365 days of Skeptical History

Reach out and touch gauze: The exposure of a Medium in 1890s Petone, NZ

On May 17th, 1894, news of an arrest made in Petone the previous night hit the broadsheets and started spreading across the country and even over the ditch. While it wasn't a case of murder, there was certainly no small amount of mayhem and mystery which left reporters hoping for some scandalous revelations to be made.

A brother and sister, James Hackett (a medium) and his sister Priscilla (the “assistant”) were arrested and charged with having conspired to defraud Frederick Augustus Vaughan. An additional charge was laid against James for pretending to exercise an enchantment and have communion with the spirits of the dead. They were allowed bail after paying nearly £100 in bonds and were committed for trial a few weeks later. How the arrest came to be would gladden the heart of any modern skeptic and while Hackett's tricks seem fairly obvious to today's audience, in some ways they are not so far off the schemes of modern scammers.

James Hackett was supposedly from Wanganui but had left the family home in the 1870s and spent 8 years in Christchurch followed by 10 years in Australia, mainly Sydney and greater New South Wales. Whether James married is unknown but he did claim to have had a daughter, Rosy, during this time but had passed prior to his return to New Zealand in 1894. During his trial, James' occupation was stated as being a blacksmith but in recent years he had gained a reputation as a materialising medium, the sort of medium who could channel spirits able to take shape or some sort of physical form.

In January 1894 it appears that James underwent two tests in Sydney, on the 24th and 29th of that month, to assess his skill by the Sydney Psychical Research Society ( or the Society for Psychic Culture, depending on who is reporting). At the test on the 24th, James submitted to a full examination of his clothes and person to affirm that he did not have any suspicious items on his person. He was then led to a cabinet, industry lingo for a curtain with a chair behind it, and to the satisfaction of the audience was able to produce white, moving forms in front of the curtain and around the room as well as produce concussive, rapping sounds that were the bread and butter of séances at this time. At the test on the 29th, due to objections regarding the use of a cabinet, a simple table-sitting was used. Much of the same phenomena was seen as in the previous night, with the entities being described as moving with a certain intelligence and able to communicate and answer questions with flashing lights. Again, the audience, which included two M.D.s that had attended the previous test, were satisfied that Hackett had genuine powers.

Source | Example of a séance cabinet

Why Hackett returned to New Zealand in April 1894 is unknown. What we do know, from Priscilla's testimony, is that James' arrival on April 19th was the first time Priscilla, age 22, ever saw her long-absent brother and was when Priscilla was introduced to spiritualism. The exact nature of their relationship is not clear from newspaper reports. Priscilla was currently living with her mother and sister in Wanganui at the time and had another sister, Amelia, who had died when Priscilla was an infant. Priscilla's family was not referred to in a manner that would indicate that they were James' family as well.

Regardless, James revealed to Priscilla that he was a medium, showed several letters of recommendation to his skills, and held a séance at, presumably, another sister's home in the company of Priscilla, her mother, said sister, and brother-in-law. There was no cabinet at this sitting either but the same things occurred as reported at other events including the appearance of the spirits of Rosy and Amelia. Priscilla had no reason to doubt her brother's abilities.

Between April and their May 16th arrest, Priscilla attended at least 3 séances her brother led in Masterton and then followed him to Wellington in early May. According to court reports, James seems to have imparted some knowledge onto Priscilla about running a séance such as keeping the room dark and not turning on the lights (or striking the matches) as it could harm the medium if they are still in a trance.

James planned to travel to Dunedin after his time in Wellington but it was still uncertain if Priscilla would follow him; as far as she was concerned, she was going on a holiday. According to defence witnesses James conducted a series of séances in Wellington without Priscilla present. From here on out, the timeline and location of the séances becomes vague.

• One sitting was held at the Psychical Research Society rooms in Wellington (on May 2nd, 1894, the Wellington Psychical Research Society were to meet at Ballance Hall to make arrangements for a test séance with a well-known medium). Frederick Vaughan was in attendance for this sitting. William McLean, commission agent, served as the chairperson.
• A sitting held in the home of William McLean.
• One or two sittings were held at the home of Frederick Vaughan in Wellington, one of which was held on Tuesday, May 8th. Both sittings began at 8pm. A shoemaker, Mr. Marriott, served as chairman. A chairman acted as something as a master of ceremonies during the séance.
• May 16th, where the arrest occurred mid-séance. Possibly held in the Petone office of Mr. Wilford, who could possibly be Sir Thomas Wilford.

By all accounts, the proceedings at these sittings were the same with the same spirits of Amelia, Rosy, Johnson, and Poppy floating around the room and communicating through flashing lights. McLean attested that at his home, two high-level government civil servants and a managing clerk for a firm of solicitors searched Hackett and found nothing, although no chemical test was applied to the skin. McLean also claimed that he had personal experience witnessing a perfect materialisation of a speaking and moving spirit; Hackett's materialisation, while imperfect, was genuine. Edith Brown, a ticket writer, sat in on four Wellington séances and noted that Hackett was searched at two of them. She had known Hackett during his time in New South Wales and though he was genuine.

