Two Cousins, Five Photographs, and a Famous Hoax
Free with an account
The EPUB is free. Create a HistorIQly account and it downloads straight to your device.
Sign in to downloadCreate a free accountFree account, no card needed. Already have one? Sign in
Your account is ready — enjoy the read.
Download the EPUBFree for everyone with a HistorIQly account.
All EPUBs are in English. Translations are coming.
In the summer of 1917, two cousins borrowed a camera, went down to the bottom of their garden, and came back with a photograph that seemed to show fairies dancing by a stream.
Within three years, Sherlock Holmes’s creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, defended the pictures in a magazine. Other readers suspected paper figures.
The photographs were staged. In 1983, the cousins finally explained the paper props behind a story that had lasted more than sixty years.
1917
Two cousins — Elsie Wright, about sixteen, and Frances Griffiths, about nine or ten — photograph "fairies" in their garden in Cottingley, Yorkshire. They used drawn paper figures held in place with hatpins.
5
Five photographs taken between 1917 and 1920: four showing supposed fairies and one showing a supposed gnome.
Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, defended the pictures.
Over 60 Years
Elsie and Frances did not confess until 1983.
The Evidence
The Five Photographs
Two pictures were made in 1917 and three in 1920. Some examiners supported them; others suspected staging. A photograph without darkroom changes can still record paper props.
Making Paper Props
Paper, scissors and pins in an imagined crafting scene. The illustration shows a possible staging method; it does not reproduce the cousins’ original cutouts or source book.
A camera can record a staged scene
Demonstration with a paper star — not a historical fairy picture. The method illustrates staging; no original photograph or cutout is reproduced.
How the Hoax Unfolded
The First Photograph
Elsie and Frances borrow Arthur Wright's camera and take the first fairy photograph at Cottingley Beck. Arthur develops the glass plate and suspects a trick. Gardner later dated this picture to July; the exact day is unknown.
The Second Photograph
A second photograph shows Elsie with a gnome. Gardner later dated it to September. Arthur remains sceptical; Polly becomes interested.
The Meeting
Polly shares the pictures through people interested in the Theosophical Society. Accounts differ on the meeting date; a museum study citing Crawley places a fairy-life talk in January 1920. By 1920 Gardner and Conan Doyle were involved.
The Strand Magazine
Conan Doyle publishes the first photographs in The Strand Magazine. The cousins had taken three more that summer. His support brings the pictures to a wider audience.
The Book
Conan Doyle publishes The Coming of the Fairies. The book preserves his arguments. The cousins do not publicly explain their props.
The Confession
Now elderly women, both Elsie and Frances finally admit the truth: the fairies were paper cutouts. But Frances insists the fifth photograph was real — and never changes her mind.
The People in This Story
Elsie Wright
About sixteen when the first pictures were made in 1917. Her drawing and photographic experience helped her create paper figures that a camera could record convincingly.
Frances Griffiths
About nine or ten when the first pictures were made in 1917. Later she acknowledged staging four photographs, while defending the fifth until her death in 1986.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Creator of Sherlock Holmes and a supporter of spiritualism. He accepted the photographs and helped publicise them. Expertise in writing did not settle a claim about photographic evidence.
The Question That Remains
Elsie said all five pictures were faked. Frances acknowledged four staged photographs but defended the fifth. Their different accounts are evidence to compare, rather than a reason to guess their private thoughts.
We cannot know her private reasons. Elsie said all five were faked, and the cutout method explains the staged pictures. A disagreement alone does not provide evidence of living fairies.
Read the full book to investigate the key clues and competing explanations — then decide for yourself.
FREEGet the Full Book
The complete Cottingley Fairies mystery. 9 chapters about photographs, paper props and the checks that separate a striking image from a supported claim.
Part of the Hoaxes Volume
From fake fossils to trick photographs, we investigate the greatest hoaxes in history — and ask how clever people were fooled for so long.
See all books in this volume →Keep investigating
Check the evidence
What the evidence supports
The cousins used drawn paper figures and hatpins to stage fairy photographs: two in 1917 and three in 1920. The museum preserves Elsie’s 17 February 1983 letter explaining the trick.
Where to be careful
Shooting days and the first fairy-talk date need caution: a museum study citing Crawley gives January 1920, conflicting with commonly repeated 1919. Elsie said all five pictures were faked; Frances defended the fifth. That disagreement does not establish living fairies or reveal her private reasons.
Explore the sources
These selected sources support this guide and offer further reading. Some are written for adults; explore them with a parent or teacher.
- National Science and Media Museum: The story of the Cottingley fairies
- Conan Doyle: The Coming of the Fairies (1922)
- Science Museum Group Journal: Power at play in paranormal history
The story and illustrations are modern retellings. Imagined scene details are not historical evidence. These sources are a starting point, not citations for every narrative detail.
Evidence guide reviewed .