In a deeply superstitious community accusations of witchcraft are found throughout Portsmouth history. For example, in 1688 Elizabeth Skipper was in trouble for bewitching Goody Thompson, as well as hitting her and pinching her arm. Famously one of the the last so-called ‘Witchcraft’ trials to take place in England originated in Portsmouth. In 1944 the spiritualist medium Helen Duncan was arrested here for ‘pretending to hold communications with the spirits of deceased persons’ to defraud members of the public. As Helen, during her séances, had foreseen wartime naval disasters before the information had been made public, the Establishment was nervous that she would release other national secrets. A Portsmouth court committed her to the Old Bailey, where she was tried and convicted under the ancient Witchcraft Act of 1735. This story has spawned a variety of books and television programmes.
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Portsmouth, Hampshire has an extraordinary past. During every era it has been at the forefront of events that have affected the course of not only national but often international history. Alongside this, on a smaller scale, there are the every day stories of the many differing peoples who have spent their lives here and took part in these historic events.
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