Witch Lore of the Past

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Here on this page are some of the research projects I have done (some ongoing), on the Witches and Cunning folks of the past.

 

 

Click on any of the links below that may interest you.

 

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This section is a listing of my works in PDF file format.

 

W-026     Progress Report on the McCombie Family.  Edition XThis is a begining work with more to be added in later updates.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  The McCombie Family 

Updated on April 6, 2024 Saturday

W-025     Progress Report on Gerald Brosseau Gardner.  Edition DThis is a begining work with more to be added in later updates.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  Gerald Brosseau Gardner 

Updated on April 12, 2024 Friday

 

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W-021     Ralph Harvey.  A preliminary report on the man behind the name of Ralph Harvey. Edition BThis is a begining work with more to be added in later updates.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  Ralph Harvey 

Updated on November 16, 2023 Thursday

 

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W-020     Dark Moon over Canewdon: The Ghosts of the Village's Past.  History and Genealogies.  Edition AThis is a begining work with more to be added in later updates.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  Dark Moon over Canewdon 

1st publoshed - March 12, 2023 Sunday

 

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W-019     Alex Sanders, A look into his family and history.  Edition D
This is a begining work with more to be added in later updates.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  Alex Sanders. 

Last Updated - August 14, 2023 Monday

 

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W-018     The Magister, A beginning look into the life of Graham Alfred Irwin Moss and his Alter Ego E. W. Liddell, the author of the Pickingill Papers.  Edition G.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  The Magister. 

Last Updated - February 10, 2023 Friday

 

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W-016     The Lost Coven of Nottingham.  About the early 1960's coven of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England and of Patricia Kopinski and Sylvia Tatham. Edition K.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  The Lost Coven of Nottingham. 

Last Updated - September 26, 2023 Tuesday

 

 

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W-017     Jack Bracelin, The High Priest of the Bricket Wood Coven, Edition C-2.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  Jack Bracelin. 

Last updated - April 2, 2024 Tuesday

 

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W-014     The Pickingill Research.  New Materials: The Photograph of George Pickingill - Debunking the claim that it was a photo of Alf Cavill the station portern Edition B.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  The Pickingill Research. 

Updated - May 12, 2023 Friday

 

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W-013     The Pickingill Research.  New Materials: George Pickingill's wife was a prostitute in Gravesend, Kent.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  The Pickingill Research. 

1st published - June 24, 2021 Thursday

 

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W-012     The Pickingill Research.  New Materials: The Pettingale Family of Newmarket, Suffolk and Gravesend, Kent.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  The Pickingill Research. 

1st published - June 14, 2021 Monday

 

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W-011     Fanny Bird (1801-1887) the alleged Witch of Creeksea in the Dengie Hundred of Essex, England.  She was born Frances Adams and married 1st. Thomas Westwood and 2nd. Thomas Bird.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  Fanny Bird. 

Last updated - July 20, 2019 Saturday

 

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W-010     Mary Cockley (1826-1905) the alleged Witch that lived in Burnham, Creeksea, and Ostend in the Dengie Hundred of Essex, England.  She was born Mary Sadler and married William Cockley.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  Mary Cockley. 

Last updated - July 4, 2019 Thursday

 

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W-009     Ruth Marshman the Witch of Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England.  Genealogy and History of Ruth Marshman who was born Ruth Litman in 1811 in Shepton Mallet.  She married Charles Marshman.

To see the PDF Book, click here:  Ruth Marshman's family. 

Last updated - June 16, 2019 Sunday

 

 

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W-003     The Pickingill Family,  Life and Death in an Essex England Laborer Family.  Genealogy and History of the Pickingill Family in the 18th to 20th centuries England.  This is an ongoing in process work.  Adding more members of the family as I go along.  This Version "C" Contains the first three generation of the family.  To see the PDF Book, click here:  The Pickingill family. 

Last updated - July 13, 2018 Friday the 13th

 

 

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W-006     The Witches of Morwenstow and North Tamerton, Cornwall, England.  Genealogy and History of Sally Found of Morwenstow and Cherry Parnell of North Tamerton.  Cornish witches of the 18th to 19th centuries.  To see the PDF Book, click here:  The Witches of Morwenstow and North Tamerton.

Last updated - November 11, 2017 Saturday

 

 

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W-005     Susan Cooper the Witch of Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire, England.  Genealogy and History of Susan Cooper's ancestors and family spanning from the 17th to 19th centuries.  To see the PDF Book, click here:  Susan Cooper the Witch of Whittlesford.

