Helen Duncan

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For the New Zealand politician, see Helen Duncan (politician).

Helen Duncan (November 25, 1897 – December 6, 1956) was a Scottish medium, best known as the last person to be convicted under the British Witchcraft Act of 1735.

Duncan was born in Callander, Stirling, northwest of Stirling, in November, 1897. The daughter of a cabinet-maker, she made her name as a medium by offering seances in which she appeared to summon the spirits of recently deceased persons by emitting ectoplasm from her mouth. A mother of six and the wife of a wounded veteran, she also worked part-time in a bleach factory.

In 1931, Duncan's method was examined by the London Spiritual Alliance. After an initial positive review, the Alliance denounced her as a fraud. Harry Price (director of the National Laboratory of Psychical Research) was also sceptical and had Helen perform a number of test seances. She was suspected of swallowing cheesecloth which was then regurgitated as 'ectoplasm'. She reacted violently at attempts to x-ray her, running from the laboratory and making a scene in the street, where her husband had to restrain her, destroying the controlled nature of the test. Her defenders claimed to have witnessed events that could not be explained by trickery.

In 1934, during a seance in Edinburgh, a sitter made a grab at one of her materialisations. The police were called, and the "spirit" was then alleged to be a stockinette undervest. She was found guilty of fake mediumship at Edinburgh Sheriffs Court and sentenced to a £10 fine or one month in prison. Duncan's apologists have later claimed that the verdict was not "guilty" but the Scottish verdict of not proven. But if this were the case, she would not have been sentenced.

During World War II, Duncan held a seance in Portsmouth at which she indicated knowledge that HMS Barham had been sunk. Because this fact had been kept from the public, the British Admiralty chose to attempt to discredit her. Police arrested her after another seance. She was initially arrested under section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824, a minor offence tried by magistrates. However, the authorities regarded the case as more serious, and eventually discovered section 4 of the Witchcraft Act 1735 which was triable before a jury. Charged alongside her for conspiracy to contravene this Act were Ernest and Elizabeth Homer, who operated the Psychic centre in Portsmouth, and Frances Brown, who was Duncan's agent who went with her to set up séances. There were seven counts in total, two of conspiracy to contravene the Witchcraft Act, two of obtaining money by false pretences, and three of public mischief (a common law offence).

The seeming overzealousness of this prosecution may be explained by the mood of near-paranoia surrounding the impending D-Day. There were also concerns that she was exploiting the recently-bereaved. It should be noted that the government did not believe she had practised witchcraft; the 1735 statute covers fraudulent "spiritual" activity.

Duncan's trial for witchcraft was a minor cause célèbre in wartime London. A number of prominent people, among them Alfred Dodd, testified that they were convinced that she was authentic. Duncan was however, barred by the Judge from demonstrating her alleged powers as part of her defence against being fraudulent. In a memo to the home secretary, the PM fulminated about the "obsolete tomfoolery" of the charge. However, he could not prevent a guilty verdict on count one. The Judge then discharged the jury from giving verdicts on the other counts, as he held that they were alternative offences for which Duncan might have been convicted had the jury acquitted her on count one. Duncan was jailed for nine months.

On her release, Duncan promised to stop conducting seances; however, she was arrested after another one in 1956. She died a short time later.

Duncan's trial almost certainly contributed to the repeal of the Witchcraft Act, which was contained in the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 promoted by Walter Monslow, Labour Member of Parliament for Barrow-in-Furness. The campaign to repeal the Act had largely been led by Thomas Brooks, another Labour MP, who was spiritualist. However, her original conviction still stood, and a campaign to have her posthumously pardoned continues.

[edit] References

"The Trial of Mrs Duncan", edited by C.E. Bechhofer Roberts (Jarrolds, London, 1945)
"Harry Price: The Psychic Detective' by Richard Morris (Sutton 2006)