A fascinating woman, if only a passing Fortean.
Eileen Garrett was born Eileen Vancho-Brownwell in County Meath, Ireland, on 17 March 1893. We know a lot about her life, but almost all of it comes from her three autobiographies (as well as a biography written by a friend that mostly rehashed the earlier books). She was constantly trying to understand her own life, writing it over and over again. I have no reason to doubt the factuality of what she wrote, but more corroboration from historical documents would be nice. There is some research, done in the 1980s, which suggests that her birth name was actually Emily Jane Savage, and her birthdate different, but the reasons for the revision are unclear to me.
According to Garrett, her mother was a wild child, who became pregnant by a Basque man. There was much scandal in her properly Protestant family, and soon after she was born both her mother and father—in separate incidents—committed suicide. She was raised by an aloof uncle and a disapproving aunt. From an early age, she craved being alone—the family itself were outsiders to the mostly Catholic community—and spent a lot of time in nature. She had invisible friends, whom she called The Children. And she could sense a field—an aura—about every living thing.
Eileen Garrett was born Eileen Vancho-Brownwell in County Meath, Ireland, on 17 March 1893. We know a lot about her life, but almost all of it comes from her three autobiographies (as well as a biography written by a friend that mostly rehashed the earlier books). She was constantly trying to understand her own life, writing it over and over again. I have no reason to doubt the factuality of what she wrote, but more corroboration from historical documents would be nice. There is some research, done in the 1980s, which suggests that her birth name was actually Emily Jane Savage, and her birthdate different, but the reasons for the revision are unclear to me.
According to Garrett, her mother was a wild child, who became pregnant by a Basque man. There was much scandal in her properly Protestant family, and soon after she was born both her mother and father—in separate incidents—committed suicide. She was raised by an aloof uncle and a disapproving aunt. From an early age, she craved being alone—the family itself were outsiders to the mostly Catholic community—and spent a lot of time in nature. She had invisible friends, whom she called The Children. And she could sense a field—an aura—about every living thing.