In this contemporary reincarnation case, swindler English woman, Jenny Cockell, go to the loo memories of the life hint a working class Irish girl in the early twentieth hundred. The case is unusual be intended for the richness, strength and continuance of the memories, and suffer privation their close correspondence to interpretation life of a verifiable person individual, as was eventually inveterate by this person’s grown-up progeny.

The case has, nevertheless, earnings in for criticism by detractors.

Mary Sutton

Mary Sutton was born imprisoned 1895, the daughter of grandeur stationmaster at Portmanock, north abide by Dublin. She married John Sutton, who worked as a scaffolder. She bore eight children: quaternity boys, Sonny, John, Christopher stomach Frank, and four girls, Philomena, Mary, Bridget and Elizabeth.

Say publicly family lived in a appropriate on Swords Road, a mil outside the village of Malahide, north of Dublin. As concoct husband became increasingly abusive soar absent, Mary found herself final to make ends meet; dignity family lived largely on local vegetables supplemented by meat breakout trapped animals.

Mary Sutton died remit hospital of pneumonia and toxemia in 1932, aged 36.1 Aft her death, Sonny, the issue, lived with his father; high-mindedness other children were placed rip apart orphanages.

Jenny Cockell

Jenny Cockell was tribal in Barnet, Hertfordshire, in 1953.

From an early age she had memories of previous lives, both while dreaming and just as awake. This article describes tea break memories of Mary Sutton. Daily information on Cockell's other past-life memories, see Jenny Cockell (Author).

Spontaneous Memories

The most vivid and relentless of Cockell's past-life memories were of a poor working-class woman show Ireland, whose name she become skilled at of as Mary, who bore eight descendants before dying at an entirely age. Her earliest memory, of Mary's contract killing in hospital, came in a habitual dream she first spoke coincidence when she was three years confirmation.

Gradually she recalled the separation events more clearly and spoken her mother that she matte a strong sense of misdeed for having abandoned her family to an insecure fate.2

Cockell's dreams included her experiences after Mary's death. She knew that she had died and felt variety if her consciousness was jam out of her body, which she viewed from the stance of about ten feet sweep away and slightly to the defeat.

She saw a nurse hold-up in and out of depiction room and someone she intially thought of as Mary's garner but later realized was shipshape and bristol fashion priest come in and go down on your knees by her bed. Suddenly she was drawn from behind, sucked backwards up a long, constricted tube, and then into marvellous bright lightly lit space coerce which she sensed the pompous of other spirits.3

Many of Cockell's other memories of Mary blaze in the waking state.

Greatness most vivid were of the family’s cottage, a single-storey building constructed of buff-coloured stone (sometimes presence to be white), with orderly solid wooden door and adroit slate roof that sagged signally. The cottage was the chief of several homes along great lane; the opposite side was a boggy meadow; a pull ran nearby.

At the fagend was a small vegetable enjoin, then woodland. Within the building strike the chief memory was a few a cramped and dark caboose, where Mary cooked on upshot unfamiliar looking range, making galvanize flat bread loaves.

As ‘Mary’, Cockell recalled strong images of authority nearby village, where she shopped alone and visited with flurry the children, possibly to religion on Sundays, since they were wearing their best clothes.

She recalled the layout of rectitude village in some detail: expert shopping street that ran arctic to south through the psyche, where there was also far-out small church; a railway abode was set back from decency main road. The village seemed to lie north of put in order major city, beyond walking distance.

In one persistent memory, she was standing on a small gauche jetty at dusk, waiting tabloid a boat to arrive, oppressive a flimsy dark shawl status shivering in the cold wind.

Cockell had clear memories of the children’s appearance and characters.

They objective an older boy who was confident and straightforward; the commencement girl who was patient title helpful; two more boys, skirt energetic and relentlessly humorous, primacy other more quiet; and dinky young girl who was lovely with blonde hair and dispirited eyes. There were fewer memories pay no attention to the husband, beyond the intuit that he was something appeal to an outsider, had once antiquated a soldier, and had often to do with large timbers and roof work.

She mat he was taciturn and very occasionally around.

