The primary interest in Helen Duncan's mediumship invariably gravitates towards her trial in 1944 and subsequent imprisonment. While these events are obviously of considerable importance, the concentration given to them may be somewhat disproportionate and consequently, Helen's actual mediumship is possibly only seen as an accompaniment to the period. Therefore, in writing the following, I will concentrate on the subject of Helen Duncan, her mediumship, and its development: in doing so, I am particularly grateful to Gena Brealey, one of Helen's daughters, and Kay Hunter for their excellent work, The Two Worlds of Helen Duncan. Helen was born Victoria Helen McCrae MacFarlane on 25 November 1897. As a child there were signs of what was to follow in later years, i.e. her reference to people, by name, who had died years before, and her statements that she could both see and hear them: as so often happens in such cases, she was chided and rebuked. When her schooling finished, she went to Dundee to work in the mills, although at the outbreak of the First World War, Helen volunteered for work that would assist the war effort, but already overweight and in poor health, she was rejected. Nonetheless, possibly through suffering poor health herself and thereby realizing its effect on people's lives, she took up work in nursing. It was during this time that Helen met Henry Duncan, a soldier who had been injured. Henry had a strong belief in post-mortem survival and he became aware that the young Helen possessed mediumistic abilities; he explained to her the meaning of some of the things she had experienced in her life. Their friendship led to marriage on 27 May 1916, and the young medium became "Helen Duncan": a name that would be later firmly inscribed in Spiritualism's history. Shortly after moving to Edinburgh, Helen once again suffered from the blight of poor health. As Henry also had difficulty finding work, the young couple returned to Dundee where Henry was able to find employment. At this stage Henry became determined to develop his wife's mediumistic abilities and the couple began testing these using objects to psychometrise. It was not long before Helen became entranced and a communicator, calling himself Dr Williams, spoke independently of Helen. The communicator chastised Henry for concentrating on psychometry and advised him regarding the development of Helen's obvious talents. It was decided that a circle be formed and it would meet on Thursday evenings; at these gatherings, the circle was given instructions by Dr Williams, one of which was that: 'They were never to accept anything at face value, but always question anyone claiming to come from the world of spirit, asking for evidence and proof which could be verified. In addition to the hardships that Helen and Henry were experiencing, more were to follow when Henrietta, their third child was born severely disabled; she was only thirteen months old when she later died. The result was Henry suffering a complete breakdown in health. Following this, fate was not prepared to leave the Duncans alone as Isabella, their eldest child, was attacked by a wild animal and suffered disfiguring facial injuries (Helen and Henry had a total of nine children, three of whom died in childbirth). Hardship continued to make its mark on the Duncan household, and with Henry unable to work, Helen had to take up various types of part-time work to provide for the family and this led her, still unwell herself, to take up demanding work for which she had to begin at 5am. It was in this period when Helen became aware of her healing skills, and despite her own serious health problems, she continued this work, even though she would often take on the ailments of those she was trying to heal. Notwithstanding all the turmoil and strain in their lives, the Duncans decided to persevere with their Thursday circle. In this, development was slow but successful: 'Due to the sincerity and psychic ability of the sitters, materialisation was slowly being achieved. A hand would sometimes appear on the small table in the corner, and a head which was recognised by one of the sitters as his father, appeared more than once'. In time, full materializations joined the circle although in the early stages, the forms were rudimentary and it was clear that much more work needed to be done; moreover, there was violent activity that directed the circle to be more discerning and careful about what they did. Dr Williams communicated and advised that a cabinet was necessary and this would aid Helen's development and the circle was also told to acquire a red light and a trumpet. Despite all their family responsibilities and hardships, the Duncans continued and this eventually produced the desired outcome: 'Voices were now coming through each week. Indeed, sometimes two or three voices could be heard talking at the same time. The trumpet would circle the room at great speed'. In time, a second trumpet was brought in for use at the circle, and both would