Museum hosts special talk on the Panacea Society

Professor Jane Shaw first approached the Panacea Society in 2001 and met with the last few living members. Over several years she worked with John Coghill and Ruth Klein on the Panacea Society’s archive, and in 2011 published ‘Octavia Daughter of God: the Story of a Female Messiah and her Followers’ (Jonathan Cape 2011). Jane is Professor of the History of Religion at the University of Oxford, has authored several other books, writes reviews for the Financial Times and is on the editorial board of Prospect magazine. Jane’s talk will reflect on the work she undertook and her relationship with the surviving members in the early 2000s.

Seating is limited and tickets are available here: www.tickettailor.com/panaceamuseum

Tickets are £2.50, the event starts at 2:30pm on Saturday 28th September at the Museum, 11 Newnham Road, Bedford, MK40 3NX.

Further details can be found here www.panaceamuseum.org/events

The Museum can be contacted by phone on 01234 353178 or by email [email protected]

The Panacea Society was a Christian community founded and led by women in 1919, their headquarters was in Bedford. They came to believe that their leader Mabel Barltrop (Octavia) was the Daughter of God and that their garden was on the site of the Garden of Eden. The Society came to an end in 2012, and since then the Museum has told their remarkable story. Professor Jane Shaw’s book is on sale from the Museum shop priced £10 and there will be an opportunity to have the book signed after the event.

The Panacea Museum opened in 2012 and is an activity of the Panacea Charitable Trust. The Panacea Charitable Trust is a UK registered charity, no. 227530, we provide grants to the local community, support academic research, seminars, conferences and activities and operate the Panacea Museum whilst maintaining the Charity’s archive of books, manuscripts and papers. The Museum is free to enter and open February to November with special events and exhibitions through the year, further details about the Museum, events, opening times and access are on the website www.panaceamuseum.orgor check our Facebook page for the latest news www.facebook.com/panaceamuseum