The Dennis Wheatley 'Museum' - Champions of Reincarnation: Dennis Wheatley & Joan Grant

The roles of Joan Grant's Husbands

Leslie Grant

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Charles Beatty

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Denys Kelsey

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Joan Grant was married three times. Her husbands were very different one from another, and they all played different but pivotal parts in her story.

Joan Marshall married her first husband Leslie Grant on 30th November 1927. She had known him on-and-off for some time. An Old Wykehamist who had originally intended to go into law, it was he who took Joan on her only trip to Egypt, and he who took dictation of the bulk of 'Winged Pharaoh'.

Leslie may have been exhausted by the dictation - often impromptu and at unsociable hours - but it had to be done 'when it came', and he was apparently not keen on the book being published. Charles Beatty sought Joan out after 'Winged Pharaoh' was published - and he was far from alone in doing so, others did the same. Sensing a kindred spirit (Charles was apparently 'Zeb the Lion Boy') from 'Winged Pharaoh', Joan eloped with him and they were married on 14th March 1940.

Before meeting Joan, Charles had written a book of occult philosophy, 'The Garden of the Golden Flower', which was considered good enough to be published by Rider. Charles wrote an assortment of other books during his life including novels, biographies, and a classic 'metaphysical autobiography' to which, as a later exhibit shows, DW wrote an enthusiastic forward, saying he (Beatty) 'has walked in the footsteps of the Master' and 'In my long life I have met only one living saint - Charles Beatty'.

Charles may have been a saint, but he could be difficult. A big man, he was given to telling incessant jokes, and if for some reason he got a 'bee in his bonnet', he could be brusque to the point of rudeness with his guests.

In later life he was the curator of the Beaulieu Motor Museum and one of the first announcers on Radio Luxembourg.

Later on, Joan eloped with another person drawn to her because of her writings; psychiatrist and Old Carthusian Denys Kelsey. They married on 1st September 1960 and set up a clinic in the idyllic French village of Collonges-la-Rouge in the Corrèze region of France where they used a combination of hypnosis and Joan's insights in order to resolve patients' problems. Often these were diagnosed as coming from unresolved issues arising in past lives. Joan and Denys lectured in the U.S.A. and wrote a joint book on their experiences of treating mental illness with regression analysis entitled 'Many Lifetimes'.

References: Theosophical History Occasional Papers' Volume II (1993) contains Jean Overton
Fuller's account of her meeting with the Beattys on 133th May 1944, and her
assessment of Joan Grant's work. See page 9 re Leslie's reluctance to publish;
page 10 re Zeb the Lion boy and Beatty.

Provenance: Private Collection