‘The Mists Which Shroud these Questions’: Mabel St Clair Stobart, the First World War and Faith

During the Great War, Mabel St Clair Stobart made a name for herself by becoming the first woman to lead a hospital unit to the front line. The experience had a profound effect on her thinking. In the years that followed the war she became an active leader in British spiritualism, promoting the faith as she once promoted the cause. This article explores the connections between war and the development of spiritualist faith for Stobart, drawing on her writings on both topics, published and unpublished. It also places her experience within the wider contexts of the development of spiritualism and the impact of war.