James Murrell the Cunning man of Hadleigh, Essex, England (1785-1860)

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2. JAMES MURRELL was born in Rochford, Essex and was baptized October 9, 1785 in St. Mary the Virgin church in Hawkwell, Essex.

James Murrell was born in Rochford, Essex according to the 1851 census of Hadleigh.

This James Murrell was the famous Witch Doctor or Cunning man of Hadleigh, Essex, England.

“….now I found an indenture which set forth that, after his release from school, James Murrell was bound, for a premium of �10, to a surveyor, Mr. G. Emans, of Burnham.”

It is now known that James Murrell’s brother, Edward Murrell, went to live in Burnham, Essex. Two of Edward’s sons were Boot & Shoe makers in Burnham until the 1840’s or later.

So it would appear that the Murrell family had earlier connections to Burnham, Essex seeing that James Murrell had learned about surveying from this “Mr. G. Emans, of Burnham” and later his brother lived there.

Soon I will be checking records of Burnham, Creeksea, and Southminster region of Essex and perhaps I will find some evidence of this “Mr. G. Emans” actually did live in Burnham, Essex in the late 1790’s to early 1800’s.

“…I had wondered at a mere village cobbler possessing the knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, and botany which many of Murrell’s notes and manuscripts displayed, but my wonder had been somewhat lessened by Buck’s (Edward Murrell) information that his father had been a stillman at a London chemist’s.”

So it would appear that James Murrell did lived in London for a short while in the 1800’s to 1810’s period.

However ongoing research suggest that the following marriage may be the one, but I need to gather more evidence to prove that this is correct marriage:

James Murrell married ELIZABETH FRANCES BUTTON on August 12, 1812 in St. Olave church, Bermondsey, Southwark.

Banns of Marriage between James Murrell of this Parish Bachelor and Elizabeth Frances Button of the same Parish Spinster were published on three Sundays underwritten: That is to say,

On Sunday, the 19 day of July by me, T Thirlwall
On Sunday, the 26th day of July by me, James Blenkarne
On Sunday, the 2d day of August by me, T Thirlwall

James Murrell of this Parish Bachelor and Elizabeth Frances Button of the same Parish Spinster were Married in this Church by Banns this Twelfth Day of August in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twelve - By me James Blenkarne AM Curate.

St. Olave church is in Bermundsey, Southwark. This is just across the Thames river from London.

And it is before the 1814 baptism of the first child of James and Elizabeth Murrell in Hadleigh, Essex.

Also there is an Elizabeth Button baptized on December 5, 1790 in Hadleigh, Essex, daughter of Edward and Rebecca Button.

Which coincide with year of birth given from calculating when James Murrell’s wife was born from her age at death, 1839 - 49 = 1790

Sixteen children were counted using the Parish register and the Bishop Transcripts of St. James the Less church of Hadleigh.

We cannot imagine the suffering that James and Elizabeth Murrell went through all these years with the deaths of most of their children as infants or toddlers. When you get to the children section below, then you will see the names of the children of James and Elizabeth Murrell that did not live long.

1820 ~ James Murrell went back home to Hawkwell, Essex for the occasion of the marriage of his sister Hannah.

Hannah Murrell married Daniel Whitwell on December 26, 1820 in St. Mary the Virgin church in Hawkwell, Essex.

Daniel Whitwell of the Parish of Canewdon and Hannah Murrell of this Parish were married in this Church by Banns ….. Decr 26th in the Year One thousand eight hundred and 20 -- By me Charles Wallington Recter

All signed their names on the marriage record except Elizabeth Prentice who leaves her mark. Elizabeth Prentice was a family relative of Daniel Whitwell.

Daniel Whitwell took his wife, Hannah, to live in Canewdon, Essex where she lived until her death.

James Murrell was a regular visitor to Canewdon since 1820 to see Daniel and Hannah Whitwell.

Also James and Hannah’s mother was living in Canewdon at the time when she got married in 1783 so they may have had other relatives in Canewdon before 1820.

The Whitwells were a large family that lived in Canewdon since the 1760’s or earlier.

Thomas Pickingill was involved with church affairs in the church of Canewdon in the 1780’s to early 1800’s. At the time of his death in 1804, Thomas Pickingill was described as the church Sexton.

The Whitwells certainly knew the Butcher of Canewdon and his wife, James Scott and his wife Martha Pickingill. And certainly they knew about Charles Pickingill (who was born in Canewdon in 1790) and his family when Charles returned back to Canewdon in around 1841.

James Murrell was known to be very aware and collected information and made notes about people and situations for his own benefit should some opportunity arises in the future.

Hadleigh was his main base of ‘business’ because he lived there and then Canewdon, because of family ties, would be his second base of ‘business’. From there, as the years go by, his connections extended out to other parts of the Rochford Hundred and to other parts of Essex.

From the article in the Folklore, Volume 71, March 1960, by Eric Maple (see below at 1960 for more):

“Murrell maintained a remarkable intelligence system which kept him briefed of all local affairs. By judicious questioning, he would ‘pump’ those who consulted him, and note and file the information. In due course the knowledge would be disclosed to other clients with devastating effect. He also had contacts in the village who supplied him with information…”

Daniel and Hannah Whitwell were childless. So when James Murrell came for visits there were plenty of times for conversations not interrupted as would be in a home full of children.

What would they be talking about? What’s new in Canewdon… with its people, their gossips, their business dealings etc.

