(Walter) Basil Hodgson-Smith (1887-1929) was born in the spa town of Harrogate, Yorkshire, on 8 March 1887. His father, Alfred Hodgson-Smith (1848-1935), had been the captain of a small ship but became a stationer; his mother was Emily Ann Smith. The family history is made a little difficult to trace because the father’s original name was Hodgson Alfred Smith (as is found in his 1935 probate documents) and he was the son of Hodgson Smith (Hodgson being the first name). Just when the hyphenated name was acquired is unclear.
Alfred Hodgson-Smith was the President of the Harrogate Lodge of the Theosophical Society. He had four children: Bertha, Hilda Mary, Leslie Margaret and Walter Basil.
Basil met Leadbeater when he was 8 years old. I do not think I have come across any other boy who, under Theosophical influence, particularly that of his comrade and friend C. W. Leadbeater, developed more rapidly with the spirit of service. The boy was nine years old and the elder nearly fifty when they met in 1896, A very close of deep affection developed at once between the older worker and the boy. From the occult standpoint the boy had high possibilities of Discipleship, as he had already made strong links in past lives with the Master K. H. C. Jinarajadasa in C.W. Leadbeater The Soul’s Growth Through Reincarnation IV, V, VI The Lives of Ursu, Vega and Eudox Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1948:77-78
Basil lived with Leadbeater at the Theosophical Headquarters at Avenue Road in London till its lease was sold by Mrs. Besant. Leadbeater and Basil then moved to Ealing, sharing a house with Dr Arthur Wells, and Jinarajadasa, although the latter was at Cambridge for most of the year. Another Theosophist, Ferdinand T. Brooks, stayed with Leadbeater for several months, occupying Jinarajadasa’s room, and engaging in conversations with Leadbeater who “dropped hints about occult development”, and also investigated Brooks’ past lives, although these were not published. Brooks described Basil as “Leadbeater’s boy-companion of the time”.
Basil appears as the hero of Leadbeater’s Invisible Helpers, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1896, assisting Leadbeater on the astral plane at night, under the pseudonym of “Cyril”. As Leadbeater described it: Among our band of helpers here in Europe are two who were brothers long ago in ancient Egypt, and are still warmly attached to one another. In this present incarnation there is a wide difference in age between them, one being advanced in middle life [Leadbeater], while the other was at that time a mere child in the physical body [“Cyril”, that is, Basil], though an ego of considerable advancement and promise. Naturally it falls to the lot of the elder to train and guide the younger in the occult work to which they are so heartily devoted, and as both are fully conscious and active on the astral plane they spend most of the time during which their grosser bodies are asleep in labouring together under the direction of their common Master, and giving to both living and dead such help as is within their power. C.W. Leadbeater Invisible Helpers Theosophical Book Concern, Los Angeles, 1915:42 – available in digital form on-line at: https://archive.org/details/invisiblehelper00leadgoog
In May 1896 Leadbeater arranged for Basil to spend the night in Leadbeater’s bedroom so that the Master Koot Hoomi could make a thorough examination of his psychic bodies.
Subsequently. Leadbeater examined Basil’s previous lives, with Alfred Hodgson-Smith taking notes. Basil was given the “star name” Vega. See: C.W. Leadbeater The Soul’s Growth Through Reincarnation IV, V, VI The Lives of Ursu, Vega and Eudox Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1948.
An incident from this period was recalled by Jinarajadasa:
One of the most eventful incidents in Basil’s life was his receiving as a boy the gift from the Master of His miniature. The Master had two miniatures painted on ivory by one of His pupils who was an English lady, a portrait-painter. He sat for the painting, which was done in Tibet, near Shigatse in the Master’s house. The two miniatures were exactly similar; one was intended for Basil, and the other for myself. After the miniatures were ready, they were both transferred phenomenally to London on February 7, 1898. Basil was in London, at the
London Headquarters. I was in Cambridge at the time and came down the next day to London to receive my miniature. Mrs. Besant has noted down the incident in her diary briefly: “Pictures came”. She gave us the silver cases in which they are now.
C.W. Leadbeater The Soul’s Growth Through Reincarnation IV, V, VI The Lives of Ursu, Vega and Eudox Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1948:80-81
The “English lady, a portrait-painter” concerned was Isabelle Varley (1847-1938). A more detailed account of how the miniatures were produced can be found in Joseph E. Ross in “Portraits of the Brothers and How They Were Made” in Fohat Fall, 1999:59-60.
Basil received no traditional schooling, being tutored by Leadbeater. From 1900, Basil accompanied Leadbeater on tours of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Java and India. Following the sex scandals in the USA in 1906, Basil and Leadbeater seem to have separated, however Basil remained in contact with Mrs Besant. He was living in London while preparing himself to a seek admission to Oxford, a challenging task given his lack of formal education.
While at University he served with the Officer Training Corps. His links with Mrs Besant remained strong during his university years: between November 1912 and April 1913 he acted as a bodyguard at a lodge in Ashdown Forest, Sussex, for Krishnamurti and his brother.
In 1910 he became a Freemason in the Apollo University Lodge at Oxford.
He was a student at Mortimer College, Oxford, and graduated BA 1913, MA 1919.
Joined the Royal West Kent Regiment in 1914 and was severely wounded in 1917, remaining a prisoner of war until 1918. In 1919 he married Ethel Dorothy Stevens (1879-1952) in London.
According to Jinarajadasa, Basil died in 1929 as the result of the “great cloud of sadness” which hung over him from his past lives and therefore lost the will to live. The great promise of his early years, and the predictions of the Masters, thus came to nought. [C. Jinarajadasa EST [Letter], 1951:6]
See Michael Durey “Captain Basil Hodgson-Smith, Theosophy and the Battles of Salamis (480BC) and Cambrai (1917AD)” https://www.bing.com/search?q=%22Captain%20Basil%20Hodgson-Smith%2C%20Theosophy%20and%20the%20Battles%20of%20Salamis%20%22&pc=cosp&ptag=C96A9C7EDF55B3&form=CONMHP&conlogo=CT3210127
A brief biography of Basil by Jinarajadasa is found in: C.W. Leadbeater The Soul’s Growth Through Reincarnation IV, V, VI The Lives of Ursu, Vega and Eudox Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1948:78-87 – available in digital form on-line at: https://archive.org/details/soulsgrowththrou032289mbp
C.W. LEADBEATER 