Joanna Southcott was a domestic servant from Exeter until, in 1790, she began to write prophecies which attracted a considerable following. She settled in London in 1802 and began to "seal" the 144,000 elect, declaring herself to be the "woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation, Chapter Twelve, Verse One). At the age of 64, she announced that, on the 19th. October 1814, she was to be delivered of a son, the Shiloh of the Book of Genesis, Chapter Forty-Nine, Verse Ten : "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." The birth did not take place ; but, two months later, Miss Southcott died. She left behind a locked wooden box with instructions that it was not to be opened until a time of national emergency, and only in the presence of all the twenty-four Bishops of England. Attempts were made to persuade the senior clergy to open it during the Crimean War and, again, during the First World War, but no Bishop was willing to attend such an event. The box was, however, opened in 1927, although only one Right Reverend turned up. The box contained nothing but a few odds and ends and a lottery ticket. However, the Panacea Society of Bedford, which continues to this day, claims that it was not the real box, and that they are in possession of the genuine article.
Joanna Southcott was a domestic servant from Exeter until, in 1790, she began to write prophecies which attracted a considerable following. She settled in London in 1802 and began to "seal" the 144,000 elect, declaring herself to be the "woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation, Chapter Twelve, Verse One). At the age of 64, she announced that, on the 19th. October 1814, she was to be delivered of a son, the Shiloh of the Book of Genesis, Chapter Forty-Nine, Verse Ten : "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." The birth did not take place ; but, two months later, Miss Southcott died. She left behind a locked wooden box with instructions that it was not to be opened until a time of national emergency, and only in the presence of all the twenty-four Bishops of England. Attempts were made to persuade the senior clergy to open it during the Crimean War and, again, during the First World War, but no Bishop was willing to attend such an event. The box was, however, opened in 1927, although only one Right Reverend turned up. The box contained nothing but a few odds and ends and a lottery ticket. However, the Panacea Society of Bedford, which continues to this day, claims that it was not the real box, and that they are in possession of the genuine article.
Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine
Advertisement