… So it is most likely that James Murrell the Cunning man of Hadleigh known about the Pickingill family.

1823 ~ James Murrell is mentioned in one of the papers among his collection, about the rent of his cottage.

“…I also found another paper, dated 1823, which showed that the wise man was not above the petty afflictions of common humanity, and, in fact, had “had the brokers in” for a year’s rent - �4 - of the cottage at Hadleigh.”

1830 ~ James Murrell’s mother died at the age of 73 in Hawkwell, Essex and was buried April 7, 1830 in the churchyard of St. Mary the Virgin church in Hawkwell.

1837 ~ Their daughter Maria Murrell died at the age of 21 in Hadleigh, Essex.

1839 ~ Elizabeth Murrell died at the age of 49 years on April 16, 1839 at 10 o’clock in the evening in Hadleigh, Essex.

She was buried April 21, 1839 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Registration District: Rochford Union
1839 Death in the Sub-district of Rayleigh in the County of Essex

When and where died:                                              Sixteenth of April 1839 10. P.M. at Hadleigh
Name and surname:                                                  Elizabeth Murrell
Sex:                                                                                  Female
Age:                                                                                  49 Years
Occupation:                                                                  Wife of James Murrell Shoe-maker Hadleigh
Cause of death:                                                            Inflammation of the Chest
Signature, description and residence of informant:    James Murrell Hadleigh Present at the Death
When registered:                                                        Twenty sixth of April 1839
Signature of registrar:                                              Edward Digby Registrar

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

In around 1839 to 1841 ~ James Murrell’s daughter, Louisa, is now living with his sister and her husband, Hannah and Daniel Whitwell in Canewdon, Essex.

Daniel and Hannah Whitwell were childless and they were happy to have Louisa in their home. Louisa would learn things from her Aunt Hannah.

1841 ~ James Murrell, a widower, was living in Hadleigh, Essex. James was a Shoemaker.

James Murrell    51 M          Shoemaker                   Y
Eliza         do          20 F                                                    Y
Matilda   do          18 F                                                     Y
Edward do           11 M                                                    Y
Eleanor do             4 F                                                     Y

1841 ~ James Murrell’s daughter, Louisa, is living with Daniel and Hannah Whitwell in Canewdon, Essex.

Daniel Whitwell   40 M           Waller                           y
Hannah   do           40 F                                                   y
Louisa Murrell     11 F                                                   y

The people of Canewdon, Essex suspected that Mary Ann the wife of Rev. William Atkinson, the vicar of Canewdon, and widow Eliza Lodwick among others were witches.

Widow Lodwick was Eliza Frost Kersteman, a daughter of Jeremiah Kersteman, of Loftmans, Canewdon.

Eliza married Jeremiah Kersteman Lodwick (with a name like that, he must of been a cousin to the Kersteman family). He is more commonly known in the records as J. K. Lodwick.

Jeremiah Kersteman Lodwick died in 1826 at the age of 40 years. His wife Eliza never married again.

Widow Lodwick managed Lambourne Hall and its 500 acres for the next 35 years from 1826 to 1861; sometimes she was away at other locations.

There was a newspaper article in The Essex Standard, Friday, April 10, 1835, under Essex Quarter Sessions:

“Stephen Catchpole, 22, and John Stags, laborers, committed 13th March, J. Lodwick, clerk, charged with killing, with intent to steal, a wether sheep, the property of Mrs. Kersterman Lodwick, at Canewdon. William Crow, 43, laborer, committed 12th March, charged with having received a quantity of the mutton knowing it to have been stolen. It appeared from the evidence that Mrs. E. F. Lodwick has a farm at Canewdon, where, on the night of the 9th, were several sheep. The next morning it was discovered that one was missing……”

The article goes into detail about the evidences and who was involved. Then at the end:

“-Guilty. Catchpole and Stags transported for life. Crow fourteen years transportation.”

These people of course were guilty of what they did. But the kind of sentencing was very harsh. It was common for back then.

Probably the labourers for miles around would know of this incident and it probably brought on more intense dislike or hatred of Widow Lodwick.

The Parson’s Wife (later known as Widow Atkinson) was Mary Ann Kersteman, a daughter of Jeremiah Kersteman, of Loftmans, Canewdon. She was a sister of Widow Lodwick.

Mary married Rev. William Atkinson, the long time Vicar of Canewdon. His first wife Martha died in 1839. And Mary Ann Kersteman became his 2nd wife.

As mentioned above, the fear of the Witches in Canewdon, prompted the people to enlist James Murrell’s assistance to expose the Witches. They went to petition the Vicar William Atkinson. But the vicar rejected it.

The situation puts James Murrell and the people of Canewdon at odds with the aging Vicar.

From the article “Witches over the Crouch”, The Times, Tuesday, January 27, 1959:

“Quite recently it was arranged for me to meet a 94-year-old gardener by the name of Arthur Downes who was born and bred in Canewdon.”

“Many a night his father, who had kept the local ferry, had heard the rustle of a silk dress beside him as he walked home through the lanes but “never a step to be heard or a figure seen.” The two most active witches in his day had been “Passon’s wife and owd Lady Lodwick” living at Wick farm.”

“When I asked Arthur Downes if he had ever heard of James Murrell, the cunning man of Hadleigh Castle, he smiled knowingly and said: “Aye, he had the power to whistle up all the Canewdon witches.”

