Joanna Southcott's Box
An English prophet left a sealed box of prophecies, to be opened only in a time of national danger, and only in front of 24 bishops.
What was reported
Joanna Southcott was a farmer's daughter from Devon who, from the 1790s, said she heard a divine voice and wrote thousands of prophecies. She attracted tens of thousands of followers. Before her death in 1814, she left a sealed wooden box of writings, with instructions that it be opened only in a time of grave national crisis, in the presence of 24 bishops of the Church of England.
In the 20th century, a group based in Bedford, the Panacea Society, ran newspaper advertisements and billboards urging the bishops to open the box, saying it held the key to the nation's troubles.
Explanations offered
In 1927, the psychical researcher Harry Price opened a box he said was hers, and found little of interest, but her followers said it wasn't the real one. The Panacea Society says it still keeps the true box, unopened. Its contents, if any, remain unknown.
- When
- Sealed before 1814
- Where
- Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK
- Witnesses
- Her followers, and a society that campaigned for a century
- Status
- Never opened
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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