The Theosophical Society with its international headquarters in Pasadena, California, USA, is (quoting its account of its own history) the successor to the Theosophical Society in America establish by W. Q. Judge after his break with Colonel Olcott and Mrs Besant and the Theosophical Society with headquarters in Adyar. There were disputes regarding the succession of leadership following Judge, but, for the Theosophical Society, Pasadena, Judge was succeeded by Katherine Tingley (1847-1929), and under her the Society became best known for its substantial work and headquarters at Point Loma, San Diego, California.
Tingley was succeeded by Gottfried de Purucker (1874-1942), Arthur Conger (1872-1951), James Long (1888-1971), Grace Knoche (1909-2006) and, currently, Randell Grubb. http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ts/h_tshist.htm
The Society has a substantial publishing program, specifically works of or based on the works of Blavatsky and Judge, and is notable for range of publications that is makes available at no charge on-line: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ts/tup-onl.htm
It maintains a very substantial library:
Theosophical Library Center, 2416 N. Lake Avenue, Altadena, California 91001 USA Phone: (626) 798-8020, 798-3378 (If no answer, 797-7817) Email: tslibrary@theosociety.org
Although its website does not disclose the fact, the Society also has a very extensive archives with material from the period of Judge onwards. The material on Leadbeater relates specifically to the American “troubles” of 1906 and the later development of the Liberal Catholic Church and the emergence of what Katherine Tingley referred to as the “neo-theosophy” of Leadbeater and Besant. Katherine Tingley collected material on Leadbeater in this regard, and wrote and published criticisms of him.
The Theosophical Society, P.O. Box C, Pasadena, California 91109-7107 USA Telephone: (626) 797-7817 Email: tstec@theosociety.org
I had the opportunity of staying at the headquarters of the Pasadena Society as the guest of its then Leader, Grace Knoche, and received very generous hospitality and assistance from her and her colleagues, as well as access to the excellent Library. Given that I had no interest in the history of the Society as such, nor of the “succession disputes” within it, I was permitted to consult all the material in its archives relevant to Leadbeater, his associates and his activities.
One of the early members of the Society was Joseph H. Fusell, former secretary of William Q. Judge, who published a number of works attacking Leadbeater, including Mrs. Annie Besant and the Moral Code: A Protest (1909), which pamphlet deals with the scandals surrounding Leadbeater, and Mrs Annie Besant and the Leadbeater Advice (1913).
It was correspondence from Fussell in 1917 and again in 1922 that sought to draw the attention of the Police in New South Wales to Leadbeater’s alleged sexual activities, resulting in the Police enquiries in the 1920s. I was able to consult all the material relevant to these matters in the Pasadena archives.
C.W. LEADBEATER 