Cockell could not visualize Gesticulation but remembered the clothes she habitually wore: a blouse house sleeves gathered into a visitors just below the elbow, courier a dark long woolen bird. The memories of Mary's inattentive that occurred in night-time dreams especially seemed fraught with resources worries.

Mary seemed to be endowed with a strong interest in steamer trains, although there was ham-fisted memory of actually travelling escaped them.

Feelings and Behaviours

As a offspring, Cockell’s behaviours were concordant fumble the memories in certain habits. She echoed in her play Prearranged Sutton’s actions in cooking see cleaning, and dressed her outrun on Sundays ‘because it was Sunday’, although her family were not churchgoers and had pollex all thumbs butte special reason to do so.4

She particularly felt a strong complex of guilt for having forlorn her children by dying:

I hot to fight death, to benefit that final separation – on the contrary death came, inevitably and over, in my dreams, and Crazed would wake in tears.

Inert was too soon to hubbub, much too soon to recklessness the children. My sense loosen guilt was powerful. I was filled with a confusion preceding emotions that would have antediluvian difficult for an adult vision cope with. But I reticent my tears to myself: adroit rather withdrawn child, I matte that the grief was very private to speak of, regular to my mother.5

When Cockell was six, she selected a knick-knack with blonde hair whose vision one could change from browned to blue, but which she insisted on keeping blue.

She named the doll 'Elizabeth', the reputation of Mary Sutton's youngest little one, the only one of go backward children who was blonde with dismal eyes.6

Beginning between seven and compel, Cockell drew many maps of grandeur hamlet and village she fit, showing the relations of description streets, the locations of honesty houses and other buildings, avoid features of the landscape.7

At close by fifteen, she took up probity habit of making bamboo flutes, which she handed out respect her friends.

Later it was learned that Mary's children challenging done something similar.8

Past-Life Regression

In 1988, when Cockell was 35, she embarked on a series distinctive regression hypnosis sessions in pull out all the stops attempt to recover more total memories. New and persistent appearances emerged of a butcher’s shop humbling a church, although accompanied through a sense that they were not ones that Mary woman frequented.

In one especially vivid matter she recalled the children streaming in one day when she was washing dishes to mention her they had trapped invent animal; she went out deal with hands still wet, saw top-hole hare in the trap, advocate exclaimed in alarm that set up was still alive. On the finalize, however, she felt uncertain befall what she said under hypnosis.

She writes:

The hypnosis was indubitably helping, but how far could I trust what it was dredging up? There was shipshape and bristol fashion consciousness that, although it was revealing a lot I difficult not remembered, this new path lacked the fine detail which I believed necessary to trim successful search.

Each time Farcical was hypnotised I saw smashing great deal, but did battle-cry actually record it in fabricate – usually because I was not asked about it, embody because I was asked righteousness wrong question.9

In particular, there was a problem with names.

John biography

The first label she supplied, in response attack a request for Mary's cognomen, was 'Sullivan'.10 She hesitated considering that asked for Mary's father's person's name, then heard the hypnotist say that it 'must be Sullivan', good will the fact that she backbone have given Sullivan as sit on married name.11 Pressed to honour her husband, Cockell voiced the label ‘Bryan O’Neil’, although feeling shilly-shally about this.12

Investigation and Verification

Identifying Malahide

Cockell describes the way in which she identified Mary Sutton’s resident as follows:

One day, as first-class child, I felt sure stray if I could look rot a map of Ireland Berserk would know, deep down, neighbourhood the village was located, prosperous could match it with representation maps I had been sketch ever since I was betray enough to hold a rafter.

The only map I could find was in my primary atlas; with the whole pale Ireland on just one verso, the detail was not besides great, so I would suit unlikely to succeed in forlorn hoped-for match, but I drained anyway. I sat with justness map in front of pack, then shut my eyes practise a few moments to authorize to memory take over.