During his father’s lifetime the village petitioned Vicar Atkinson to let Murrell exercise his whistling powers and make the witches confess themselves by dancing round the churchyard. “But,” said old Downes, “Passon ‘ee said ‘No.’ For ‘ee didn’t want to be ashamed afore all knowing that Mary Ann, his wife, would be among them.”

When the Vicar Atkinson died in 1847, the widow Mary Atkinson moved to live with Widow Lodwick at Lambourne Hall. Widow Atkinson remained a widow for the next 12 years until her death.

In 1851, Widow Lodwick and Widow Atkinson, were at Lambourne Hall, Canewdon, Essex. Eliza Lodwick is described as a Farmer of 500 Acres employing 25 labourers.

Name - Relationship – Married or Single – Age – Sex – Profession – Birthplace

Eliza Lodwick            Head   W 66 F    Farmer of 500 Acres employ 25 labourers    Essex Prittlewell
Mary Atkinson         Sister  W 70 F    Annuitant                                                                              Do          Do
Mary Bragg                Serv    U   25 F    House Servant                                                                     Do          Do
Eliza Tylor                   Do      U   25 F               Do                                                                                   Do Rettenden
Edward Mead            Do      U   23 M               Do                                                                                   Do Chipping Ongar
George Love               Do     M 37 M     Shepherd                                                                               Do Great [Burshen]
Sarah     Do                  Do     M   38 F     House Servant                                                                      Do Runwell

From the article in the Folklore, Volume 71, March 1960, by Eric Maple (see below at 1960 for more):

“Local opinion about Murrell varied considerably. The gentry disliked him intensely, considering him a dangerous quack and disseminator of superstitious nonsense. Still, it was not unknown for some of them to consult him secretly. To the poor, he remained to the end a most valuable member of the community, whose magical powers were always at their service to combat the forces of evil - at a price, of course.”

1847 ~ The Rev. William Atkinson, the vicar of Canewdon, dies at the age of 80 on March 24, 1847 in Canewdon, Essex.

1849 ~ There was a newspaper article involving a case of witchcraft in a village a few miles from Rayleigh, Essex.

It did not mentioned James Murrell by name but it mentioned “a cunning man, celebrated thereabouts…” and on the map Rayleigh is next door to Hadleigh, Essex (The newspaper article avoided mentioning the names of people involved).

Also the description of the iron Witch bottle and that it was being made by a local blacksmith is also connected to James Murrell in another article.

ESSEX. - SUPERSTITION IN 1849. - A case has just occurred (says the “Ipswich Express”) at a village a few miles from Rayleigh, which shows that if witches and their familiars have fled from the land in affright at the rough handling of science, the mental cobwebs beneath which they flourished have not been yet quite brushed away.

A girl in the village had been long subject to fits, and as family consultations and councils traced the mysterious malady to witchcraft, “a cunning man,” celebrated there-abouts, was called in to counterplot the mischievous old hag, who was supposed to be squatted in some dark corner, muttering her spells and enjoying the writhings of her victim. The conjuror, of course, undertook the job for a consideration, and immediately set the village blacksmith blowing and beating away to manufacture an air-tight iron bottle.

After a sharp struggle with the arts of the doomed witch, who kept maliciously poking flaws and fissures in the hissing metal, this was completed, and being filled with parings of the patient’s toe-nails, locks of her hair, and fluid, was placed over a roaring fire, chained fast to the grate, an additional security against the tricks of the imps who were believed to be hovering in dozens and in terror around it.

This charm was to blow the offending witch through the air at a quicker rate than she ever travelled upon her own broom-stick, or bring her to the hearth-stone pleading for forgiveness; but of course we can understand without being very deeply read in the occult science, that the spirit of steam would begin to grow rather fidgetty at being shut up in an air-tight iron bottle; so at last, without waiting for the appearance of the expected old lady, he jumped out with a loud explosion, blowing away the grate-bars and the fire. This was expected to do the girl good.

1851 ~ James Murrell’s son-in-law William Spendell, the husband of Louisa, has vanished. Not known what happened to him.

1851 ~ James Murrills, a widower, was living in Hadleigh, Essex. James was a Shoemaker. His daughter, Louisa Spendall and grandson William Spendle is also living with them.

Name - Relationship – Married or Single – Age – Sex – Profession – Birthplace

James Murrills       Head          Widr     66 M    Shoemaker    Essex Rochford
Edward do               Son             U         26 M        Ag Lab            “     Hadleigh
Louisa Spendall    Daur          mar       20 F                                   “            “
Eleanor Murrills      do                U          16 F                                    “            “
William Spendle    Grandson                  6m M                                 “     Canewdon

1851 ~ James Murrell’s sister, Hannah Whitwell, died on October 16, 1851 in Canewdon, Essex. She died of consumption which she had for three years.

1852 ~ James Murrell’s daughter, Matilda Benson, died at the age of 32 and was buried October 10, 1852 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh, Essex.

1853 ~ James Murrell’s daughter, Eleanor (or Ellen), married Elijah Barker.

1858 ~ A newspaper article, which mentioned James Murrell was published in the Ipswich Journal which was copied from the Essex Standard.

It is a painful duty to have to narrate in this boasted enlightened age instances of the grossest superstition prevailing in some of our rural parishes of this county, and we are sorry to say, by no means confined to the lower classes.

