32 Facts About Helen Duncan

Victoria Helen McCrae Duncan was a Scottish medium best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act 1735 for fraudulent claims.

Helen Duncan was famous for producing ectoplasm which was proven to be made from cheesecloth.

Victoria Helen MacFarlane was born in Callander, Perthshire on 25 November 1897, the daughter of Archibald McFarlane, a slater, and Isabella Rattray.

An early examination of pieces of Helen Duncan's ectoplasm revealed it was made of cheesecloth, paper mixed with the white of egg and lavatory paper stuck together.

One of Helen Duncan's tricks was to swallow and regurgitate some of her ectoplasm, and she was persuaded to swallow a tablet of methylene blue before one of her seances by the LSA committee to rule out any chance of this trick being performed, and because of this no ectoplasm appeared.

Helen Duncan was suspected of swallowing cheesecloth which was then regurgitated as "ectoplasm".

Helen Duncan 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.

Helen Duncan's husband went up to her and told her it was painless.

Helen Duncan jumped up and gave him a smashing blow on the face which sent him reeling.

In reply, Dr William Brown turned to Mr Helen Duncan and asked him to turn out his pockets.

Helen Duncan refused and would not allow us to search him.

Helen Duncan frequently had nosebleeds during seances; William Brown suggested that this was another of Helen Duncan's hiding places for her fake ectoplasm.

The spiritualist journal Light endorsed the court decision that Helen Duncan was fraudulent and supported Price's investigation that revealed her ectoplasm was cheesecloth.

Helen Duncan's husband was suspected of acting as her accomplice by hiding her fake ectoplasm.

Researcher Graeme Donald wrote that Helen Duncan could have easily found out about HMS Barham and she had no genuine psychic powers.

In short, news of the sinking spread like wildfire; Helen Duncan simply picked up the gossip and decided to turn it into profit.

Helen Duncan was found to be in possession of a mocked-up HMS Barham hat-band.

Helen Duncan was initially arrested under section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824, a minor offence tried by magistrates.

Helen Duncan's trial for fraudulent witchcraft was a minor cause celebre in wartime London.

The trial was complicated by the fact that a police raid on the seance in Portsmouth, leading to the arrest of Helen Duncan, yielded no physical evidence of the fraudulent use of cheesecloth, and was therefore based entirely on witness testimony, the majority of which denied any wrongdoing.

Helen Duncan was barred by the judge from demonstrating her alleged powers as part of her defence against being fraudulent.

The jury brought in a guilty verdict on count one, and the judge then discharged them from giving verdicts on the other counts, as he held that they were alternative offences for which Helen Duncan might have been convicted had the jury acquitted her on the first count.

Helen Duncan was imprisoned for nine months, Brown for four months and the Homers were bound over.

In 1944, Helen Duncan was one of the last people convicted under the Witchcraft Act 1735, which made falsely claiming to procure spirits a crime.

On her release in 1945, Helen Duncan promised to stop conducting seances, but she was arrested during another one in 1956.

Helen Duncan died at her home in Edinburgh a short time later.

Helen Duncan died at her home in Edinburgh, on 6 December 1956, a short time after another seance.

Helen Duncan's Opponents condemned her mediumship out of hand while her supporters took up the opposite position.

Helen Duncan criticized the spiritualist press such as Psychic News for biased reporting and distorting facts.

Descendants and supporters of Helen Duncan have campaigned on several occasions to have her posthumously pardoned of witchcraft charges.

Helen Duncan's supporters maintain a website and online petition where they continue to campaign for her pardon.

Helen Duncan with alleged ectoplasm figure made from a coat-hanger, cloth and a mask.