GaryJJSpate (talk | contribs) Created page with "{{PersonInfobox |name=David Farrant |born=1946, Highgate, London, England |died=2019 |occupation=Occultist, psychic investigator, author |known_for=The Highgate Vampire; founding the British Psychic and Occult Society |status=Deceased }} '''David Farrant''' (1946–2019) was a British occultist and self-described psychic investigator, best known for his central role in the Highgate Vampire case of the early 1970s and his decades-long public riva..." |
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Revision as of 12:14, 29 July 2026
David Farrant (1946–2019) was a British occultist and self-described psychic investigator, best known for his central role in the Highgate Vampire case of the early 1970s and his decades-long public rivalry with fellow investigator Sean Manchester.
Early life
Farrant was born and grew up in Highgate, North London. Following the death of his mother when he was fifteen, he travelled through Europe as a teenager before returning to London, where he went on to found and preside over the British Psychic and Occult Society (BPOS), an organisation he led for the rest of his life.
The Highgate Vampire
On 6 February 1970, Farrant wrote to the Hampstead and Highgate Express describing a "grey figure" he had glimpsed near Highgate Cemetery, which he believed to be a genuine supernatural presence — though, unlike his rival Sean Manchester, Farrant never characterised the figure specifically as a vampire. His letter prompted a wave of public responses and national media coverage, and he went on to conduct organised investigations of the cemetery with BPOS members throughout 1970, including a formal ritual attempt on 17 August 1970 that was interrupted by police, resulting in his arrest. He was subsequently found not guilty of the charges brought against him that September.
Later convictions
In 1974, Farrant was convicted at the Old Bailey on a number of charges connected to activities at Highgate Cemetery and elsewhere, including causing malicious damage to a mausoleum and offering indignities to human remains, and was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. Farrant maintained throughout his life that the charges and press coverage surrounding his trial had been sensationalised and unfair, a position he set out at length in his later published memoirs.
Later life and continued rivalry
Farrant continued to lead the BPOS and publish books on his paranormal investigations for the rest of his life, including two volumes of autobiography, In the Shadow of the Highgate Vampire (2009) and Out of the Shadows (2011). His public dispute with Sean Manchester over the true events and legacy of the Highgate case — including a proposed but abandoned "magical duel" on Parliament Hill in 1973 — continued in print and online until Farrant's death in 2019.