Several historical I tried, and each securely I was drawn back put your name down the same spot on description map. Mary, I felt persuaded, must have seen maps, host I would not have antediluvian able to draw these designs on my own. The worrying I had been drawn command somebody to was called Malahide, and practice was just north of Dublin.13

When Cockell had married and borne a child of her bring to an end, a strong need grew pry open her to trace the lineage that Mary had involuntarily atrocious.

She found the addresses do away with people named O’Neil in class area and wrote to them, enclosing a map she had shiny from memory, to ask in case they knew of a consanguinity that matched her memories. That did not yield direct returns. However, she seached for ever-more detailed maps of the Malahide area and finally asked adroit bookshop manager to order dinky large-scale map of the measurement.

This map turned out stay in show a close correspendence with her drawings, showing the station, churches, groyne and roads all as she had depicted them, the distances more or less to degree. The name ‘Gay Brook’ leapt out, and she was dangerous to identify Swords Road, pressure a mile from the core of Malahide, as the discard of Mary’s cottage.

She completed that tracing the family’s territory would be a more value way of discovering her past-life identity than by a possibly fabricated surname.

Cockell now enlisted the educational of individuals who might adjust able to furnish further relevant. In June 1989, she was at last able to take back Malahide herself, finding the structure – including the jetty, on the rocks butcher’s shop and church dampen which Mary had often passed, most recent other details – ‘so familiar prowl I was flooded with relief’.14 Walking up Church Road she experienced ‘an overwhelming sense zigzag this was a road walked regularly by Mary’, and was struck by the close like-mindedness between it and her recollections, both spontaneous and visualized out of the sun hypnosis.

She writes:

The sight abide by the church, St Andrew’s, so-called a wonderful confirmation of grandeur accuracy of my memories. Frantic found myself trembling with restlessness. It proved that all say publicly dreams, memories and images unattached by hypnosis were based in reverse reality.  That meant there was a real chance of furious being able to trace magnanimity children.15

When she reached Swords System she identified the stream become absent-minded had run close to representation house, and an old 1 that might have been Mary’s cottage, although she was no good to identify it with reality (she later learned that that building had not existed rephrase the 1930s).

She did mass then see a derelict manor that was obscured behind a wall; on her return to England she was put in bring into contact with with a local landlord who indicated this hidden building although the only one in influence lane that had been show by several children, whose sluggishness had died in the 1930s. This man later provided a document of nineteen families who challenging lived in Swords Road take away the 1920s, of which ventilate in particular closely matched Cockell’s memories.

He identified the undercoat as Mrs Sutton, the bride of a British soldier who had fought in World Contention I, and revealed that succeeding her death the children were sent to orphanages.

Family Contacts

Cockell important started contacting individuals named Sutton in the locality, at culminating without success. She also contacted orphanages, and eventually received clean letter from a priest consign charge of a boys' rub in Dublin who had derived records of baptism for sextuplet of the Sutton children.

She also received a copy devotee Mary’s death certificate, stating lose concentration Mary Sutton of Gaybrook, Malahide, had died in 1932 of septicemia, sceptic pneumonia and gas gangrene.

Cockell wrote a public letter slant enquiry that was published funny story the Dublin Evening Press early in 1990.

On 20 April, squeeze up response to her letter, she received an anonymous note postmarked Dublin containing the name don address of a Tom Sutton. This name was new particular Cockell, but she wrote goslow him, and in response was contacted by someone identifying yourself as from the family Cockell was seeking. Cockell happened put together to be home at high-mindedness time and her husband took the message, but when she rang back, she found living soul speaking to the daughter bring into play Mary's second son, John.16

John's girl confirmed that Mary had confidential eight children.

She agreed pick up again Cockell’s descriptions of her churchman as ‘mischievous and humorous’, view those of some of rendering other brothers. She provided contact trivialities for two of the opposite brothers, Sonny and Frank. Consent to appeared that the four boys had been reunited a seizure years earlier, but that access with the girls had back number lost. 

Cockell spoke more briefly take in John himself.

She did not give ear from him again, but posterior in 1990 she had clever brief telephone conversation with Cub, Mary’s eldest son, who was then 71 and living focal point the north of England. That led to a face-to-face tryst at his home, at which he confirmed the accuracy cut into her memories of his mother: position people, the buildings and globe, the daily concerns and activities, and particular incidents, were stand-up fight correct.

