Mark Aston - Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Hampstead, Holburn and St Pancras

For her features were shrivelled and brown as a mummys hide, And she passed for a witch, whose amusement was homicide.

B etween 1563 and 1736 witchcraft was a capital offence in England. Throughout the seventeenth century, recorded accusations of the practice of witchcraft against individuals, especially against women, increased and the number of prosecutions in England rose sharply. Whilst superstition, ignorance and hysteria gripped much of the nation, Hampstead, Holborn and St Pancras remained relatively free of accusations, witch-hunts and prosecution except, that is, in the curious case of Mother Damnable, alias Mother Red Cap the Witch Queen of Kentish Town:

A cottage that stood between Kentish Town-road
And Parliament Hill, was the place of abode
Of that plague of North London or rather N. W
With whose life and misdeeds youll permit me to trouble you.
Twas in Olivers time, or in that of Queen Anne,
(It is not certain which,) that her doings began
To disturb the quiet folks. And it put them in dread
To catch sight of her head, in her cap of bright red:
For her features were shrivelled and brown as a mummys hide,
And she passed for a witch, whose amusement was homicide.

Legend has it that the mere mention of Mother Damnable instilled fear and loathing into the minds of the residents of then rural Kentish Town: neighbouring Camden Town was yet to exist. Even as late as 1880, the story of Mother Damnable remained deeply rooted in Victorian romantic imagination, and homage continued to be paid in verse and prose, as the above example demonstrates. As for the true account of her life only Mother Damnable can verify but, of the many colourful stories, the following is perhaps the most commonly related version of her life.

Known also as Mother Red Cap, and in some contemporary texts as the Shrew of Kentish Town, Mother Damnable was born in the early seventeenth century. Her father, Jacob Bingham, a local brick maker, who later enlisted in the army, was posted to Scotland where he married a pedlars daughter. They named their only child Jinney, who was only sixteen when she too gave birth. The father of the offspring was Jinneys boyfriend Coulter, alias Gypsy George. Jacob Bingham built them a cottage on some wasteland near Kentish Town but, shortly after, tragedy occurred to upset this seemingly harmonious union. George was found guilty of sheep stealing in nearby Holloway and later hanged at Tyburn. A violent, hard drinking man called Darby replaced Gypsy George as Jinneys next love but his brutal treatment towards her led Jinney to seek help from her mother. The problem was instantly solved; Darby simply disappeared, leaving Jinney to pick up the pieces of another failed relationship.

Mother Damnable. A copy taken from an engraving published in 1793.

Fate dealt Jinney a further blow when her parents were also removed from her life. Although the disappearance of Darby was never investigated, her parents were later accused and convicted of killing a woman with witchcraft. They too were hanged at Tyburn. Poor Jinney found comfort in the arms of her next lover, a man by the name of Pitcher, who moved into the cottage with her. Third time lucky in love for Jinney? Sadly not, for Pitchers burnt remains were later discovered in Jinneys oven. By this time, Jinney had developed a wicked temper and poor Pitcher had resorted to hiding in the oven to seek sanctuary from her wrath. Jinney was tried but acquitted of his murder. A neighbour testified that Pitcher often got into the oven to hide himself from her tongue, suggesting that his death could have been accidental.