Helen Duncan, Materialization Medium
Helen Duncan, a British medium active in the twentieth century, gained notoriety for her purported ability to materialize spirits during séances. In 1941, during one such session, a sailor claimed to have died aboard the HMS Barham, a fact concealed by the British Admiralty to maintain public morale. Two years later, with the approach of D-Day, the Admiralty sought to suppress further revelations and arrested Duncan under the Witchcraft Act of 1735. The Admiralty’s response indicated a recognition of the accuracy of her statements.
Duncan’s trial commenced on March 30, 1944. Twenty-two witnesses testified to the authenticity of their encounters during Duncan’s séances, asserting connections with departed loved ones. Below is an abbreviated transcript of a sworn testimony affirming the materialized spirit’s familiarity, coherence, and physical presence.
Jane Mary Rust, a municipal midwife nurse, provided testimony at the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London as part of Duncan’s trial. Under oath, she affirmed the veracity of her accounts detailing conversations with her late husband, mother, and aunt. Rust attested that during these encounters, the materialized individuals approached her closely, engaged in physical contact, and permitted her to reciprocate. She observed that they exhibited all the physical, mental, and memory traits characteristic of her loved ones. The provided link directs to a transcript relevant to demonstrating the continued existence of her deceased relatives, along with a narrative summary of the text.
A narration of her testimony follows. You can read the court transcript of Rust’s testimony below these audio controls.
Transcript of Excerpts from Jane Rust’s Testimony
Excerpts from the trial testimony follow.[i]
Defense Attorney: Had you any doubt about it being your husband?
Jane Rust: No doubt whatsoever.
Defense Attorney: How close up to him were you?
Jane Rust: As close as I am to this.
Defense Attorney: Did he speak to you?
Jane Rust: He spoke to me.
Defense Attorney: Did you recognize his voice?
Jane Rust: I did. I was perfectly certain.
Defense Attorney: Did he say anything to you in particular that struck you as of importance?
Jane Rust: Just spoke about the family. He said that he was always with me, and he would be on the other side waiting for me; he would never leave me until I joined him.
Defense Attorney: Had he altered in appearance at all?
Jane Rust: No, sir, he had not altered just a wee bit thinner, perhaps, than he was in health, but my husband was very ill for three years before he went.
Jane Rust: He said, “Put your hand in mine, dear,” so I gave him my right hand. He took hold of it with his right and clasped my hand very tightly.
Judge: It was flesh and blood, was it?
Jane Rust: It was very cold, my Lord, but it was his hand. I held it firmly. I felt the knuckles. He suffered with rheumatism, my Lord, and I felt the nobbly knuckles.
Defense Attorney: Did he kiss you?
Jane Rust: He did, sir, right on the mouth….
[My mother] came out and stood on the side of the cabinet. I wanted to be close to her, because I had never been so close before; I wanted to get right in contact. I said, “Mother, you are not going back without kissing me, are you, this time?” She said, “Come here, my child”; she beckoned me to her side. She made me stand, and I was standing facing her. She turned me to the sitters and patted my shoulder and said, “My loving daughter” introduced me, sort of thing.
Defense Attorney: Did you touch her?
Jane Rust: I did. I kissed her.
Defense Attorney: Did she put her arms on you, or did you put your arms on her?
Jane Rust: She put her arm around my shoulders.
Defense Attorney: Tell me a little about her voice. What was her voice like?
Jane Rust: It was her natural voice…. My mother had a mole in the hollow of her chin and another over the left eyebrow, and without that it would not be my mother, and she had it there, and I was satisfied…. I got as close to [my aunt] as I got to my mother and my husband…. She said to me [words in Spanish here]. I said [words in Spanish]…. It was Gibraltarian Spanish. It was not the Spanish, possibly, that they speak in Spain itself, but the Gibraltarian Spanish.
Defense Attorney: Did you recognize the figure that spoke to you?
Jane Rust: Yes, absolutely, sir. She was my aunt, my mother’s sister, and I recognized her because she is a replica of my own mother; they were always taken for twins, but they were not twins.
[i] Helen Duncan and C. E. Bechhofer Roberts, The Trial of Mrs. Duncan (London: Jarrolds Publishers, 1945), 171-172.