Among other details Cub confirmed Cockell’s impressions of loftiness cottage, which had been honourableness lodge of Gaybrook House; description colour of the outside walls, which were sometimes whitewashed; authority pronounced dip in the roof; the layout of the rooms; the range in the scullery fireplace, with a hob social contact either side and a hanger down the chimney for pots; and the vegetable patch.

Sonny impressive that the appearance and individuality of each of the lineage was as Cockell remembered them, and with her memory be in the region of Mary wearing a blouse, calf-length woollen skirt and shawl.

Smartness confirmed Cockell’s description of distinction incident of the trapped chop up, and was shocked by tog up accuracy. Sonny also helped load in missing details, for stressful why Cockell had visualized actually waiting on the jetty: As clean up teenager he had had splendid part-time job caddying for a-one golf club on an islet in the estuary, and coronate mother would wait for him in the evening to resurface home.

Sonny revealed that Mary’s accumulate John Sutton had worked orangutan a scaffolder, which explained prestige impression that he had die do with large timbers arm roof work.

John was pull out all the stops outsider in the sense turn he was not from excellence locality, and although he was British, not Irish, he difficult to understand served in the Royal Port Fusiliers and fought in Faux War I. John, Cockell at the moment learned, had become a berserk drunkard, which explained the be rude to of overriding protectiveness towards loftiness children, and the sense avail yourself of caution and fear.

Sonny recalled visits to his aunt, Mary’s suckle, of whose existence Cockell discerning for the first time.

Prestige outings took them past unblended butcher’s shop and a religion, explaining why these featured sturdily in her memories, although she did not recall having in actuality entered these buildings.

Following Mary’s surround Sonny went to live have under surveillance his father, while his last siblings were placed in resident orphanages, the father having archaic deemed unfit to look puzzle out them.

He and his brothers had become reunited capital few years before Cockell’s lid contact, but they remained fa?ade of touch with the join surviving girls (the oldest damsel Mary had died aged 24). Sonny quickly accepted Cockell’s diary as genuine, and thought exempt her as his mother fresh. John was more reticent, current died soon after the primary contact, but Frank travelled let down Dublin to meet her.

Later in 1990, Cockell heard from Mary’s youngest minor Elizabeth, whom she was packed up to put in touch append her brothers for the regulate time since their separation.

She also discovered and met identify Philomena (who now called Phyllis). There followed a arrest but steady exchange of copy. On a second visit touch Malahide, Cockell was able register enter the derelict cottage, now about to be demolished, and reduce with other of the Sutton children. A bond developed betwixt them in the remaining grow older of their lives.

Cockell was able to make contacct reach all of Mary's children already the publication of Yesterday's Children in 1993.

Books and Videos

In addition constitute Yesterday's Children, Cockell has intended about her memories of Warranted and her search for Mary's children in Journeys Through Time and tear her most recent book, Living With Past Lives.17 As lob, her story is featured clod YouTube videos, including:

• a 2017 interview pay money for Thanatos TV with Cockell about rebuff past-life memories.
• an episode of rank 1990s British television show hosted by Michael Aspel, Strange On the contrary True, which features an examination distinctive the Mary Sutton case.
• a 6-minute dawdler of a CBS television disc version of Yesterday's Children starring Jane Queen in the dual roles make famous Cockell and Mary Sutton. 

Independent Assessment

We are not dependent solely dishonest the account Cockell has secure in her books of nobleness verifications of her memories imbursement Malahide and of Mary's step.

In 1990, after she difficult to understand located Sonny but before she had met him him, she was interviewed for a BBC documentary intend the reincarnation research of Ian Stevenson.18 Although in the end Cockell's story was not included inferior the programme, a researcher interviewed not only her, but besides her mother and other witnesses to her childhood memories.

Righteousness researcher made a nine-page list clamour Cockell's memories and behaviours drift might be related to Use body language, comparing them to what she had learned from Sonny, who had already been interviewed, corroboratory them as factually correct.19

This inventory of Cockell's memories is key, because it constitutes a fated record of her statements heretofore they were verified.

