Victoria Helen McCrae Duncan (née MacFarlane, 25 November 1897 – 6 December 1956) was a Scottish medium best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act 1735 (9 Geo. 2. c. 5) for fraudulent claims. She was famous for claiming to produce ectoplasm, which was proven to be made from cheesecloth.McHargue, Georgess. (1972). Facts, Frauds, and Phantasms: A Survey of the Spiritualist Movement. Doubleday. pp. 90–92. Haynes, Renée. (1982). The Society for Psychical Research 1882–1982: A History. MacDonald & Co. p. 144. "An investigation by Harry Price and other members of the Society for Psychical Research, to which he belonged at the time, showed that she certainly did use cheesecloth on occasion."Paley, Ruth; Fowler, Simon. (2005). Family Skeletons: Exploring the Lives of our Disreputable Ancestors. The National Archives. p. 220. "Price revealed that Duncan's ectoplasmic manifestations were pieces of cheesecloth that Duncan swallowed and regurgitated at will."Roach, Mary. (2007). Six Feet Over: Adventures in the Afterlife. Canongate books. pp. 122–130.
Early life Victoria Helen MacFarlane was born in Callander, Perthshire on 25 November 1897, the daughter of Archibald McFarlane, a slater, and Isabella Rattray. At school, she alarmed her fellow pupils with her dire prophecies and hysterical behaviour, to the distress of her mother (a member of the Presbyterian church). After leaving school, she worked at Dundee Royal Infirmary, and in 1916, she married Henry Duncan, a cabinetmaker and wounded war veteran, who was supportive of her supposed paranormal talents. A mother of six, she also worked part-time in a bleach factory.
Practising medium
In 1926, she developed from clairvoyant to physical medium by offering séances in which she claimed to be able to permit the spirits of recently deceased persons to materialise, by emitting ectoplasm from her mouth.
In 1928, photographer Harvey Metcalfe attended a series of séances at Duncan's home. During a séance he took various flash photographs of Duncan and her alleged "materialization" of spirits, including her spirit guide "Peggy".Gaskill, Malcolm, (2001), Hellish Nell: Last of Britain's Witches. Fourth Estate. p. 100. His photographs reveal that the spirits were fraudulently produced: Duncan's equipment included a doll made from a painted papier-mâché mask draped in an old sheet.Karl, Jason. (2007). An Illustrated History of the Haunted World. New Holland Publishers. p. 79.
In 1931, the London Spiritualist Alliance (LSA) examined Duncan's methods. An early examination of pieces of Duncan's ectoplasm revealed that it was made of cheesecloth, paper mixed with the white of egg and lavatory paper stuck together.Haynes, Renée. (1982). The Society for Psychical Research 1882–1982: A History. MacDonald & Co. p. 144. "The London Spiritualist Alliance had fifty sittings with her between October 1930 and June 1931; for these sittings she was stripped, searched and dressed in 'seance garments'. Two interim reports in Light were favorable, a third found indications of fraud. Pieces of 'ectoplasm' found from time to time differed in composition. Two early specimens consisted of paper or cloth mixed with something like white of egg. Two others were pads of surgical gauze soaked in 'a resinous fluid'; yet another consisted of layers of lavatory paper stuck together. The most usual material for 'ectoplasm' however, seemed to be butter muslin or cheesecloth, probably swallowed and regurgitated. Distressing choking noises were sometimes heard from within the cabinet; and it was interesting that when she was persuaded to swallow a tablet of methylene blue before one of the seances at the London Spiritualist Alliance, no ectoplasm whatsoever appeared." One of 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 séances by the LSA committee to rule out any chance of this trick being performed, and because of this, no ectoplasm appeared. The committee concluded in a report that the "material was swallowed by Mrs Duncan at some time previous to the sitting and subsequently regurgitated by her for the purpose of exhibition."Edmunds, Simeon. (1966). Spiritualism: A Critical Survey. Aquarian Press. pp. 137–144
Harry Price's investigation
A piece of ectoplasm from one of Duncan's early séances was obtained and secured in a bottle of distilled water. It was given to the psychical researcher Harry Price, who was originally enthusiastic about the sample. However, when he gave the sample to a chemist for an analysis it was discovered that it had been made from egg white mixed with chemicals. Price later duplicated Duncan's ectoplasm with similar substances.Tabori, Paul. (1961). The Art of Folly. Prentice-Hall International, Inc. pp. 180–182.
