A ministry shaped by church reunion
Lee was born at Thame in Oxfordshire in 1832 and ordained a priest in 1856. He became vicar of All Saints’, Lambeth, in 1867 and remained there for thirty-two years. Alongside parish work he wrote on theology, history and archaeology, published poetry and edited periodicals.
His efforts to reunite churches led him into disputes over the validity of Anglican ordination. He helped form the secretive Order of Corporate Reunion, which sought to restore orders its members believed had been lost at the Reformation. Shortly before his death in January 1902, Lee entered the Roman Catholic Church. These commitments informed the Christian outlook he brought to accounts of the supernatural.
The witnesses behind The Other World
The Other World; or, Glimpses of the Supernatural appeared in two volumes in 1875. Lee’s preface describes material gathered over roughly twenty years from historical narratives and from friends and acquaintances. Some recent witnesses remain unnamed, with Lee offering his assurance on their behalf. Dreams, second sight and apparitions enter the same collection through these different routes. The reader can follow a story while also asking how many people it passed through before reaching print. Lumitheca’s two catalogue records hold copies of this same collection.