East Thorpe, on Monday evening last, presented probably one of the most disgraceful scenes that ever occurred in North Essex since the days of the famous Matthew Hopkins, the witch finder, of Maningtree. It appears that Emma Brazier, age 22, the daughter of a labourer in the above parish, has lately caused much annoyance by making use of most violent, abusive, and filthy language, under the pretence that she has been bewitched by a neighbour - a Mrs. Mole, 75 years of age, wife of a labourer, who has for many years at the Hall Farm, and who, with his wife, is of irreproachable character. The poor old woman has been accused by the Brazier family of working marvellous spells upon their live stock, such as causing one of their pigs to climb a cherry tree and help itself to the fruits from the top boughs!

Recourse was had by the girl’s parents to a cunning man, named Burrell, residing at Copford, who has long borne the name of “The Wizard of the North:” but her case was of so peculiar a character as to baffle his skill to dissolve the spell, Application was next made to a witch doctor named Murrell, residing at Hadleigh, Essex, who undertook to effect a cure, giving a bottle of medication, for which he did not forget to charge 3s. 6d., and promising to pay a visit on Monday evening to the “old witch,” Mrs. Mole, and put an end to her subtle arts. Matters had reached this stage during the temporary absence for a few weeks of the rector, who on his return was deeply pained to find that, after years of earnest labour, such gross ignorance should still exist in his parish that the belief in the bewitchment of the girl and the Satanic agency of an inoffensive old woman was all but universal.

Having visited the girl (suspecting from her violent conduct that she was insane) he called in the relieving officer of the district, who concurred in thinking that she was unfit to be at liberty, and recommended her removal to the union-house for examination by the parish surgeon, at the same time giving an order for her admission, but which the overseers refused to act upon, assigning as the reason for such refusal that there was a man coming from Hadleigh who was expected to cure the girl. The rector next sought the advice of the magistrates, and obtained a promise that the police should have an eye upon the neighborhood.

In the meantime the news of the expected coming of the witch-doctor spread far and wide, and about eight o’clock there could not have been less than 200 people collected near the cottage of Mrs. Mole to witness the supernatural powers of the Hadleigh wizard. Drunkenness and riotous conduct were the characteristics of the meeting; and to protect Mrs. Mole from actual violence the rector was obliged to mount guard at the cottage door: for, although the proceeding took place immediately before the parish constable’s windows (and he had known of the intention for some days previously), he never attempted to disperse the crowd, or took any steps to prevent or put a stop to the disgraceful riot. Ultimately two of the police made their appearance, and the crowd dispersed. The young woman has since been apprehended for threatening the life of her neighbour, Mrs. Mole, and bound over to keep the peace; and we sincerely hope that no more will be heard of this disgraceful affair. - Essex Standard.

The articles above shows that Cunning Man or Witch Doctor James Murrell was well known to that part of Essex. Many people came to seek his service.

1859 ~ Widow Atkinson dies in June 1859, Mary Ann was the widow of Rev. William Atkinson, the Vicar of Canewdon who died in 1847.

1860 ~ James Murrell dies at the age of 79 years on December 16, 1860 in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried December 23, 1860 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Registration District: Rochford
1860 Death in the Sub-district of Rayleigh in the County of Essex

When and where died:                                               Sixteenth December 1860 Hadleigh
Name and surname:                                                  James Murrell
Sex:                                                                                     Male
Age:                                                                                    79 Years
Occupation:                                                                Quack Doctor
Cause of death:                                                             Natural Causes Certified
Signature, description and residence of informant:    X The mark of Ann Pett present at the death Hadleigh
When registered:                                                        Sixteenth December 1860
Signature of registrar:                                               George Bell Registrar

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

Eliza Frost Lodwick, the widow of Jeremiah Kersteman Lodwick of Lambourne Hall, Canewdon, dies at the age of 78 on March 20, 1861.

1867 ~ Seven years after the death of James Murrell, Philip Benton had a book of his published called “The History of Rochford Hundred” and in the section about Hadleigh, Essex, he mentioned:

“One of the most eccentric characters that all ages produce was James Murrell, known as the cunning man, who lived at Hadleigh, and died in 1860. He was by trade a shoemaker, but partly procured the means of subsistence by telling fortunes, and pretended to have the power of counteracting the designs of witches, discovering thieves, and where stolen property was secreted. He was a herbalist, and administered potions and drugs. He would purchase forty different nostrums at a time, his price being one penny for each, which he refused to have labelled. A sackful of letters were destroyed at his death, but enough remain to prove that an amount of ignorance, credulity, and superstition exists, which appears incredible. Some addressed to him allude to the appearance of apparitions, and from the tenor of others from women, mysteriously alluding to being in trouble, and hearing he can relieve them, we may suspect him of darker doings……”

The article continues for several pages in this book (pages 254-257). See Google Books for the complete article.

Philip Benton did have met with the relatives of James Murrell. Philip had in his possession two human skulls that came from James Murrell.

“Other memorials of Murrell have been scattered about the county; Mr. Philip Benton, the historian of the district - now dead - had two human skulls phrenologically marked, and certain of the wizard’s books”.

1890 ~ The Strand Magazine put out a long article called “A Wizard of Yesterday” by Arthur Morrison in 1900. The article is in volume 20, pages 433-442. From contents said in the article, the trip to Hadleigh took place ten years before, so this is ca. 1890.

In this article Arthur Morrison is mentioning in detail about his trip to Hadleigh, Essex to find out information about James Murrell.

He brought an illustrator and they interviewed the town’s blacksmith, Stephen Choppin. Then found the aged Edward “Buck” Murrell, the son of the Cunning man, working in a field in Thundersley, Essex. Then they went to see the chest that belonged to James Murrell and see all the papers and books that was his.

