BROTHER XII – THE DEVIL OF DE COURCY ISLAND

AA8Brother Twelve, aka Edward Arthur Wilson, may not be as well-known a cult icon like L. Ron Hubbard or Reverend Jim Jones, but he was every bit as charming, deceitful, and as treacherous a swindler. Brother XII might have stolen his title, claiming to be the twelfth disciple of a disembodied entity that identified itself as one of the 12 masters in the Great White Lodge, but he rightfully earned the name ‘Devil of De Courcy Island’.

They say that truth can be stranger than fiction and the best stories can be found closest to home.

AA13Well, for me, the case of Brother XII holds both because he was a real guy and his commune was built in the 1920’s on De Courcy Island in British Columbia’s Gulf Islands, just south of Nanaimo near Cedar-By-The-Sea. I can darn near see the place from my back window.

The story of Brother XII has all the elements that a crime-thriller writer could want.

A psychotic controller using ancient Egyptian spiritualism to attract and subdue his victims. Psychological manipulation for religious submission. Politics. Sex. Conspiracy. A hidden and lost treasure of millions in gold.  An evil mistress with the name Madame Zee. Overtones of murder and hidden bodies. And a mystic cult that survives today.

Like, you just can’t make this shit up.

After I finish my current crime-thriller No Life Until Death I’m going to start my next novel based on the fascinating and truly evil story of Brother XII. Only I’m going to bring Brother Twelve into real time. The working title is No God Without Gold.

AA6This story has been in my mind for twenty-five years after I first heard about it from old Provincial Court Judge Stan Wardill. I used to appear before Stan’s court as a young constable and we got talking on the street one day. Turns out Stan was an expert on Brother XII and owned property on De Courcy. Stan was 100 % convinced that Brother XII left behind a hidden treasure in gold when he fled the commune under the cover of darkness to avoid being lynched by enraged followers.

Stan and his son, Donnie, spent years scouring De Courcy for the cache. So have many other people and the local legend holds that it’s still out there. Some say “Bullshit! He took it with him.” One thing’s for sure – at one time it definitely existed.

The hoard was known to be worth over a million dollars when gold was worth twenty bucks an ounce. Do the math at today’s value.

AA14I’m really looking forward to researching and writing No God Without Gold. If I wasn’t under the gun to finish No Life Until Death I might just paddle over to De Courcy and poke around. You never know what you might find in your own backyard.

*   *   *

Don’t just take my word that Brother XII was real. Here’s a clip from Wikepedia and some links to other  websites and books.

Extracted from Wikepedia:

AA2Edward Arthur Wilson, better known as Brother XII, (July 25, 1878–November 7, 1934?) was an English mystic who, in the late 1920s, founded a spiritual community located just south of the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Wilson was born in Birmingham, England. He travelled the world as a marine biologist and apparently studied world religions, preparing himself, by his own account, for a destiny that was revealed to him in a vision in the South of France in the autumn of 1924. He soon attracted a devoted following, including a group of wealthy and socially prominent individuals.

Having taken the name Brother XII, he established the Aquarian Foundation in 1927. The group’s beliefs were based largely upon the teachings of the Theosophical Society. Wilson encouraged his followers to build homes in his colony Cedar-by-the-Sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

AA15With the goal of creating a self-sufficient community independent of the outside world, the Foundation acquired additional property on nearby Valdes and De Courcy Islands, largely through the donations of a wealthy socialite named Mary Connally from North Carolina. Other followers gave donations, large and small, to support Brother XII’s work as a spiritual teacher, as well as his political activity in support of a Democrat Senator from Alabama, James Thomas Heflin, who ultimately supported Herbert Hoover but was for a while a third-party candidate in the 1928 presidential election in the United States.

An insurrection developed within the ranks of the colony when Brother XII’s critics charged that he had claimed to be the reincarnation of the Egyptian god Osiris, though he replied that he had been speaking figuratively, that Osiris and Isis were male and female principles in Nature.

AA4Still, Brother XII’s misuse of Foundation funds and his extramarital affair with a woman who he claimed was his soul-mate led to the breakup of the colony. The Aquarian Foundation was legally dissolved in 1929, though he continued his work with the followers who had remained loyal to him during the crisis, as well as a number of new recruits.

As time passed, he became increasingly dictatorial and paranoid, fortifying his island kingdom and reportedly accumulating a fortune in gold. His mistress, Mabel Skottowe, who operated under the name “Madame Zee”, worked the members without respite, the tasks given being considered tests of their fitness to advance spiritually.

One man who had been imprisoned in a cellar on the northern end of Valdes Island managed to row to Nanaimo to report the circumstances to the British Columbia Provincial Police, who investigated but took no further action.

AA9Eventually, as conditions deteriorated, Brother XII’s core group of disciples revolted and filed legal charges against him to recover the monies, estimated to be over a million dollars that had been converted to gold, which they had contributed to his work. In a violent reaction, he destroyed the colony, smashing its buildings and farm equipment, and scuttling his flagship, the sailboat Lady Royal.

Wilson and Skottowe then escaped at night in their private tugboat, the Kheunaten, rather than being arrested on charges brought by their former disciples. Wilson is reported to have died in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, on November 7, 1934, though he may have fabricated his death. It appears that he subsequently rendezvoused in San Francisco with his lawyer, whose son has provided an eyewitness account of the meeting.

