Panacea Society
Encyclopedia
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The Society was founded by Mabel Barltrop in 1919 at 12 Albany Road, Bedford. Its inspiration was and is the teachings of the Devonshire prophetess Joanna Southcott
Joanna Southcott
Joanna Southcott , was a self-described religious prophetess. She was born at Gittisham in Devon, England.-Self-revelation:...
(1750 - 1814). Barltrop took the name Octavia and believed herself to be Southcott's child, the Shiloh of her prophecies. With 12 apostles the Society (then called the Community of the Holy Ghost) began.
The Society's headquarters is in Albany Road, close to the remains of Bedford Castle
Bedford Castle
Bedford Castle was a large medieval castle in Bedford, England. Built after 1100 by Henry I, the castle played a prominent part in both the civil war of the Anarchy and the First Barons' War. The castle was significantly extended in stone, although the final plan of the castle remains uncertain...
. Another property - an end-of-terrace house in Albany Road (named "The Ark") - is maintained as a residence for The Messiah following upon the second coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
.
A central purpose of the Society is to persuade 24 Anglican bishops to open Southcott's Box of Sealed Writings and to this end advertisements have been placed in national newspapers from time to time. The Society claims the box is secreted in England, others have claimed it was opened in 1927 and found to contain a broken horse pistol and a lottery ticket.
Though small in size, the Society is understood to be wealthy, owning tracts of land and properties in London, Bedford and elsewhere. In 2004 its net assets were reported to the Charity Commission
Charity Commission
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the non-ministerial government department that regulates registered charities in England and Wales....
as around £20 million. In 2002 the Society was ordered by the Charity Commission of England to auction off many of their assets or risk losing their favourable tax benefits as a charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
in law. The auction sale in 2004 took five days.
The Society's website states that there are two remaining members of the religious community.