In 1931, Price paid Duncan £50 (almost £4,300 in 2024) to conduct a number of test séances. She was suspected of swallowing cheesecloth, which was then regurgitated as "ectoplasm".Price, Harry. (1942). Search for Truth: My Life for Psychical Research. Collins. p. 182 Price had proven through analysis of a sample of ectoplasm produced by Duncan that it was made of cheesecloth.Warner, Marina. (2008). Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, Metaphors, and Media into the Twenty-first Century. Oxford University Press. p. 299. 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 test's controlled nature. According to Price, in a report of the mediumship of Duncan:
In his report, Price published photographs of Duncan in his laboratory that revealed fake ectoplasm made from cheesecloth, rubber gloves and cut-out heads from magazine covers which she pretended to her audiences were spirits.Price, Harry. (1933). Leaves from a Psychist's Case-Book. Victor Gollancz Ltd. pp. 203–207 Psychologist William McDougall, who attended two of the séances, pronounced her "whole performance fraudulent" in an appendix to the report.Valentine, Elizabeth R. (2011). Spooks and Spoofs: Relations Between Psychical Research and Academic Psychology in Britain in the Inter-War Period. History of the Human Sciences 25: 67-90.
Following Price's report, Duncan's former maid Mary McGinlay confessed in detail to having aided Duncan in her mediumship tricks, and Duncan's husband admitted that the ectoplasm materialisations were the result of regurgitation.Tabori, Paul. (1961). The Art of Folly. Prentice-Hall International, Inc. p. 182 "In November 1931, Harry Price's report was issued, whereupon a Miss Mary McGinlay, came forward. She was Mrs Duncan's personal maid at the time of the séances and she made a statutory declaration before a Commissioner of Oaths that she used to purchase for Mrs. Duncan lengths of cheesecloth which she had to wash out after a séance. She also swore on oath that Mr. Duncan had informed her on the night of the scene at the National Laboratory that his wife had "passed a roll of butter muslin to him when they were alone in the street."
Duncan frequently had nosebleeds during séances; William Brown suggested that this was another of Duncan's hiding places for her fake ectoplasm.Gaskill (2001), p. 237 In 1936, psychical researcher Nandor Fodor offered money to Duncan if she would be filmed with an infrared camera during a séance; she refused.Paley, Ruth; Fowler, Simon. (2005). Family Skeletons: Exploring the Lives of our Disreputable Ancestors. The National Archives. p. 220.
1933 conviction
In a séance on 6 January 1933 in Edinburgh, the spirit of a little girl called Peggy supposedly emerged in the séance room. A sitter named Esson Maule grabbed her and the lights were turned on and the spirit was revealed to be made from a stockinette undervest. The police were called, and Duncan was prosecuted and fined ten pounds.Buckland, Ramond. (2005). The Spirit Book: The Encyclopedia of Clairvoyance, Channeling, and Spirit Communication Visible Ink Press. p. 117. The undervest was used as evidence which led to Duncan's conviction of fraudulent mediumship at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court trial on 11 May 1933.Price, Harry. (1933). Leaves from a Psychist's Case-book. Gollancz. p. 176
The spiritualist journal Light endorsed the court decision that Duncan was fraudulent and supported Price's investigation that revealed her ectoplasm was cheesecloth.Hazelgrove, Jenny. (2000). Spiritualism and British Society Between the Wars. Manchester University Press. p. 279. Duncan's husband was also suspected of acting as her accomplice by hiding her fake ectoplasm.
Ectoplasm sample
Malcolm Gaskill, who examined holdings from the Society for Psychical Research at the Cambridge University Library, found a sample of Duncan's ectoplasm.Meier, Allison C. (2018). "Ectoplasm and the Last British Woman Tried for Witchcraft". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved 20 March 2021. The ectoplasm proved to be made from a length of artificial silk.Kennedy, Maev. (2018). "Spellbound in Oxford by the prestige of the Ashmolean museum". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2021. In 2018, the sample was displayed at the Spellbound exhibition on the history of magic at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The sample is now held at Cambridge University Library and a photograph can be seen on the library website."Ectoplasm (MS SPR Mediums/Duncan/Ectoplasm)". Cambridge University Library. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
HMS Barham sinking During World War II, in November 1941, Duncan held a séance in Portsmouth at which she claimed the spirit materialization of a sailor told her HMS Barham had been sunk. Because the sinking of HMS Barham was revealed, in strict confidence, only to the relatives of casualties, and not announced to the public until late January 1942, the Navy started to take an interest in her activities. Two lieutenants were among her audience at a séance on 14 January 1944. One of these was a Lieutenant Worth, who was not impressed as a white cloth figure had appeared behind the curtains claiming to be his aunt, but he had no deceased aunt. In the same sitting, another figure appeared claiming to be his sister, but Worth replied his sister was alive and well. Worth was disgusted by the séance and reported it to the police. This was followed up on 19 January, when undercover policemen arrested her at another séance as a white-shrouded manifestation appeared. This proved to be Duncan herself, in a white cloth which she attempted to conceal when discovered, and she was arrested.
Researcher Graeme Donald wrote that Duncan could have easily found out about HMS Barham and she had no genuine psychic powers. According to Donald:
A leak concerning HMS Barham was later discovered. A secretary of the First Sea Lord had been indiscreet to Professor Michael Postan of the Ministry of Economic Warfare. Postan said that he believed he had been told officially, and was not arrested.Nigel West. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Naval Intelligence. Scarecrow Press. p. 98.