The Whiston Witch

Whiston, South Yorkshire

“Every village seems to have at least one person outstanding because of an unusual characteristic. Such a person was Mrs. W. - for some folk called her a witch.” Eleanor Kimber

Whilst doing research for Northern Folklore Archive, I came across the Whiston Heritage Society’s website. A section called ‘Village Anecdotes’ details some very sweet and charming anecdotes from a book called ‘Youthful Memories of Whiston’ written by Eleanor Kimber. In the book, Eleanor compiles memories, stories and anecdotes from residents of Whiston, both past and present.

The book helps to paint a picture of life in Whiston, a little village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in the 19th Century - from daily chores, Christmas traditions, leisure, recreation and more. But my eye caught something whilst reading… A Witch in the Village?!

Mrs. W, as she is named in the book, was supposedly quite a character in Whiston. It doesn’t mention what year she was active, but it does mention that many of the locals would refer to her as a witch due to her ‘unusual character’.

Supposedly, one day a neighbour of Mrs. W claimed, with upmost seriousness, that Mrs. W had put a curse on her fowl so that they would be unable to lay anymore eggs. It amuses me when a slight inconvenience occurs that people were so quick to accuse witches of meddling with the universe rather than the fact that, just maybe, the hens just could no longer produce eggs.

The neighbour then went on to say she had seen strewn salt over her doorstep, and heard Mrs. W mumbling a curse whilst distributing the salt. The neighbour was supposedly dead serious when recounting this tale to the resident that was quoted in Eleanor’s book, there’s no mention if any legal battles had commenced against Mrs. W, but I do hope that Mrs. W (whoever she was) continued to freak out her neighbours

Sources

whiston-heritage-society.co.uk/Anecdotes2.html

Youthful Memories of Whiston. Eleanor Kimber, 2008.