Repeal of The Witchcraft Act
Duncan was one of the last persons to be convicted under the Witchcraft Act 1735, which sought prosecution of anyone who falsely claimed to be able to procure spirits. There was a subsequent conviction under the act, of Jane Rebecca Yorke of Forest Gate in east London; on 26 September 1944 at the Central Criminal Court. Yorke was convicted on seven counts of "pretending...to cause the spirits of deceased persons to be present" and bound over.
On her release in 1945, Duncan promised to stop conducting séances; however, she was arrested during another one in 1956. She died at her home in Edinburgh a short time later. Duncan's trial almost certainly contributed to the repeal of the Witchcraft Act, which was contained in the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 promoted by Walter Monslow, Labour Member of Parliament for Barrow-in-Furness. The campaign to repeal the Act had largely been led by Thomas Brooks, another Labour MP, who was a spiritualist. Duncan's original conviction still stood, and it was the subject of a sustained campaign to have it overturned.
Read more about this topic: Helen Duncan
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