move around simultaneously, and be used by different communicators to speak to different sitters at the same time. It was during one such occasion that the circle witnessed the formation of ectoplasm emerging from the cabinet where Helen was seated, entranced; as they watched enthralled, a rod of ectoplasm appeared and Dr Williams told one of the sitters to test its strength which he duly did, even balancing it between two chairs and sitting on it. In addition to the new development, the séances included the manifestation of lights. At this time, the materializations were still in a basic stage and Dr Williams explained this was purely for testing in order to perfect the process. However, as time went on, 'the materialised forms began to take on a proper physical appearance, and began to appear less artificial or unreal'. Subsequently, after a period of difficulty with a control called Donald, another, called Albert Stewart, took on this role. In 1931, Helen gave sittings at the LSA (London Spiritualist Alliance); one sitter, a physician, reported seeing Albert aside Helen and other materializations, including a small child. Furthermore, 'standing under the red light, ectoplasm was pouring out of the medium's mouth almost up to the floor, after which it was reabsorbed'. Nonetheless, as Cassirer notes, events during the series resulted in the LSA reports ending on a sour note. Disturbed in this period, Helen encountered the 'psychic investigator' Harry Price and she was, not surprisingly, disturbed by his outlook and manner of working. According to Tabori, Price attended four séances, the last of which ended in uproar with Price wanting to X-ray. Price subsequently accused Helen of fraud saying that the ectoplasm was produced by regurgitating material from within her body. This accusation was published in his Regurgitation and the Duncan Mediumship (NLPR, 1931).In fact, as noted, after carrying out a thorough examination, 'he admitted that examination had failed to disclose anything'. The report obviously had some detrimental effect on Helen, but fortunately there were some, hardly sympathetic to physical mediumship, who would not associate themselves with Price and his report: Cassirer notes how the Journal of the American Society of Psychical Research refused to publish Price's notes. After gaining a diploma from the Psychic Union, the Duncans moved to Edinburgh and Helen began journeying to the different churches to demonstrate her mediumship. To no great surprise, it did not take long before Helen was the target of those who rejected the idea of mediumship and that she could facilitate communication between the two worlds. At a séance in a Glasgow Spiritualist church, Albert advised that Helen should take great care later that day; after the séance had ended, Helen travelled to an address in order that she might give a sitting to a group of people, this having been arranged after someone had written to Helen about having a séance with her. After the séance began and Helen had become entranced, she awoke to find herself being handled by one of the sitters who was accusing her of fraud. The sitter then went on to say that the police had been called and produced a vest that she claimed had been used by Helen to produce Peggy, a child guide. Despite Helen's vociferous, and somewhat colourful protestations, the police arrived and Helen was cautioned and then charged with fraud. Her trial began on May 3, 1933 and was held at the Edinburgh court, lasting two days; at this she was accused of fraudulently materializing the forms of the dead. In their book, Brealey and Hunter refer to, and comment upon the numerous inconsistencies of the prosecution witnesses. Acquainted-One of the interesting features of the matter was that it was ascertained that one of the sitters, and main prosecution witnesses, was acquainted with Harry Price . . . Fortunately, the trial that resulted in Helen being fined, did not harm interest in her mediumship and she went on to give a number of very successful test séances for researchers; eventually her workload became considerable. In this time she had been able to reverse the poverty of her earlier years, e.g. purchasing a bungalow in which to live, although this attracted criticism from various quarters. About this, Brealey and Hunter make a number of salient comments: firstly, those who criticized Helen and indeed other mediums, would say little about the vast income and comfortable lifestyles of religious leaders, who could bring little, if any, tangible comfort to the bereaved. Furthermore, there was the worry of Henry's continuing ill health and the simple fact that Helen had to be only too aware of the uncertainty of what lay ahead (i.e. her poor health continued and she was now an insulin-dependent diabetic). Moreover, 'travel and accommodation had to be paid for, and family supported. Only her family and close friends know how much of her services were given free to those in need . . . Many churches still thriving today