It is a very interesting read and you get the feel of the time, like a window to the past.

“I have made many holidays in remote parts of Essex, where ten years ago ….”

“one of these places was Hadleigh, where, making a sketching excursion with my friend, Mr. J. L. Wimbush, the painter, who illustrates this article, we came on to the tales and relics of the wizard”

“James Murrell died at Hadleigh in 1860. At different times he had followed the more common trades of shoemaker, surveyor, and chemist’s stillman; but the most of his life was given to astrology, quack doctoring, exorcism, veterinary surgery, and the casting out of devils.”

“….he cured with charms, he divined the lurking places of lost property, he laid spells upon thieves until they restored their plunder.”

“…he could do anything, cure anything, and know anything, past, present, or future, and it was his daily boast that he was the devil’s master. In short, he was a white man-witch, and his powers many living men and women still testified to through all Essex.”

“The Castle Inn was at that time kept by a Mr. Cracknell, a very intelligent and obliging landlord, who I am sorry to say has now been dead some years, like too many more of my old Essex friends.

He remembered Murrell well when he — Cracknell—was a boy, and he pointed out to us, among other things, the cottage which the cunning man had occupied. It was an ordinary, clapboarded, two floored little cottage, one of a row of half-a-dozen or so, and it was in the little room into which the front door opened…. that the wizard had received his clients and pursued his works, amid walls hung about thick with the herbs that he was always gathering.”

“The tenants, charming old people near the nineties, knew and believed in the wizard wholly. They told us of his marvellous cures, his amazing recoveries of linen stolen from hedges, his surprising prophecies by aid of the stars, and his triumphant overthrowal of the wicked designs of witches.”

“On our way to discover the wizard's son we called on Mr. Stephen Choppen, the smith who had made the witch-bottles. He was long retired from the smithy…..Steve Choppen had no witch-bottle to show us, for the last had been exploded long ago, but he had the cunning man's spectacles—a quaint and clumsy instrument, with circular glasses and ponderously thick iron rims. The narrowness of the space between the sides showed the wizard's head to have been a small one, and, indeed, he was an extremely small man in every way, by the descriptions of a dozen people.”

“In Mr. Cracknell’s trap we drove to Thundersley to find Buck Murrell, and there, after something of a hunt, we sighted him at last, working in a field. He was a short, sturdy old fellow, with a shock head of loose, white hair, and nothing about him to betoken so near relationship to the formidable mystic who had held a county in awe for a long lifetime.

He was not a bit haughty, moreover; on the contrary, a hint of a pint of “mild” brought him away from his work with great alacrity, and soon Buck Murrell was the most important person in Thundersley, surrounded by admiring friends, and waxing eloquent on the exploits of his father…”

“We closed the chest and turned to Buck - the simple heir to all the glamour and mystery, to a certain amount of the awe. There he sat, good simple soul, with his pipe and his mug of ale, and his shock head of white hair, placidly happy in the importance of his redoubtable father, and proud in the interest shown in him long after his death.

Buck Murrell told us of this death, and still with pride. On his deathbed his father held learned disputations with the Reverend John Godson, the curate, and maintained the reality of his mystic powers to the last. He triumphed over spiritual advisers with Talmudic and cabalistic questions, and to his daughter he prophesied the moment of his death precisely, a day and a few hours before it came to pass.

There at the east side of the little Norman church of Hadleigh Cunning Murrell lay, with twenty of his children about him, and Buck Murrell showed us the place; for it was marked by no stone - not even by the humblest wooden memorial….”

“The Castle Inn was at that time kept by a Mr. Cracknell, a very intelligent and obliging landlord, who I am sorry to say has now been dead some years, like too many more of my old Essex friends.”

John Cracknell was a Publican of the Castle Inn on High Street in Hadleigh, Essex.

Name - Relationship – Married or Single – Age – Sex – Profession – Birthplace

John Cracknell    Head     M 48 M   Publican                Employer    Essex Rayleigh
Charlotte   do        Wife       M 48 F                                                                     do   Crays Hill
Eliza             do      Daut       S 21 F     Barmaid Inn   Employed           do   Southend
Alice           do         do          S 19 F               do                Employed             do          do
Jessie           do         do          S 15 F                                                                      do          do
Bertha         do         do          S 12 F      Scholar                                                do          do
Virginia      do         do          S 10 F               do                                                  do          do
Lillian         do         do           S    4 F                                                                        do   Hadleigh
William Colliel   Servant    S 15 M     [Ostlel] Groom Employed           do Becking

From the England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes, we find the following Death entry from the Indexes:

Name:      John Cracknell
Year:        1893
Age:         49
Quarter:   Jul-Aug-Sep (3rd Quarter)
District:    Rochford
County:    Essex
Volume:   4a      Page: 289

“On our way to discover the wizard's son we called on Mr. Stephen Choppen, the smith who had made the witch-bottles. He was long retired from the smithy…..”

Stephen Choppen was a blacksmith back in the 1850’s to 1860’s in Hadleigh, Essex.

Name - Relationship – Married or Single – Age – Sex – Profession – Birthplace

Stephen Choppen    head      Mar   30 M Blacksmith               Essex Hadleigh
Anne            do             wife           do    29 F                                              do   Pitsea
James         do             son                      6 M   Scholar                         do   Southchurch
Agnes S       do           daur                   2 F                                              do   Hadleigh
Alfred Choppen        brother Un     23 M   Blacksmith                 do        do

1960 ~ Eric Maple wrote an article “Cunning Murrell A Study of a Nineteenth-Century Cunning Man in Hadleigh, Essex” which came out in the March 1960 of Folklore, Volume 71, Pages 37-43.