John Bronte, who attended one of the above séances, was convinced that Hackett was a fraud. One of the spirits was supposedly a Methodist clergyman but failed to recall even basic principles of Calvinism. Bronte was wry in his assessment that spirits seem to lose the knowledge that they had on earth and that spirits seem to be made out of gauze or muslin.

Vaughan had been interested in spiritualism for 10 years but was unconvinced in Hackett's abilities after his demonstration at the Psychical Research Society rooms. Vaughan arranged for a sitting to be held at his house and was aback at Hackett's asking price of £5 ($692.46 NZD, adjusted for inflation). Vaughan was able to spread the cost between 12 to 15 friends and across 2 sittings.

During these sittings, Hackett supplied his own curtain which had a division down the centre. Hackett also refused to submit to any more searches or tests while in Wellington, which Vaughan did not fight against. Attendees sat around the curtain in a semi-circle and they sang a variety of hymns. When they were finished singing, James sat behind the curtain and directed the lights to be turned down. The same light show occurred with additional visitation by a Māori spirit who was able to translate the meaning of certain Māori words correctly. At one point during one of the sittings at his home, Vaughan was able to touch one of the floating lights and noted that it felt like muslin. One of the sitters was visibly affected and thought that the spirits of her departed relatives were present. Suddenly Hackett, who was supposed to be in a trance and under spirit control, announced that the show was over.

Vaughan was initially convinced that he had seen spirits in his home. But the next day his doubts returned and at the second séance at Vaughan's home, was able to convince Hackett to agree to photographs being taken by a Mr. Winton while he was in a trance..

During the Petone séance a plainclothes policeman, Constable Butler, was in attendance. Exactly who invited him or what the tip-off was is not published. During the initial singing of hymns, all he could notice and hear was Hackett continuously rubbing his hands. James directed the crowd to sing for longer than usual or else the séance might not be effective. After 25 minutes, Hackett retreated to his cabinet but not before saying he was not confident in the results he might get that night.

Maybe Hackett overheard Vaughan boasting to another sitter that he would find out that night if Hackett was a fraud.

Again, the show proceeded as it always did.

With one very notable exception.

While the lights were floating around the room, Vaughan was able to coax the light to him. When it came close enough, he grabbed it and demanded the lights to be turned on.

In the ensuing chaos, Priscilla shouted not to turn the lights on and thought her brother was harmed. Another witness, Lily Hewitt, reported that she thought Hackett might have swung at Vaughan's head. Constable Butler was able to grab hold of Hackett.

Vaughan was content with Hackett being exposed as a fraud and was happy to leave it at that as long as his money was refunded. The Constable denied that request and issued a warrant for the arrest of both Hacketts. When James Hackett was searched, several matches and a bottle of luminous or phosphorus oil was found. All items, including the muslin and curtain, were sent to William Skey for analysis.

During trial, Skey stated that the bottle contained oil, phosphorus, and water while the oxide of phosphorus was found on the muslin. As the oil warmed, it would become luminous, which explained the lights and why James was rubbing his hands. This was not seen as necessarily controversial to spiritualists like McLean who testified that manifestations required delicate conditions such as darkness or pure moonlight. Candlelight or gaslight were not appropriate as they had consuming or destructive properties; phosphorus was not seen in this way.

The trial was moderately sensational as Hackett appeared to have many fans outside the courtroom and was able to find local witnesses who could personally attest to his abilities here and abroad.

The crown prosecutor explained that the jury were not asked to judge on the possibility of spiritualistic manifestations or whether there was anything to the occult science of spiritualism; they were to enquire into the genuineness of what took place under the auspices of the accused.

The role of Priscilla was more controversial. Constable Butler and witness Lily Hewitt noted comments that Priscilla made about witnessing her brother perform in Sydney, which Hewitt thought odd as Priscilla earlier claimed that she had never left New Zealand. Priscilla denied such comments. Her defence attempted to argue that she was a dupe more than a confederate. On that topic, the judge declared that since he arrived in Wellington, people had been sent to the asylum for such things; he had investigated cases of alleged lunacy and found many were the effects of dealings with so-called spiritualists. He found this a serious charge but one that was ultimately decided by the jury.

It appears that James, at the very least, was guilty of faking it all. As he reserved his defence and there is no publication of any testimony on his part, we'll never know for sure what his full story was.

But, as it often does with modern day psychics and scammers, there was no punishment levied on the Hacketts. Priscilla was found innocent and the jury agreed there was no conspiracy between the Hacketts. As for James, the jury could not agree and the court did not think it was worth a second trial or opening a new case. Nevertheless, the judge did feel it was a case of pure deception but not as bad as those where elderly or weak ladies were induced to give up their properties. He discharged Hackett with a warning to either return to Australia or abstain from similar practices in the future.

By all available archives, the Hacketts and Vaughan gain no further renown in their lives in New Zealand or in Australia.