owe their origins to the free demonstrations given by Helen Duncan'. As the First World War, the Second brought untold misery and grief for so many who sought reassurance from mediums. In this period, Helen was able to fulfil this important role, and one of the locations to which she regularly travelled was a location in Portsmouth called the Master Temple. Here, 'a proportion of all collections at their services and séances were always given to a charity, nobody in need was ever turned away from their door'. On 1 January 1942, Gena had a disturbing premonition about her mother and implored Henry to stop Helen travelling to Portsmouth. But despite her pleas, Helen left for Portsmouth and gave demonstrations of her mediumship to those sitters who attended the Master Temple. 
During the period in which Helen held séances at the Master Temple, Albert gave instructions to those organizing the events that caution should be exercised concerning those who attended: however, this was ignored and a short time later a naval officer was allowed to attend and other sitters noted his suspicious behaviour, e.g. the lack of enthusiasm for the proceedings. More warnings were issued by Albert but on 19 January 1944, after Helen became entranced and Albert had materialized, three of those who had been allowed to attend, rushed forward, seized the ectoplasm and turned on the lights: amidst the chaos, the men effected the entrance of the police into the room, the police officers already waiting nearby to do this. Attempts by genuine sitters, including those responsible for the séance, to assist Helen, were prevented by the police. At her trial it was argued that Helen was manipulating some material while the séance was taking place, but at the time that the attack occurred, Helen actually asked that both she and the room be carefully examined. However, as Brealey says: 'It seemed strange then, and even now, that this was not done'. One illustration of the authorities' hostility was that Helen was refused bail and duly remanded in custody. Helen engaged the services of a barrister and only then, was she allowed bail. Nonetheless, in time matters became even more bizarre: having secured bail, the case was referred to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions), although the initial charge was comparatively minor. But things began to become clear when Helen discovered that she was being charged with conspiracy. In contrast to the three prosecution witnesses, there were numerous ones for Helen's defence, but she and those others who had also been charged with her (Mrs Brown and Mr and Mrs Homer), were soon to discover 'the Establishment wanted blood'. After various charges were introduced, i.e. under The Vagrancy Act and of conspiracy, the authorities decided the 1737 Witchcraft Act would be appropriate; as Roberts says in his own account of the trial, this at least would ensure 'a sort of makeweight against Mrs Duncan and her fellow defendants, a net to catch them if they escaped conviction on the other counts'. I do not intend dealing with the proceedings of Helen's trial that began on 23 March 1944, as the details are well known being covered in Maurice BarbanellÕs book, The Case of Helen Duncan (London: Psychic Press Ltd, 1945), and the later book Medium on Trial by Manfred Cassirer. The end result of the trial was that Helen received a sentence of nine months imprisonment. An appeal was rejected and Helen served her sentence, and she was released from Holloway Prison in September 1944. As Cassirer notes, she then broke away from the SNU and no longer held a diploma with them. On Helens release, it was only too obvious that her health had clearly suffered a very great deal. Despite this, it was not long before she once again began to give demonstrations of her mediumship to those who needed reassurance: 'When she looked at the naked misery in the faces of those she knew who had lost sons, husbands, lovers, she just could not refuse to help'. The Duncan family welcomed Barbanell's book about her trial, published in 1945, although it was felt 'there were some facts he had wrong'. Nevertheless, it did offer a contrast to the media reporting of the case. In addition to the upset caused through the trial and Helen's imprisonment, the family believed the subject of Helen's earnings through her mediumship had been distorted out of recognition; moreover, various attempts to champion her case were more related to combating the Establishment's hostility towards Spiritualism rather than Helen's innocence which almost seemed incidental. An appeal was launched by Barbanell for Helen's costs, but 'the response was so poor it had to be abandoned'. This in itself may indicate to a student of Spiritualism's history that by the close of the Second World War, British Spiritualism had now begun to lose direction. Despite these hardships, Helen continued to supply quality evidence. For example, at a séance in Edinburgh, 'a small negro boy came through and put his little hand on