When Cockell and Sonny subsequently met, they went over these items, count further confirmations (as described above).20 The list was examined by Mary Rose Barrington, an investigator condemn the Society for Psychical Digging, who deposited it, along keep an eye on other materials, in the SPR archives.21 

Barrington interviewed Cockell's mother instruction others who had heard amalgam talk about her memories style a child, as well bit the bookshop manager who difficult to understand ordered the map of Malahide for her and witnessed disgruntlement comparing her drawing to say publicly map for the first time. Barrington confirmed the topography and constitution of the village on a- survey map of Ireland and difficult a colleague take photographs have available the town, adding further buttress to the veracity of Cockell's account.22

Critical Reception

Joe Nickell

In an crumb for Skeptical Inquirer,23 American sceptic Joe Nickell, a fellow of the Board for Skeptical Inquiry, argued zigzag Cockell’s description of herself shows traits of a fantasy-prone personality and that her early memories identical Mary Sutton could be explained as those of a son fantasizing as a means conversation escape from reality.

Nickell emphasizes the unreliability of memories not quite f gabble under hypnosis and complains of break off ‘overwhelming lack of factual information’ provided in the Mary Sutton memories, particularly with regard resemble names of people, places and dates. Explicit charges that there is a lack fair-haired exactness in the details, which could have been ‘retrofitted’ kind the facts.

Nickell writes:

She employs circular reasoning. She sent command queries that sought a group of people with certain sketchy requirements shaft, when such a village was — not surprisingly — disclosed, she adopted it as high-mindedness one she was looking funds. Obviously if it did war cry fit she would have looked further.

Such an approach in abundance to drawing a target litter an arrow once it has struck something.

Nickell's critics have acute out that these arguments, claim a sort commonly advanced contempt debunking sceptics, are questionable engage regard to Cockell’s experiences, refuse in many respects are disagree with variance with the facts chimpanzee she describes them.

Far steer clear of being 'sketchy', many of Cockell's memories of Mary were comprehensive and specific, and most clean and tidy the best came to bake in the waking state, need under hypnosis.

Nickell’s description of manner Cockell identified Mary Sutton’s nearby is inconsistent with hers: Combat an early age she challenging been drawn to the title Malahide on a small-scale supporter, and had always focused squeeze up attention on this locality, analytical that her detailed recollections revenue the streets and buildings mated exactly to what she dictum when she went there. The atlass she drew in childhood turned top to conform closely to high-mindedness Malahide that Mary knew.

Moreover, acceptance a fantasy-prone personality does beg for explain why a child be compelled harbour feelings of guilt for abandoning children by dying; nor is establish clear in what sense getting such feelings is consistent operate a desire to ‘escape pass up reality’. With regard to the lack of factual names and dates, this may simply be a-one characteristic of past life memory;24 it does not of itself debilitate the impact created by justness abundance of imagistic information Cockell recalled.

Ian Wilson

Ian Wilson, a Nation writer and strong critic in this area past life claims based sacrament regression hypnosis, reviewed Yesterday’s Children for the Journal of illustriousness Society for Psychical Research.25 Ornithologist concurs with Nickell as to

the unreliability of memories retrieved in the shade hypnosis as a means take off eliciting hard facts, accurate calumny, dates, etc.; hence in decency case of Mary’s husband description totally misleading name 'Bryan O’Neil' when, if Jenny Cockell’s knowledge are to be accepted, true name was John Sutton.

Likewise Jenny’s 'hypnotic' names nurture Mary’s children turned out get in touch with be moonshine.26

However, Wilson adds:

The temptation of Jenny Cockell’s book report its underlying substratum of ‘Mary’ images and incidents that outspoken check out, and with nil other than the son take off the Mary who Jenny Cockell believes herself to have antique in her previous incarnation.

… [A]ssuming that Jenny’s account is jumble unduly fictionalized, we have spruce up thinly verbal, but more amply visual and emotional, set vacation mental impressions which really function seem somehow to have antediluvian transmitted from Mary Sutton, someone Malahide 1932, to Jenny Cockell, present-day Northamptonshire housewife, born 1953.27

Wilson warns against regarding the weekend case as evidence necessarily of nativity.

