Gaslight Chronicles
An informational podcast about Victoria, British Columbia's history that spans back to when gas powered streetlamps illuminated the city.
Gaslight Chronicles
Brother Twelve: Mysticism and Mayhem
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In this episode we'll explore Victoria's infamous cult leader Brother Twelve and his followers who resided on DeCourcy and Valdes islands near Nanaimo, BC.
- Oliphant, John (2006), Brother XII: The Strange Odyssey of a 20th-century Prophet and His Quest for a New World, Twelfth House Press, ISBN 0-9780972-0-3
- Oliphant, John. "Brother Twelve". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- Moss, Jennifer (29 August 2016). "Searching for Brother XII: The story of Nanaimo's infamous cult leader" (Audio). CBC Radio. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- Moss, Jennifer (22 March 2016). "The Dream of Brother XII" (Audio). CBC Radio. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- Lillard, Charles; MacIsaac, Ron; Clark, Don (1989), The Devil of Decourcey Island: The Brother XII, Victoria: Porcepic Books, ISBN 0-88878-286-1
- Oliphant, John (1992), Brother Twelve: The Incredible Story of Canada's False Prophet, McClelland & Stewart, ISBN 978-0-7710-6848-5
- Symons, Philip (2004), Brother XII's Letter, Victoria: Ruddy Duck Press, ISBN 978-0-9734928-0-4
- Luke, Pearl (2007), Madame Zee (novel), Harper Perennial Canada, ISBN 978-0-00-639173-9
- Wilson, Herbert Emmerson (1967), Canada's False Prophet: The Notorious Brother Twelve, Simon & Schuster
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/brother-twelve?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_XII?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://staff.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/2014/04/09/brother-xii/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://theohistory.org/issue-archive/volume-xvi/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
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Welcome to episode one of the Gaslight Chronicles, where we’ll dive into Victoria, British Columbia’s past when gas-powered streetlamps illuminated the city. I’m your host Megan Evans and in today’s episode we’ll explore the largely forgotten, yet fascinating account of Brother Twelve and his followers who once resided in the village of Cedar and the surrounding area of Vancouver Island. Join me as I explore the mysticism, mayhem and potential buried treasure!
The idea of a cult happening in Victoria seems almost implausible, as when I think of this city I think of wholesome things like music & film festivals, harbor ferries, tea at the Empress Hotel and Beacon Hill Park. The notion of a mystical cult leader taking up residence doesn’t seem obvious, nor do colonies of followers. Stories of modern-day cults sound like a documentary on Netflix. Some modern cults include Jonestown, which started as The People’s Temple headed by Jim Jones; Heaven’s Gate, led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles; the Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh; and even Scientology, which was founded by L. Ron Hubbard. Why does it seem that it’s almost always some misogynist git who becomes a cult leader? I know the state of the world and the violence towards women seems to have gotten worse since I first started writing this podcast. However, that topic is for another time, but with relation to this topic, it’s time to step up ladies and create our own cults!
Who was Brother Twelve? That’s what we’re here to find out.
He was described by Bert Jefferson, one of his followers, as lean, dark haired, and quietly spoken, but could also be quite ruthless. His given name was Edward Arthur Wilson born in Birmingham England in 1878 and he was raised in the Catholic Apostolic Church. As a teenager, he apprenticed with the Royal Navy and worked on ships, which enabled him to travel around the world.
Wilson eventually landed in New Zealand in 1902 where he married Margery Clark. In 1907 the couple moved to Victoria BC and had two children. Five years later he abandoned his family and went back out to sea. With his extensive sailing experience, he was eventually promoted to navigator and then to captain.
During his travels Wilson became is devotee of theosophy – an occultist religious movement that believed in karma and reincarnation and that the world was being guided towards spiritual awakening by a group of enlightened beings known as the “Masters”, the Great White Brotherhood, or the Great White Lodge. Dare I speculate that David Lynch was inspired by these names while creating the White Lodge and Black Lodge for Twin Peaks?
In 1924 Wilson retired from seamanship and ended up in a small town in the south of France. This is when Wilson began falling into trances, having visions and speaking in tongues. Was there something in the wine? Perhaps he experienced a fever state or simply had ongoing health issues? He wrote manifestos and spiritual accounts of his experiences and concluded that he was communicating directly with the “Masters”, specifically the Twelfth Brother who personally adopted Wilson as a disciple. And this is where Wilson dropped his birth name and assumed Brother Twelve. This was not the only alias he would eventually adopt; he would also be known as Julian Churton Skottowe and Amiel de Valdes.