a gentleman's knee. They had a long conversation in Swahili'. The gentleman knew the boy, the son of one of his employees, and stated 'the evidence he had received had given him irrefutable proof of life after death'. To present Helen Duncan the person, rather than just the medium, a statement by her daughter is worth quoting: 'Into her home she took many in need of care and love, some just for a short visit, others for much longer periods...There was a 'gentleman of the road' who would call every Sunday morning. Always he was given a hot meal and a few pence'. She also relates how various young persons in distress were taken in by Helen, at her own cost, until they were able to deal with the problems that had broken them. The diversity of communicators made possible through Helen is surely indicative of not only the genuineness of her mediumship, but also its range. Again, after her release from imprisonment, she gave demonstrations that included a number in Stoke-on-Trent: in one case an airman materialized for his mother, complete with the birthmark that he had on his face before his passing. Another man materialized for his wife, lacking the two fingers that he had lost while working. Further proof was given on the occasions when Albert, over six foot in height, brought Helen, only five foot, four inches, out of cabinet, still entranced, and stood beside her. To demonstrate their separateness even further, Albert would ensure that the sitters could see Helen while he was standing, and speaking up to four feet away. It was in this time that some sitters made unreasonable demands on Helen, despite her ever-worsening health, and it was obvious that her health was deteriorating at an alarming rate. Her diabetes was often out of control and she required surgical operations for the complications that arose. In fact, 'each illness took longer to get over'. When Fodor deals with Helen's mediumship, he refers to the antics of Harry Price and the accusation of fraud made against her in Light (17 July, 1931). Many Spiritualists and non-Spiritualists defended her; one person in the latter category was Dr Montague Rust, who 'deplored the precipitate conclusions and despite the adverse report maintained that Mrs. Duncan was the most remarkable physical medium in Europe'. Another was Will Goldston, the well-known professional magician and illusionist, who said that what he had witnessed could not have been effected through trickery. What Fodor says in his introduction may say much more about Helen's mediumship than the accusations that were cast about. He notes how in a séance with Helen, 'ectoplasm, was seen in quantities . . . figures of adults and children appeared under voluminous drapery, movement of objects beyond the reach of the medium were observed and as a means of control the medium was placed nude into a sleeved sack with stiff buckram fingerless gauntlets sewn to the sleeves of her suit. The sack was sewn in at the back and fastened with tapes and cords to the chair. At the end of the sitting the medium was often found outside the bag, the seals, tapes and stitchings remaining intact'. Beloff, writing later in 1990, refers to persons who witnessed the mediumship of Helen Duncan (whom he says was 'an uneducated woman of gross appearance whose manners and language were anything but ladylike'), and says they 'all tell much the same story': two of these witnesses being 'good friends of mine and prominent members of the S.P.R'. He goes to to detail how: 'They all speak of watching figures emerging from the cabinet or sometimes taking shape out of swirling masses of amorphous ectoplasm, sometimes they are of recognizable individuals whom the sitter had known in his life, sometimes they engage in conversation, but, invariably, they soon disappear by sinking through the solid floor'. The next notable stage in Helen's mediumship was a séance held in Nottingham in the closing months of 1956. Cassirer describes how in this, 'a violent assault took place . . . and [the police] tore down the cabinet curtains. More men arrived, grabbed the medium and took flash photographs'. It was only two months after the police attack that Helen died. Cassirer notes that 'no legal action was taken against the police, incommensurable with the supposed offence of which in any case, there does not seem to have been any proof'. HelenÕs daughter recalls how her mother received notification of the Nottingham police's intention to prosecute although by this time her mother was becoming seriously ill. She goes on to record how on one night, shortly afterwards, she heard a knocking on her bedroom door and a voice saying 'God be with you till we meet again'. The next morning, on 6 December 1956, it was discovered that Helen had died sometime during the early hours. And so, the police and establishment were cheated of further pursuit of their prey, and one of the greatest physical mediums of this country passed into the world about which she had given so much evidence, and to so many.