Eric Maple did a detail study of all printed and written sources and obtained a number of unrecorded oral traditions obtained from the old residents of the district.

From the article in the Folklore, Volume 71, March 1960, by Eric Maple, some extracts:

“In common with that of other ague-ridden Essex Hundreds, the folklore of Rochford is macabre, with sickness and death a constant theme. Malice, the Evil Eye, and the paralyzing power of the witches were real fears of rural labourers. I was told that in the Hadleigh of 1880 there were still old men who regarded ‘trough-eyed’ persons (those with one eye set lower than the other) as witches, and expressed contempt for all opinion to the contrary.

This dark melancholy heritage was the source of the power of Cunning Murrell.”

“In his fifty years of witch-hunting, he succeeded in agitating the old fear of witchcraft into something like a mania, but in doing so he unwittingly preserved the old traditions and folktales for a generation beyond their normal span, and in this respect folklorists are in his debt.”

“His correspondence and papers survived until 1956, when they were burned, their importance being unrecognized….. I was able to salvage a studded trunk of the eighteenth century in which they were contained, and this is now in my possession.”

“His books were seen and described by Arthur Morrison, who examined them seventy years ago….. Only the last survives today. When I examined it, I found it to be a scrapbook of astrological data ranging from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century…..The minute handwriting of its original owner, one ‘Neboad’, was succeeded by Murrell’s crabbed scraw. This book, in company with Murrell’s iron churchwarden pipe, is the showpiece of a local gentleman’s collection.”

“Murrell cultivated an atmosphere of mystery about himself. He kept apart from community life, spoke seldom and then only oracularly, and usually traveled at night. His house was regarded by all as ‘a place to avoid’. Those who decided to consult him were known to hang about the gate for a long time before plucking up courage to knock.”

“Murrell’s philosophy is expressed in the declaration so often on his lips, ‘I am the Devil’s master.’ ”

“The descendants of those who actually knew him are emphatic that he was a good man. Those who say otherwise are either late-comers to the village, or those of higher social standing.”

“His personal effects were in great demand as souvenirs, and some were preserved with superstitious reverence for many years. His whalebone umbrella was in the possession of a local undertaker until a few years ago, an elaborately carved chest is now in the hands of a lady at Southend-on-Sea…..”

“The last surviving witch bottle was put on the fire by his illiterate son, Buck, who, although quite unqualified to follow his father’s profession, was persuaded by a friend to attempt a little magic on his own account. The bottle exploded and blew down a wall of his cottage.”

“Mrs Watson described him as ‘wearing a hard hat and a bobbed tail coat, his hands behind him, he used to walk along humming loudly and lost in thought’…”.

“When we compare the methods of the Cunning Man in the sixteenth century, as described by Gifford, with those of Cunning Murrell in the nineteenth century, we are faced by the unmistakable fact that here is one and the same craft. In the use of the glass the crystal, the bowl of water, and in the pursuit of lost property, the techniques are identical. Even the combination of magical charms and prayer is the same. Because of this, I believe that Murrell was a genuine survival.”

1960 ~ “Death of a Wizard, James Murrell last of the old “Cunning men” of Essex” from a correspondent. An article that came out in the newspaper, The Times, in the Thursday December 15, 1960.

The story came out on the eve of the 100th year of James Murrell’s death which occurred on December 16, 1860.

It seems to cover some stuff that were mentioned by Arthur Morrison earlier. In here there were more mentioned about “his daughter” Ann Pett.

“Death of a Wizard James Murrell last of the old “Cunning Men” of Essex” from a Correspondent.

“….When one had passed through his cottage door, opened by Ann Pett, his widowed daughter who kept house for him, Murrell would be found seated in the “keeping-room” (an old Essex word for living-room)…..”

“…Murrell took to his bed early in December, 1860. There, in his keeping-room, where he had listened to so many secrets and settled so many strange destinies, he lay surrounded by his books, papers, and herbs. If Mrs. Bennett came around for her ointment, he told his daughter it was in the gallipot on the top shelf and the cost was tuppence. But if Farmer Simmons called about his cow, he was to be sent away. For he was done with curing cows.

And should the new curate come, what was she to do, asked Ann Pett. He too must go, said her father, propped up in bed with his iron-rimmed goggles perched on his nose, all ready to peruse his manuscript book with its cabalistic signs and sigils. “For I be the devil’s master as be well knowed”, he muttered. “Clargymen den’t bother me in the oad time, they shan’t now.”

In Arthur Morrison’s words, James Murrell then spoke for the last time: “ ‘There be one more thing, Ann. I hev been carled. He who hev given he my cunnin’ and my larnin’, and hev putt me in dominion over arl evil things, hev sent for me. I shall go to-morrow at one o’clock.’ And he did. To the minute.”

The problem with Ann Petts is that she was mentioned a lot in the book novel by Arthur Morrison “Cunning Murrell” published in 1900 and was not mentioned at all in the “A Wizard of Yesterday” by Arthur Morrison article in The Strand magazine also published in 1900.

The facts we have so far on Ann Petts (also in the records as Pett, Pitt, and Pitts) is:

Ann Pett was present at the death of James Murrell when he died on December 16, 1860 in Hadleigh, Essex. Ann Pett left her mark “X” on the death certificate.

