cellar on the northern end of Valdez Island, managed to find a rowboat and row to Nanaimo to report the circumstances to the British Columbia Provincial Police. In a rage, Wilson destroyed the colony, smashing its buildings and farm equipment and scuttling his flagship, the Lady Royal. Wilson and Skottowe escaped in a tugboat, failing to appear in court to answer the charges brought by their former disciples. Wilson is alleged to have died in Neuchatel, Switzerland in 1934, but may have faked his own death. He remains one of the more mysterious occult figures of the last century.
Sources
- Oliphant, John (2006), Brother XII: The Strange Odyssey of a 20th-century Prophet and His Quest for a New World, Twelfth House Press, ISBN 0978097203
- Oliphant, John. Brother Twelve. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on September 12 2007.
Further reading
- Lillard, Charles; MacIsaac, Ron & Clark, Don (1989), The Devil of Decourcey Island: The Brother XII, Victoria: Porcepic books, ISBN 0888782861
- Oliphant, John (1992), Brother Twelve: The Incredible Story of Canada's False Prophet, M&S
- Symons, Philip (2004), Brother XII's Letter, Victoria: Ruddy Duck Press
- Wilson, Herbert Emmerson (1967), Canada's False Prophet: The Notorious Brother Twelve, Simon & Schuster
