I agree with you there. I am also very skeptic about mediums, but I still think it's worth researching what Joan picked up.
The Paranormal, especially concerning ghosts, is unknown grounds for us.
Don't get me wrong, I do believe in spirits, because in all those years as an investigator I have experienced too much. I just can't say anymore, that there is no such thing as ghosts. Some things just can't be explained by natural causes. But I don't just take every little sound or breeze in the dark as a sign of the presence of a ghost. I know how to look for natural causes first, also with technical equipment.
A quick check on the names lead me as far as it did you. I am also sure that most old court records can be found in the archives, but not on the internet, but that doesn't have to say the didn't exist.
I did research on names mediums picked up before and had some nice hits.
I did find the name Humphrey mentioned in a convict's report. A guy was chained to someone called Humphrey, who died on the long walk to their destination in Van Diemen's Land. But if it was him, I can't say.
Don't ask my why Humphrey should have returned to England and how he actually managed to do so. But I DO know from countless reports about hauntings, that it seems to be possible for spirits to return back to their place of birth or death or places where they had traumatic but also nice experiences.
The reason why we are researching these names is, that we prefer to know who we are dealing with. For the medium it would be also good to have a confirmation.
Never mind, if one believes in spirits, mediumship or not, I don't think, that it really matters. According to our medium, these were real people. Fascinating was as well, that the handwriting was always significantly different with every single person she had "on the line".
As I said, anything that can be found about these people, might be another piece in the jigsaw.
so please give me a chance

GPS Hella