Last updated - March 8, 2017 Wednesday

 

 

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W-002     The Yworth family.  Genealogy and History of an alchemical, spagyrick, and surgeon family in the late 17th and early 18th centuries Dutch Republic and England.  Contains family history of William Yworth and his sons Theophrastus and Samuel and of a granddaughter, Mary Yworth who married Adam Lyon.  To see the PDF book, click here:  The Yworth family.

Last updated - January 3, 2016 Sunday

 

 

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W-001     My review comments on the book "Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus".  I tried to date some of the items in the book to get an idea of how long after the lifetime of Albertus Magnus these entries were from.  To see the article click here: Review on Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus.

 

This section is a listing of some sources or references that I have and used in my research in PDF file format.

WS-501     The Essex Countryside, Vol. 2, No. 6 Winter 1953-54.  Cover and Content page; Pages 46-47 Canewdon and its Witches, by Harold Adshead; Page 59 The Romany in Essex. To see PDF file: Click here.

 

 

 

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Victor H. Anderson (1917- 2001) of the Feri Tradition, Voodoo, and Kahuna

This section is about the family history and travels of Victor H. Anderson.  He was born in New Mexico.  He is of the Feri Tradition and knew Voodoo and Kahuna.  The history covers the beginning of his life to about 1948 when Victor and Cora moved to California.  His parents and grandparents is soon to be added

Click on the following for:

The parents, Hibart and Mary (Smith) Anderson.

The grandparents, Nathan and Mary (Alexander) Anderson.

 

New -- Pictures of Gargoyles and interesting cemetery stones in Gloucestershire, England.Articles of mine that have been published in the magazines

Gargoyles and interesting Cemetery Stones

 

 

Articles of mine that have been published in the magazines

 

"The Witch of Shepton Mallet" - The Cauldron - August 2014 No. 153

"The Witch of Hadleigh" - The Cauldron - November 2013 No. 150

"Witchcraft in the West Country" - The Cauldron - August 2013 No. 149

"Job Mason of Romsey, Hampshire" - The Cauldron - May 2013 No. 148

"Dorothy Clutterbuck and a Car Accident" - The Cauldron - February 2013 No. 147

 

 

My articles here:

 

Monica English of Gayton, Norfolk

Monica's parents - John and Margery Barrett

Monica's grandparents - Henry and Penelope Gibson and Monica's Aunt and Uncle Muriel and Cecil Court

This article is about the history of Monica English (1920 - 1929) and her husband Robert English. She was born Mary Monica Barrett.

She was a member of an Old Craft Witchcraft coven that was in Norfolk, England in the 1950's to 1960's. She then joined Gerald Gardner's Brickett Wood Coven to find out what was going on in that coven.

Robert English's first wife's family.

The Johnston and Weir family. Sir John Barr Johnston  Major John Alexander Weir Johnston   Margaret C. Johnston   Peter Weir   Isobel Barbara Johnston  and Sir Herbert Wright

 

 

Nelly Button the Witch of Hockley, Essex  -  Elizabeth Eleanor Witherow (1818 - 1896)

This section is about the Witch Nelly Button of Hockley, Essex.  She turns out to be Elizabeth Eleanor Witherow who later married Zachariah Henry Button.  The author and collector of folklores, Eric Maple, recorded about her in several of his work.

About Nelly Button's parents: William Witherow and Elizabeth Burton

 

Mrs. Eve the Witch of Hadleigh, Essex  -  Elizabeth Finch (1796 - 1869)

This section is about the Witch Mrs. Eve of Hadleigh, Essex.  She turns out to be Elizabeth Finch who later married William Eaves/Eves and they lived in Hadleigh, Essex.  She was one of the Witches that Cunning man or Witch Doctor James Murrell dealt with.  The author and collector of folklores, Eric Maple, recorded about her in one of his work.

About:  Mrs. Eaves/Eves.  About her parents: Joseph Finch and Martha Coney.  About her son: Joseph Finch.  About her daughter: Eliza Finch.

 

 

Saveock Water, Kenwyn Parish, Cornwall, England

This section is about the area of where the Saveock Water Archaelogy Site is located.  Some evidence of past witchcraft activity has been found in the site.  And here we investigate about the people who lived in Seveock Water in the past.

 

 

Elizabeth Fyson (1717-1803) -- the Witch of Holme Hale, Norfolk, England

This article is about the woman born Elizabeth Robinson in 1717.  She married 1st. in 1739 Thomas Fyson and they lived in Holme Hale, Norfolk.  She became well known in the area, had witchcraft skills and was called a doctress.  She was a widow for many years before she at the age of 82 married a young man by the name of Richard Parfrey, he was only 23 or 24 years old at the time.  Elizabeth died at the age of 85 in 1803.

