The Last Witch Imprisoned in Britain
1 October 2026
Deep Dive
Meet Helen Duncan, the Scottish psychic medium who became one of the most famous séance leaders in the nation…as well as the last person to be imprisoned in Britain under the Witchcraft Act of 1735. But if you thought this incident took place sometime in the 18th century, you’d be mistaken. Would you believe that Helen was actually locked up as recently as 1944? This is just one of the endless bizarre details in this incredibly strange tale, which spans two World Wars and countless scandals. Helen might be one of the most fascinating people covered on the podcast to date…
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Source Shout Outs:
BBC Article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/modern/oddities_modern.shtml
Helen Duncan Website: https://helenduncan.org/about-helen/
Undiscovered Scotland Article: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/d/helenduncan.html
Historic UK Article: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Helen-Duncan-Scotlands-last-witch/
Scots Magazine Article: https://www.scotsmagazine.com/articles/series/a-z-of-great-scots-helen-duncan/
History Hit Article: https://www.historyhit.com/helen-duncan-britains-last-witch/
Psi-Encyclopedia Article: https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/helen-duncan/
Explore The Archive Article: https://explorethearchive.com/helen-duncan
History Net Article: https://historynet.com/hellish-nell-the-wwii-era-mystic-whose-predictions-alarmed-authorities/
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Themes
- Belief, deception and performance
- Law, security and wartime secrecy
- Historical legacy and public memory
Questions Explored
Who was Helen Duncan? + −
Helen Duncan was born Victoria Helen MacFarlane in Callander, Perthshire on 25 November 1897 and became a prominent British psychic medium known for dramatic seances in which she produced so-called ectoplasm; she was tried and convicted under the Witchcraft Act in 1944 and later served nine months at Holloway Prison. Chyaz Samuel lays out the case in Things Are About To Get Weird, Episode 103: The Last Witch Imprisoned in Britain.
Where and when did the key events in Helen Duncan’s life take place? + −
Helen’s story begins in Callander, Perthshire where she was born in 1897, continues through her seance career in the 1920s and 1930s, and centres on Portsmouth during the Second World War where a November 1941 sitting revealed the sinking of HMS Barham; she was arrested after a January 1944 raid and imprisoned in Holloway. Chyaz Samuel covers this in Things Are About To Get Weird, Episode 103: The Last Witch Imprisoned in Britain.
Why is Helen Duncan’s story considered strange? + −
Duncan’s sittings combined theatrical elements and alleged psychic phenomena, notably producing white, stringy ‘ectoplasm’ from her mouth; investigators in the late 1920s and early 1930s found materials such as gauze, paper and an egg-white solution and accused her of regurgitation, yet she also disclosed sensitive wartime information that alarmed authorities. Chyaz Samuel goes into the detail in Things Are About To Get Weird, Episode 103: The Last Witch Imprisoned in Britain.
Why did Helen Duncan become a notable public figure? + −
She led widely attended seances during both world wars, attracted formal investigations by the London Spiritualist Alliance and Harry Price, faced a 1933 conviction for fraudulent mediumship, and in 1944 became the last person imprisoned in Britain under the Witchcraft Act, turning her career into a sustained media spectacle. Chyaz Samuel covers this in Things Are About To Get Weird, Episode 103: The Last Witch Imprisoned in Britain.
What bigger themes does the episode explore? + −
The episode examines grief and the demand for contact after mass wartime loss, the tension between sincere belief and deliberate trickery in spiritualism, and how government secrecy and archaic law combined to produce a controversial prosecution during World War Two. Chyaz Samuel walks through the timeline in Things Are About To Get Weird, Episode 103: The Last Witch Imprisoned in Britain.
Why does Helen Duncan’s case still matter today? + −
Her trial highlights how vulnerable individuals seeking comfort were exploited or protected, it shows authorities using an old statute to meet wartime security needs, and it continues to prompt debate and campaigns about whether her prosecution and punishment were proportionate; her death in December 1956 left questions unresolved. Chyaz Samuel covers this in Things Are About To Get Weird, Episode 103: The Last Witch Imprisoned in Britain.