by Mary Gindling

Created on: May 02, 2010

Scottish medium and clairvoyant Helen Duncan might have faded into obscurity except for the fact that during two separate seances, she provided information about two ship sinkings that had not been made public. So in 1944, she was put on trial under the 1735 Witchcraft Act.

Born in Callender, Scotland on November 25, 1897, Helen Duncan displayed the "gifts" of a medium at an early age and began giving seances at about the age of sixteen. One of the supposed marks of a genuine medium in that day was the ability to produce "ectoplasm," a stringy or cloudy white substance that vanished when touched. Helen proved adept at producing this mysterious substance.

As a professional medium and spiritualist, Helen attracted a large number of followers throughout England. But she also became the subject of controversy. In 1931 the Morning Post newspaper ran an article denouncing her as a fraud and at about the same time, she was examined by the "London Psychic Laboratory," who also accused her of fraud. In 1933, she was sentenced to a fine of £10 or a month’s imprisonment for being a ‘fraudulent medium’, But the legendary Harry Price, chief researcher for the Society for Psychical Research, declared that though there was some charlatanism involved in her seances, much of her work was genuine.

Seances and Revelations

Helen’s popularity continued to grow, particularly during World War II when anxious relatives sought her out for news about their loved ones fighting overseas. It was in May of 1941 that two separate incidents brought her to the attention of the British Government.

In May, 1941, during a seance at Portsmouth, home of the British fleet, Helen revealed that a battleship had been sunk. Though the name of the battleship was not revealed, a British Army Brigadier in the audience later learned that the HMS Hood had been sunk by the Bismarck. He reported the incident to British Military Intelligence.

Also in 1941, as Helen was conducting a seance for the parents of a missing sailor, his spirit reportedly appeared and said that he had gone down with his ship, the HMS Barham. Later it was learned that the Barham had indeed been sunk by a German U-boat, but the British Admiralty had withheld the information to mislead the Germans. The Germans learned about the sinking in 1942 and the incident was finally made public.

Many believe that British Military Intelligence monitored Helen’s seances over the next several years. Although she apparently

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