        Ann Fyson (1747 - ? ) -- daughter of Elizabeth Fyson of Holme Hale

       Richard Parfrey (1776-1856) -- 2nd husband of Elizabeth Fyson of Holme Hale

Added May 8, 2011 Sunday evening.

 

 

Harriet Hart  (1814-1897) -- the Witch of Snoreham village, Essex, England

This article is about the woman born Harriet Firbank in ca. 1813-1814.  She married in 1832 William Hart and they lived in Snoreham village near Latchingdon, Essex.  The Witch Harriet Hart died in 1897 age 83 or 84.  Eric Maple in 1960 interviewed several old people in the Latchingdon, Essex area that remember Harriet Hart when she was living.  And Eric Maple recorded what they mentioned about Harriet Hart.

Pages on the children of William and Harriet Hart:

     William Hart (1834- ? )    Lucy Hart (1839-1897)    Ellen Hart (1852-1918)    Henry Hart (1856-1904)

Added June 7, 2011 Tuesday evening.

Last updated on June 23, 2011  Thursday 6:22 PM

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George Pickingill and his family and ancestors

This section is about the family of George Pickingill (1816 - 1909).  Some believe he was a Hereditary Witch and/or a Cunning man of the 19th century and early 1900's.  He was born in Hockley and died in Canewdon, Essex.   His father and others were born earler in Canewdon.

 

Lillian Garner and her family and ancestors

This section is about the family of Lilian May Higby (1890 - 1982).  She married Joseph Henry Garner.  She was known as "Granny Garner" of Canewdon, Essex who was mentioned as a witness or source to some of the early writers on George Pickingill such as Eric Maple and others since the early 1960's.   She was mentioned to be a White Witch.

 

James Murrell and his family and ancestors

This section is about the family of James Murrell (1785-1860) of Hadleigh, Essex.  He was one of the most famous Cunning man in England.  He was born in Rochford and grew up in Hawkwell and spent most of his life in Hadleigh.

 

 

 

The other main characters of Canewdon, Essex:

REV. WILLIAM ATKINSON   (1767 - 1847)

Reverend William Atkinson was the curate and then the vicar of Canewdon from ca. 1797 to 1847.  His second wife was Mary Ann Kersteman.  Mary Ann and her sister Widow Eliza Frost Lodwick were mentioned to be Witches and Rev. Atkinson was in the middle of this.  He had a run in with the Cunning man James Murrell of Hadleigh.

 

Other persons or families of Interest:

 

GERALD BROSSEAU GARDNER   (1884 - 1964)

This is a report of information that I collected from the primary records on items that I found so far on Gerald Gardner.  He is covered by many authors in the past so this is not a complete biography on him.  I'm mainly looking for clues or connections, etc. that may help find more about the 1938 to 1953 time frame which would be mainly before the start of Wicca.

 

DOROTHY CLUTTERBUCK   (1880 - 1951)

This is a report of information that I collected from the primary records on items that I found so far on Dorothy Clutterbuck, later known as Dorothy St. Quintin-Fordham.  I'm mainly looking for clues or connections, etc. that may help find more about the 1938 to 1953 time frame which would be mainly before the start of Wicca.

 

JOB MASON   (1809 - 1866)

Job Mason (1809-1866) of Romsey, Hampshire.  He was the father of William Mason who later lived in Southampton, Hampshire.  William Mason was the grandfather of the Mason family that have met with Gerald B. Gardner and Edith Woodford Grimes  The Mason family at the time were of the Co-Masonry.  Philip Heselton done research into this family.  Heselton also mentioned a place named Toothill.  In my research I find that William Mason was born in Romsey, Hampshire and that his father was Job Mason who was born and lived in Romsey.  I also show that it was possible that Job Mason knew the Mason family in Toothill.

 

GEORGE PETTINGALE   (1779 - 1861) of West Bilney and Fulmodeston, Norfolk

George Pettingale / Petingale was born an illegitimate child in West Bilney, Norfolk.  Despite hardship as a child he managed to succeed in becoming a large scale farmer with 800 acres in Fulmodeston, Norfolk.  He had a large family.  Because of the way George Pettingale had a hard time making his way in life he had a strained relationship with his sons because he expected them to prove themselves on their own without help.

 

 

 

The following are not related to Witches, but I need to transfer them to another page later.

 

Charles H. Utter       (Charley Utter)  of Deadwood, North Dakota fame.

Stephen A. Utter       (Steve Utter)   brother or cousin of Charles H. Utter.

 

 

Researched and Compiled by William Wallworth

 

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