It’s A Kinda Magic…
- Herstorical Tours
- 6 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Thanks to a recent high profile coverage in some big national rags, the story of Sophie Lloyd, the first female member of the magic circle who masqueraded as a man in order to deceive her way in (and was then expelled when she revealed herself) is better known now than it was at the time.
But as intriguing and courageous as her story is, Sophie wasn’t acting alone. There was another woman involved in this deception: Jenny Winstanley. And they did it together. Because most of the attention is usually on Lloyd, I’d like to include Jenny in this month’s herstory. Because ultimately, like many magic acts, they were a double act.
History (Herstory) is littered with the stories of women cross dressing in order to gain access to male-only spaces. From 18th century sailors and explorers to 20th century soldiers. It’s a topic I’ve covered quite a bit in my work, since these tales are often like adventure novels, full of risk and extraordinary bravery. We like to think this sort of thing is very distant history, because now women can, at least here in the UK, access most parts of society, right?
The Magic Circle (of men)
The Magic Circle was one of the last institutions to admit women, in 1991. Founded in 1905, the organisation admits members through performance exams and recommendations and adheres to a strict code of secrecy. Despite this, our present King is an honorary member after he performed the well known ‘cup and balls’ trick. So it seems if you are someone important, you don’t need to be particularly gifted!
Until 1991, it was male only. During the 1970s there had been protests by female performers at the policy, and one magician, Marine Vickers, took the Circle to a tribunal. She was quoted as saying
“I have seen in my crystal ball that in future magicians will not be able to find any ladies to saw in half. They will have to use men…”
Vickers was unsuccessful in her bid to get women admitted fairly, so perhaps some trickery was needed. After all, this was the Magic Circle!
The Sleight of Hand….
It was in the late 1980’s, that Jenny Winstanley, a practising magician met Sophie Lloyd who became her assistant. Jenny was frustrated that women were barred from the Magic Circle. It was she that came up with the initial idea to dress as a man and trick her way in. But she knew she couldn’t do it herself as she was too recognisable. So she roped Sophie into doing it instead! Sophie however did not know magic, and had to learn sharpish. She gave herself a new alter ego - ‘Raymond Lloyd’ donned a wig, a body suit, dental prosthetics and gloves, and away she went.
Well, it wasn’t quite THAT easy. As mentioned, Sophie had to learn and practise magic, and she spent two years doing so under the guidance of Jenny, before she felt confident enough to attempt the deception. As Jenny’s assistant at magic shows, she practised playing a male assistant - Claude - to get into the identity. She was only 5 ft 2, so she pretended she was an 18 year old adolescent boy who was a ‘late developer’(!)
In March 1991, she was ready to face the Magic Circle test. This was a 20 minute performance at a working men’s club in front of 200 people, including examiners from the Magic Circle. Sophie disguised her feminine voice by pretending she had laryngitis. She performed several pyrotechnic tricks, tricks with rope, handkerchiefs and eggs. She and Jenny even socialised with the Magic Circle examiners afterwards for a good few hours. Unbelievably, they were convinced! And she was accepted into the fold.
From March til October, Sophie performed as Raymond Lloyd, member of the Magic Circle. No one suspected a thing!
Ta-Da!
Then in October 1991, The Magic Circle decided to admit women after a unanimous vote of 75%. So Jenny felt it was time to come clean, after all, if women were now admitted, Sophie could be a member in her own right (as could Jenny, if she passed the tests). But, incredibly, the organisation were so annoyed by the deliberate deception that they expelled Sophie. Sophie was expelled at the same meeting that the first female magicians were admitted, and apparently no one saw the irony of this! She was threatened with legal action if she tried to use the Magic Circle accreditation!
Following the decision, Sophie continued to perform magic for a decade until she took early retirement and moved to Spain. Jenny went on to run a pottery firm and then was sadly killed in car crash in 2004.
Just last month, the Magic Circle, who had been hunting for Sophie for over a year, offered her membership again. By now, they had their first female chair. When she accepted her membership at a ceremony, she said she was accepting it for Jenny, and Jenny was finally rightfully recognised at the event.
Witch!
The Magic circle may be an ‘open’ society now, but it is still heavily male-dominated. Only 5% of its 1700 members are women. Why? Well, one reason is practical. Most magic tricks were invented by men, for men. Traditional sleight of hand and concealment tricks work if you wear men’s clothes, with pockets. Women’s clothes traditionally didn’t have pockets or hidden ‘compartments’ so to speak.
But this is still clearly just an excuse for plain old misogyny. Women being relegated to the role of ‘glamorous assistant’ is a hangover from the days when women on a stage were little more than ornamental objects to be admired and lusted over,
But I believe women’s absence from magic is more than that. I think it’s a lasting legacy of the centuries of persecution of women in magic and sorcery. From the witch hunts of folk healers to the persecution of fortune-telling ‘gypsies’, to the imprisonment of ‘fraudulent mediums’ such as Helen Duncan in the 1940’s, it is overwhelmingly women who have been discredited as causing harm through ‘magic’, or as downright charlatans. Our historical laws surrounding magic illustrate this, with the early modern Acts against ‘conjurations’ and the later Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951. It is my belief that this legacy is ingrained deep not just in our collective consciousness but also in our ancestral DNA, as women. The Magician holds power in a way that doesn’t seem accessible to women, somehow.
But, there is a glimmer of hope! The Young Magician’s Club, which is the version of the Circle for 10-18 year olds, has a more balanced gender ratio. Things are changing and this outdated ideas are doing a ‘disappearing act’, let’s hope!
In the meantime, There are talks of turning Sophie and Jenny’s story into a film., which would be something I’d like to see!
If you’re interested in the stories of women in magic throughout history, Hex and the City, my witch history tour, recounts a few of these. The tour runs every month so just check out the page for available dates.
I am also launching a new tour this Halloween which will explore stories of mystics and magic. More details on that to come… stay tuned!