In 1861, about 4 months or so after the death of James Murrell, we find James and Ann Pitts were living on End Way in Hadleigh, Essex.

Edward Murrill, the son of Cunning man James Murrell, was a lodger in this home.

Name - Relationship – Married or Single – Age – Sex – Profession – Birthplace

James Pitts           head Mar    43 M      Agr Laborer              Essex     Benfleet
Ann     do               wife     do     56 F                                                 do        Hockley
James do               son                 10 M                                               do        Benfleet
Sarah do                daur                 8 F                                                  do              do
Eliza   do                 do                    5 F        Scholar                             do              do
Edward Murrill Lodger Un   36 M       Agr Laborer                 do        Hadleigh
Henry Pitts           son                    5 months M                                 do              do

The some discrepancies were that Ann Petts became a widow in 1862 so she wouldn’t be a widow at the time of James Murrell’s last years.

But she was a widow for thirteen years from 1862 until 1875 when she remarried. So it possible that people knew her as a widow and didn’t know when she became a widow when they were remembering James Murrell and Ann Petts.

From the censuses, Ann Petts is listed as born in Hockley, Essex. Not Hadleigh or Hawkwell where James Murrell lived.

It is possible that Arthur Morrison and perhaps later Eric Maple may have seen the death certificate of James Murrell and assumed that because Ann Pett was present at his death that she was his daughter.

She may have just been a friend of James Murrell and his family, doing some housekeeping chores for him while he is busy with dealing with the “other world”. And when the time came when James Murrell died, she may have been the only one there.

Research is still ongoing to find out more about Ann Petts. Perhaps she was a family relative.

This December 16, 2010 will be the 150th year since the passing of the Witch Doctor and Cunning man James Murrell of Hadleigh, Essex.

8. WILLIAM MURRELL was baptized August 9, 1814 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh, Essex.

When Baptized. – Child’s Christian Name. – Parents Names, Christian & Surname – Abode. – Profession. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

August 9th. / William Son of / James & Elizabeth / Murrells / Hadleigh / Shoemaker / M. Hodge

William Murrells died at the age of 1 month in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried August 23, 1814 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

William Murrels died as an infant in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried November 26, 1815 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

10. MARIA MURRELL was born in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized February 23, 1817 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

When Baptized. – Child’s Christian Name. – Parents Names, Christian & Surname – Abode. – Profession. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

23rd. February / Maria Daughter of / James Elizabeth / Murrell / Hadleigh / Shoemaker / Joseph Prendergast

Maria Murrell died at the age of 21 in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried April 23, 1837 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

11. + ELIZA ANN MURRELL was born in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized December 23, 1818 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Rebecca Murrell died at the age of 5 months in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried March 4, 1818 in the churchyard at St James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

Rebecca Murrell / Hadleigh / 1818 4th of March / 5 Months / S. Stafford Officiating Minister

13. + MATILDA MURRELL was born in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized [March 27, 1819] or in 1820 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

14. ELLEN MURRELL was born in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized October 28, 1821 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

When Baptized. – Child’s Christian Name. – Parents Names, Christian & Surname – Abode. – Profession. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

Oct: 28th / Ellen D. of / James and Elizabeth / Murrells / Hadleigh / Shoemaker / J: F: Squire

Ellen Murrells died at the age of 1 year in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried July 16, 1823 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

15. MARY ANN MURRELL was born in 1823 in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized February 2, 1823 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

When Baptized. – Child’s Christian Name. – Parents Names, Christian & Surname – Abode. – Profession. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

Feb: 2nd / Mary Ann D. of / James and Elizabeth / Murrells / Hadleigh / Shoemaker / J: F: Squire

Mary Ann Murrells died at the age of 3 weeks in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

16. x EDWARD MURRELL was born in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized October 3, 1824 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Although, it appears that Edward Murrell did not get married, he is treated on a separate page.

William Murrells died at the age of 14 days in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

18. PETER MURRELL was born in 1827 in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized November 5, 1827 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh. He was a twin of Paul Murrell.

When Baptized. – Child’s Christian Name. – Parents Names, Christian & Surname – Abode. – Profession. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

Novr. 5th / Peter S: of / James & Elizabeth / Murrels / Hadleigh / Shoemaker / J: F: Squire

Peter Murrel died at the age of 8 months in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried May 23, 1828 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

19. PAUL MURRELL was born in 1827 in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized November 5, 1827 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh. He was a twin of Peter Murrell.

When Baptized. – Child’s Christian Name. – Parents Names, Christian & Surname – Abode. – Profession. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

Novr. 5th / Paul S. of / James & Elizabeth / Murrels / Hadleigh / Shoemaker / J: F: Squire

Paul Murrel died at the age of 7 months in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried April 21, 1828 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

20. + LOUISA WHITWELL MURRELL was born April 4, 1830 in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized June 20, 1830 in St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

21. WILLIAM MURRELL was born [December] 9, 1831 in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized January 18, 1832 at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

When Baptized. – Child’s Christian Name. – Parents Names, Christian & Surname – Abode. – Profession. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

Baptized 18 Jany 1832 Born 9th [Dec] 1831 / William Son of / James & Elizabeth / Murrils / Hadleigh / Shoemaker / W. Macleod

William Murrils died at the age of 13 weeks in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried February 5, 1832 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

22. GEORGE MURRELL was born July 28, 1833 and was baptized September 8, 1833 at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

When Baptized. – Child’s Christian Name. – Parents Names, Christian & Surname – Abode. – Profession. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

Born July 28th 1833 Baptized Septr. 8th / George Son of / James & Elizabeth / Murril / Hadleigh / Shoemaker / W. Macleod

George Murrel died in 1834 in Hadleigh, Essex and was buried April 14, 1834 in the churchyard at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

Name. – Abode. – When Buried. – Age. – By whom the ceremony was performed.