Brother Twelve started sharing his writings, specifically his book The Three Truths and the manifesto “A Message from the Masters of the Wisdom” – which warned of the coming destruction of the current social and political order in Europe. Which sounds oddly familiar in the current political climate.
To assist me, I turn to my creative collaborator Gary O’Connor to read the following excerpt from The Three Truths.
“The three fundamental truths herein considered are vital to the progress and safety of the human race. The failure of man to realize them, and to incorporate them into his scheme of life, is responsible for the present distressing world conditions.
The “civilized” nations of the world are now entering upon an era of destruction and chaos, but it is to be followed none the less surely by an era of reconstruction and progress. These Three Truths are, in themselves, that spiritual basis upon which the new order shall be built.
Their realisation constitutes in the individual that evolutionary expansion of consciousness which must be achieved by all who are to successfully pass over into the new era. They form the foundations upon which alone we may build that eternal and spiritual Temple which is Brotherhood.
He Who has given this little book to the world has given others also, but for the most part, men have failed to understand His words. This time, the Light He sheds on their Path shall be so clear, so unmistakable, that only the willfully blind shall fail to see the Truth.
He has stated that this book shall be His measuring-rod; the Lamp, the Staff, the Password, by which He will prove all who shall come into that Centre of Safety which He has prepared, and who shall pass over to “the other side.”
Written November 1926.”
Brother Twelve’s writings were printed in newspapers and occult magazines, which gained popularity in England and Europe. This led to the acquisition of wealthy British benefactors to travel with him abroad for the next great venture.
In 1927, Brother Twelve created the Aquarian Foundation, named after the theosophical belief, that humanity is entering a new era, the age of Aquarius. He traveled throughout Canada, back to British Columbia, collecting followers and financial backers, who made it possible to purchase land near Cedar on Vancouver Island, neighboring Nanaimo.
Thanks to Brother Twelve’s charisma, grandiose ideas and promises for spiritual salvation, the Aquarian Foundation grew rapidly. One notable supporter was Mary Connolly, a rich socialite from North Carolina, who gifted a whopping $25,000, nearly equivalent to $350,000 today. This enabled the purchase of land on DeCourcy and Valdes islands and the solidification of Cedar-by-the-Sea.
Despite still being legally married to Margery Clark, Brother Twelve took a new Scottish companion, Elma, but no children were produced through their union. His attentions turned to politics, and he attempted to create a political party to run in the 1928 US Federal Election, which he predicted would end in violent civil war (again there are eerie similarities to today’s political climate!). The political venture failed. He then convinced his follower Myrtle Baumgartner that she and he were reincarnations of the Egyptian gods Osiris and Isis, and they were destined to give birth to the equivalent of Horus, who would save the world.
Poor Myrtle had several miscarriages and had a mental breakdown for not fulfilling her part of the prophecy.
Grandiose plans aside, money was being poured into numerous construction projects throughout all the settlements with members being forced to do most of the work.
Members also paid monthly membership fees and those that moved to the colony were required to hand over everything they had to Brother Twelve and were often forced into unpaid jobs from working on ships to farming.
Tensions brewed as Brother Twelve’s misuse of power proliferated. Adding more fuel to the fire with his fascination for the flame-haired Edith Mabel Rowbotham, whose married name was Mabel Skottowe. She originally married a wealthy poultry farmer, whom she left after he had given nearly $100,000 to the Aquarian Foundation. Mabel was known as a sadistic, ex-schoolteacher, who would eventually become Madame Z, who had a propensity for using a riding crop on colony members. Eat your heart out Exit to Eden fans!
Turns out that Brother Twelve and Madame Z were perfectly matched in their lust for power and control. Madame Z became his consort and chief enforcer, most especially as the colonies fell into paranoia and chaos.
The money must flow and the more that came in, the more paranoid Brother Twelve became about using banks as he predicted the downfall of the banking system. I don’t disagree with him on this particular point. Therefore, the members were made to exchange paper money for gold coins, mainly American gold eagle coins in $10 and $20 denominations. Thus, a new canning operation was in full force, but instead of canning fruit, they canned gold coins in mason jars, sealing them with melted paraffin wax. The jars were then put in wooden boxes with rope handles and transported secretly via boat in the middle of the night and buried in various locations around the island. Thus – there may still be buried treasure up for grabs somewhere. If you’ve never had a dream, you’ve never had a dream come true!
Under the tyrannical rule of Brother Twelve and Madame Z, trust from followers was eroding. Members quickly became broke, indentured, terrorized, and starved. Sexual exploitation was also commonplace, particularly in Brother Twelve’s “House of Mystery”, where mistresses and married women endured countless abuse. Sounds like Jim Jones simply borrowed Brother Twelve’s playbook but added the Kool-Aid part himself. Paranoia led Brother Twelve to transform Valdes Island into a fortress, where he forced members to take up arms to defend it.