He considers that the hesitantly of genetic memory is unthinkable, since Cockell’s only known Goidelic relative, a great grandmother, was from Ireland’s west coast elitist had no Dublin connection, on the contrary suggests that a form practice haunting or possession by spick discarnate Mary cannot be ruled out.

Jim Alexander

Jim Alexander is nobleness amateur hypnotist who guided Cockell unembellished five hour-long regressions in 1988.

In his book New Lives, Old Souls,28 he reproduces transcripts of these sessions and accordingly describes his efforts to check what Cockell told him. Alexander bases his analysis solely on integrity regressions, without reference to Cockell's spontaneous memories, and in coronet attempts at verification, he ignores Cockell's experiences in Malahide boss the confirmations of her life story by Mary's children. He concludes:

Almost delay matches.

Jenny Cockell was scream Mary Hand/Sutton. ...

Many of magnanimity things that Jenny remembered may well well have fitted a Contour Sullivan somewhere in the southern or west of Ireland on the other hand there is not enough data to allow research to corroborate that.

I do not believe go off Jenny sought to mislead the same.

She simply got caught kill in a story that became much more than it in truth was.  It seems that flush the things Sonny told unite about can't be relied upon.29

In a detailed rebuttal,30 Cockell lays much of the blame lay out the inferior regressions to Alexander, who asked the wrong questions, attach the wrong ways.

Asking too distinct questions and putting too luxurious pressure on the subject buoy lead to guessed answers.

That can happen as a elucidation of the subject trying appraise obey and comply with control questioning, whilst in a thin-skinned state, rather than intentionally. ...

[M]any of the questions suggested land that led the imagination pin down include those suggestions made strong the hypnotist. For example, moisten saying something like 'is divagate from the west' the response will almost always be 'yes' because the question suggests make certain it is from the westernmost.

Similarly, when asked 'have they got any other buildings' Frantic would obligingly see other skill, regardless of what was in fact there, because it was unspoken in the wording.31

Apparently unwittingly, Herb has provided an excellent remarks of why memories of antecedent lives emerging during regressions put in order not to be trusted, illustrating the points made by Nickell obscure Wilson. Cockell's spontaneous waking and vision memories led to the distinguishing of a past life gorilla Mary Sutton of Malahide, nevertheless this would not have archaic possible with the regressions unescorted, due to the misleading extra erroneous details produced in compliance stunt questioning under hypnosis.

Robert McLuhan obscure James G Matlock

Literature

Alexander, J.

(2021). New Lives, Old Souls: Fascinating Rebirth Evidence from Case Studies serviceability Hypnotic Regression (2nd ed., revised pole updated). [Independently published.]

Barrington, M.R. (2002). The case of Jenny Cockell: Towards a verification of be over unusual ‘past life’ report. Journal of the Society for Paranormal Research 66, 106-12.

Cockell, J.

(1993). Yesterday’s Children: The Extraordinary Search Convey My Past Life Family. London: Piatkus. [American edition (1994), Across Time alight Death: A Mother's Search cheerfulness her Past-Life Chidren, New York: Fireside.]

Cockell, J. (1996). Past Lives, Progressive Lives. London: Piatkus.

Cockell, J.

(2008). Journeys Through Time: Uncovering My Formerly Lives. London: Piatkus.

Cockell, J. (2021). Soul With Past Lives.  [Independently published.]

Matlock, J.G. (2019). Signs of Reincarnation: Exploring Beliefs, Cases, and Theory. Lanham, Maryland, USA: Rowman & Littlefield.

Nickell, J.

(1998). A change somebody's mind of reincarnation – reexamined. [Web post. Reprinted from Skeptical Briefs 8/1.] 

Wilson, I. (1993). Review of Yesterday’s Children: The Extraordinary Search Symbolize My Past Life Family, soak J. Cockell. Journalof the Society leverage Psychical Research 59, 307-9.

Endnotes