Charles Webster Leadbeater

Charles Webster Leadbeater
Leadbeater in 1914 (age 60)
Born	(1854-02-16)16 February 1854 , Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Died	1 March 1934(1934-03-01) (aged 80) Perth, Australia
Cause of death	Diabetes and heart attack
Known for	Theosophist and writer

Charles Webster Leadbeater (/ˈlɛdˌbɛtər/; 16 February 1854 – 1 March 1934) was an influential member of the Theosophical Society, author on occult subjects and co-initiator with J. I. Wedgwood of the Liberal Catholic Church.

Originally a priest of the Church of England, his interest in spiritualism caused him to end his affiliation with Anglicanism in favour of the Theosophical Society, where he became an associate of Annie Besant. He became a high-ranking officer of the society, but resigned in 1906 amid a scandal involving accusations of pederasty. After Annie Besant became President of the Society, he was readmitted. Leadbeater went on to write over 69 books and pamphlets as well as maintain regular speaking engagements. His efforts on behalf of the society assured his status as one of its leading members until his death in 1934.

Leadbeater was born in , Cheshire, in 1854. His father, Charles Sr., was born in Lincoln and his mother Emma was born in Liverpool. He was an only child. By 1861 the family had relocated to London, where his father was a railway contractor's clerk.

In 1862, when Leadbeater was eight years old, his father died from tuberculosis. Four years later a bank in which the family's savings were invested became bankrupt. Without finances for college, Leadbeater sought work soon after graduating from high school in order to provide for his mother and himself. He worked at various clerical jobs. During the evenings he became largely self-educated. For example, he studied astronomy and had a 12-inch reflector telescope (which was very expensive at the time) to observe the heavens at night. He also studied French, Latin and Greek.