By 1932, some members had had enough and fled the colony back to Nanaimo. Two criminal civil suits were brought against Brother Twelve, one by Alfred Henry Barley, an employee, and the other by Mary Connolly, who had so generously donated the previously mentioned $25,000. Their lawsuits were heard in Nanaimo in April 1933, with sensational testimony from disciple Roger Painter who claimed that Brother Twelve attempted to use black magic to kill his enemies.
Chief Justice Morrison declared the actions to be “the strangest cases ever to come before a Canadian court of law.”
The legal proceedings of course had other oddities such as fainting attorneys, while the judge growled like a dog, perhaps black magic was being used? By the time the judge ruled in favor of the members, Brother Twelve and Madame Z collected as much loot as they could and did a runner on their private vessel Kheunaten, referencing the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten. Not only leaving a trail of mental, emotional and financial damage, but the physical destruction of the colony on DeCourcy Island using dynamite on properties and scuttling the flagship Lady Royal.
The pair fled to Europe, where it was reported that Brother Twelve died in Switzerland in 1934, although it was speculated that he fabricated his death as the death certificate was signed by a Swiss doctor who was a former follower, of course. There were many post-mortem sightings. The most notable being by Donald Cunliffe, son of Foundation member Frank Cunliffe, who described seeing Brother Twelve aboard a ship in San Francisco in 1936.
As for Madame Z, rumors surrounded her fate as nothing can be substantiated. Her death may have been faked alongside Brother Twelve’s or it was speculated that she may have been murdered by the deranged prophet. It remains a topic of debate today.
Regardless of the circumstances or speculations of Brother Twelve’s death, the burning question remains, where’s the treasure at? John Oliphant, author of Brother XII: The Strange Odyssey of a 20th Century Prophet estimated that the gold bounty was worth about $400,000, that amounts to just under $6 million in the 2016 market. Logistically it would have been difficult to take it all at the time of escape, so either there was a method in place for transporting it all at once, or it was shipped little by little by remaining loyal followers. Apparently, many people have gone treasure hunting in the caves on the islands near the colonies or went for a dive in the lagoon near DeCourcy Island where the Lady Royal rests.
Today, there remains eyewitness accounts held at the BC Archives. These include an interview with Bert Jefferson from 1966, where he gives a candid account about being an early follower and settler in the colony on Valdes Island. He describes manual labor, disillusionment and the eventual collapse of the colony. A link to the interview is in the podcast notes. Another account comes from an interview of Victor Birch Harrison in 1968, who served as the prosecution lawyer in the Brother Twelve trial. Other records on file relate to the legal proceedings in Nanaimo Supreme Court.
Another curiosity reported by the Canadian Press in 1956 is that a human skull was found in a sack in the attic of the “House of Mystery”. The skull was carved into a bowl and was believed to belong to a woman in her twenties who died in the 1930s.
According to the Times Colonist in the article published on May 7, 2021, the 100-acre property on De Courcy Island, was up for sale. Still without power, the 30 residents who live there year-round rely on solar/battery power and well water. Alongside pastoral meadows, orchards, forest, wetlands and an 850-foot waterfront, this property guarantees a freaky-deaky past and perhaps a buried treasure or two.
Then again there may be no treasure to be found. A caretaker for one of the DeCourcy colony’s few remaining residents, discovered a trapdoor beneath the building used a chicken coop. The man ripped up the floorboards, recalling stories that Brother Twelve also used “treasure holes”. According to John Oliphant’s book a rolled-up piece of paper was found in the hiding spot with the final message: “For fools and traitors-nothing!”
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Gaslight Chronicles where we dove into the history of Brother Twelve. We only really scratched the surface, so if you’d like more information regarding Victoria’s infamous cult leader, links to materials can be found in the podcast notes. And if you enjoyed our exploration into Brother Twelve’s mystic kingdom, consider rating and reviewing our podcast and subscribing for more hidden stories from Western Canada. Until next time, stay curious, Vancouver Island!
Gaslight Chronicles was written and narrated by Megan Evans. Produced and edited by Megan Evans. Executive producer Gary O’Connor. Additional voices by Gary O’Connor. Music included Sweat Peas by Arthur Benson and Stealing Mushrooms by The Fly Guy Five courtesy of Epidemic Sound. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you found us. Reviews are key to keeping Gaslight Chronicles on the charts so people can find the show. Thank you so much!