Here are four books that have been published on Brother XII:

  • AA10Lillard, Charles; MacIsaac, Ron; Clark, Don (1989), The Devil of Decourcey Island: The Brother XII, Victoria: Porcepic Books, ISBN0-88878-286-1
  • Oliphant, John (1992), Brother Twelve: The Incredible Story of Canada’s False Prophet, McClelland & Stewart, ISBN978-0-7710-6848-5
  • Symons, Philip (2004), Brother XII’s Letters, Victoria: Ruddy Duck Press, ISBN978-0-9734928-0-4
  • Luke, Pearl (2007), Madame Zee (novel), Harper Perennial Canada, ISBN978-0-00-639173-9

These are interesting websites and linkages:

Who Was Brother XII?  http://www.brotherxii.com/who.html

Brother XII. The shadowy past of a sailor, seducer and swindler.  http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/news/175644671.html

Brother XII; Canadian Biographies http://biographi.ca/en/bio/wilson_edward_arthur_16E.html

Brother XII – Victoria Public Library http://www.gvpl.ca/using-the-library/our-collection/local-history/tales-from-the-vault/brother-xii/

Brother XII – The Canadian Encyclopedia  http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/brother-twelve/

Like I said… You just can’t make this shit up.

17 thoughts on “BROTHER XII – THE DEVIL OF DE COURCY ISLAND

  1. Rich Sickler

    I thought there was something about him going to court and a couple of jouror someone in the gallery and the judge fainted in the court?

    1. Garry Rodgers Post author

      There’s a story kicking around about this. It might be embellished with time but it goes that at the Brother XII trial at the old Nanaimo courthouse, one of the witnesses or a prosecutor was overcome in the presence of Arthur Wilson and was unable to speak. Not sure if it’s folklore or some truth to it. Thanks for commenting, Rich.

  2. Kathleen Hachey Barbee

    Hi Garry, I watched a documentary yesterday, about this island and history. It was on the travel channel here in Florida. Today while doing research for fun, I found your site. I also am a writer and I had my personal journal published a couple years ago, after surviving stage IV head & neck cancer. It is still out there on Amazon, paperback is a couple bucks {, CONFESSIONS OF A SURVIVOR} Anyway, my husband and I use to own an old sea captain’s home in Bucks Harbor Maine. It was only 45 minutes to the Canadian border. The captain actually showed himself to one of our house guests, scaring them to death.Many odd things happened in that house, we sold it. The property was beautiful, but we learned it was on Indian burial ground, The very first battle by sea, in the Revolutionary war, was on our beach , named,Jasper. The ballast from the ship is on display in Machias Maine at the local library. We would love to explore the northeast someday, Thanks for the interesting facts on your part of the world. K.B.

    1. Garry Rodgers Post author

      Wow, This is a coincidence, Kathleen. Yesterday I was looking up some info and did a tour of Bar Harbor, Main on Google streetscape. I see Buck’s Harbor is just a bit north. Nice story about the sea captain showing up 🙂 And thanks for sharing the link to Confessions of a Survivor. Exploring the northeast coast is on the bucket list – I’ve been throughout most of the States but only as far as Boston on the northeast coast.

  3. Joan

    Garry,

    I am really interested in looking for Brother 12 treasure.
    I have connected with a Evan Hogarth who said that he could get me to the island.
    My question is do you think that it’s worth it to spend the time and money to try and find anything.
    I’d enjoy being on your mailing list. Kindly include my email to that.

    Thanks so much,
    Joan

    1. Garry Rodgers Post author

      Hi Joan & thanks for your interest in my site. People have scoured DeCourcey Island for decades looking for that treasure which may or may not exist. No one’s found a trace and it’d be even more difficult than the proverbial needle and haystack search. Another issue is that most of the island is private property and you’d need the owners’ permission. So I think the chances of success is near zero, but it’s a beautiful place to visit 🙂

  4. jeo

    I have found Madame Zee/Skottowe (quite by accident while researching another family).

    She lived in USA until her death in 1978.

  5. Daryl Litke

    Fascinating story. If people live someplace long enough, interesting and bizarre things will eventually happen; some terribly tragic too, of course.

  6. Earl Gross

    Some treasures I’ve already found on DeCourcy Island include the view across Pylades Channel from my cottage’s front deck, Pirates Cove Provincial Marine Park, and DeCourcy Island itself. My finding a hidden stash of gold coins on the island would quite literally be gilding the lily…, but that would be quite acceptable to me.

    BTW – The first boat my wife and I used to get to and from the island was named “Madame Zee”.

  7. Sue Coletta

    Speaking of one’s own backyard, there’s a story where I live. My husband and I live on a mountain with only two other houses. Years ago all three properties were owned by one man, named Syi Ali, who was some sort of performer. It’s said that Syi performed his act for Queen Elizabeth and she enjoyed it so much she presented his wife with an enormous emerald ring. Well, Mrs. Ali lost the stone out of the ring while walking from the dirt driveway to the house. Which is the exact route that runs through my property. But — since we live on a mountain, and everything rolls downhill, that emerald could be on the other side of town by now. Still, while my husband works in the yard he always keeps a close eye out for a green glimmer.

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