To Believe or Not To Believe

Much debate has always surrounded Frances and Elsie's pictures. Even to this day, their authenticity is not wholly agreed upon, though four of the five photographs were ultimately admitted to have be fabricated by the girls. The dispute, however, began between the parents of Elsie Wright.

Mr. Wright, whose camera the girls had borrowed to take photographs in the beck, upon developing the pictures took little notice of the enchanting fairies. To him, the shapes seemed to be those of birds or even sandwich paper, and when the girls insisted they were actually fairies, he prohibited them from using his camera again. Mrs. Wright, however, an active member of the Theosophical Society held at Bradford Lodge, believed whole-heartedly in the validity of the pictures and even went so far as to begin circulating the pictures at one of the Society's conferences.

The divide soon extended beyond the family as the girls' photographs gained public notice. Spiritualists and members of Theosophical Societies were eager to believe not only in fairies but also in the ability to photograph them. Others who fancied themselves of greater reason, however, dismissed the notion all together. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fell on the side of the believers and eventually came to be considered very nearly a propagandist for fairies; however, it is difficult to say whether his efforts did more good than harm for his cause.

After arguing on the basis of facts, such as they were given the situation, and getting no closer to a resolution, people turned to the experts – photographic experts who could officially authenticate the pictures. Even they could not agree. Kodak, for instance, would not authenticate them, but expert Harold Snelling declared they were certainly not fabricated. It seemed as much a matter of personal opinion among the experts as it had been among others.

It is no wonder people could not reach a consensus, however, when you consider that even the cousins themselves were not in perfect agreement. On the matter of the fifth photograph, said to be of the fairies enjoying as sun bath, Frances maintained until her death that it was the one genuine picture while Elsie claimed it was just another of her contrivances. Perhaps the matter is not so black and white or all or nothing; really, though, only Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths will ever know the truth.