Theos-Talk Archives (October 1995 Message tl00290)

Liesel,

Liesel, speaking of the CWL biographer, writes:

> In the intro Tillet
> states clearly that he was refused access to the Adyar
>archives, & also that the Outer Head refused to speak to him
>(naturally, but not understanding the secrecy of the ES he gets
>angry about this) so who knows where he got his material from.?

 I'm afraid that you may have misread Dr. Tillett's
Introduction. He was in fact given access to the Adyar Archives.
It was the archives of the Esoteric Section that he "was not
given access" (p. x). As interesting as this material might have
been, Tillett's book does not stand or fall on it, and it does
not mean that he did not have full access to ES material from
other sources. In fact he did.

 CWL's true date of birth was uncovered by Miss Lillian
Storey, now President of the London Lodge TS, who found CWL's
actual birth certificate in the Dept. of vital statistics.

 The stenographer record of CWL's 1906 inquiry in London
concerning the Chicago scandal was found by Tillett in the Adyar
Archives, exactly where Olcott had ordered it to be put.

 The Sydney police reports of 1914 are still in the files of
the Sydney police in Australia. As a native Australian, Tillet
had no trouble accessing them.

 For access to rare and unique Krishnamurti material and oral
history, Tillett worked with Miss Mary Lutyens (Daughter of Emily
Lutyens, and author of several books on K.), who also assisted by
reading over his mss.

 For oral history on K. as a child, and also rare and unique
material on K. and CWL, Tillett interviewed extensively Dick
Balfour Clarke, in his 90's at the time, and had worked with K.
as a child.

 For CWL's esoteric sexual teachings, Tillett had Balfour
Clarke's account and confirmation with Kollerstrom letters,
diaries etc., that were in the possession of his widow, who also
lived in Australia.

 At Adyar, he had John Coates' full cooperation, who indeed
allowed him into the archives, over the protests of many others
who lived there.

 As for source references, I counted about 512 of them,
including CWL's own writings and ES material.

 The book came out of Tillett's dissertation towards a
doctorate of philosophy in the Department of Religious studies at
the U, of Sydney. A Doctorate degree was granted to him for his
research, as well as a Commonwealth Post graduate Research Award.

 Also, I interviewed Greg Tillett for two days when he was in
this country a few years ago. Since the publication of his book,
he had found much more information about CWL, but alas, it was
all far more damaging to Mr. Leadbeater's reputation than what
Dr. Tillett had already published.

 I hope this clears up any confusion on this matter.

Jerry HE
please reply to jhe@toto.csustan.edu