23. + ELEANOR MURRELL was born October 2[0?], 1834 in Hadleigh, Essex and was baptized in July 2[0?] 1835 at St. James the Less church in Hadleigh.

1. Parish registers for St. Mary the Virgin church, Hawkwell, Essex, England. Microfiche ordered from Essex Record Office, Wharf Road, Chelmsford, CM2 6YT, United Kingdom. Baptisms: 1785 James Murrel. Marriages: 1820 Daniel Whitwell and Hannah Murrell. Received May 13, 2010 Thursday Morning.

2. Hadleigh, Essex, England. Baptism: 1790 Elizabeth Button. Form submitted by a member of the LDS church. Batch No. 7815130, Source Film No. 1126317. International Genealogical Index v5.0 online at Familysearch.org . October 10, 2009 Saturday 9:59 PM.

3. St. Olave, Bermondsey, Southwark, England. London, England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921, ancestry.com. Banns: 1812, Image No. 12, Original Page No. 139, No. 334, Banns of James Murrell and Elizabeth Frances Button. October 10, 2009 Saturday 5:00 PM.

4. St. Olave, Bermondsey, Southwark, England. London, England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921, ancestry.com. Marriages: 1812, Image No. 4, Original Page No. 213, No. 864, Marriage of James Murrell and Elizabeth Frances Button. October 13, 2009 Tuesday 12:56 PM.

5. St. James the Less church, Hadleigh, Essex, England. Bishop’s transcripts 1800-1868, D/CR 160, FHL British Film 1702317 Item 3. Baptisms: 1817 Maria Murrell, 1818 Eliza Murrells, 1819 Matilda Murrells, 1821 Ellen Murrells, 1823 Mary Ann Murrells, 1824 Edward Murrells, 1827 Peter Murrels, 1827 Paul Murrels, 1830 Louisa Whitwele Murrell, 1832 William Murrils, 1833 George Murril. Burials: 1815 William Murrels, 1818 Rebecca Murrell, 1823 Mary Ann Murrells, 1823 Ellen Murrells, 1825 William Murrells, 1828 Paul Murrel, 1828 Peter Murrel, 1832 Wm Murrils, 1834 George Murrel, 1852 Matilda Benson, 1860 James Murrell. Searched and extracted starting February 20, 2010 Saturday 10:00 AM.

6. St. James the Less church, Hadleigh, Essex, England. Parish Registers. From the Essex Record Office, Wharf Road, Chelmsford, CM2 6YT, United Kingdom. The Parish register copied for certain years (because of some restriction at the Essex Record Office, I can’t order the microfiche on the P. R. of Hadleigh, so I ordered paper copies of the years missing in the Bishop Transcript). Baptisms: 1814 William Murrells, 1835 Eleanor Murrels. Burials: 1814 William Murrells, 1837 Maria Murrels, 1839 Elizabeth Murrils. Received May 13, 2010 Thursday Morning.

7. Pallot’s Baptism Index for England: 1780 - 1837. Baptisms: 1820 Matilda Murrells. Ancestry.com. February 16, 2009 Monday 7:35 PM.

8. Bishop’s Transcripts for St. Mary the Virgin church, Hawkwell, Essex, England. Bishops Transcripts for 1801-1870. FHL British Film 1702325 Item 2, D/CR 182. Burials: 1830 Hannah Murrell. Searched and extracted March 9, 2010 Tuesday starting 8:53 AM.

9. 1835, Mrs. E. F. Lodwick mentioned in an Essex Quarter Sessions Case as the victim of theft. The newspaper, The Essex Standard (Colchester, England), Friday, April 10, 1835; Issue 223. Online at 19th Century British Library newspapers: Part II , http://newspapers.bl.uk. June 2, 2010 Wednesday 7:25 PM.

10. Edward Murrell (junior) and his family of Burnham, Essex. The family mentioned in a website on the internet, http://www.dsthorne.com/tree/gp5458.html. April 3, 2010 Saturday.

11. Civil Registration Index, Death of Elizabeth Murrell, 2nd Quarter (Apr-May-Jun), Year 1839, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 12, Page 149. Searched March 2, 2009 Monday 1:43 PM.

12. 1839 Death Certificate of Elizabeth Murrell. From the General Register Office, Southport, Merseyside, England. Received September 24, 2009 Thursday 10:00 AM.

13. 1841 Census of England, Essex, Hadleigh, District 9, Image No. 1, Ancestry.com. Public Record Office Reference: HO 107 / 337 / 8, Original Page No. 2, Stamped Page No. 4, Household of James Murrell. March 5, 2008 Wednesday 3:04 PM.

14. 1841 Census of England, Essex, Canewdon, District 4, Image No. 8, Ancestry.com. Public Record Office Reference: HO 107 / 337 / 3, Original Page Nos. 15 & 16, Stamped Page No. 11, Louisa Murrell in the household of Daniel Whitwell. February 22, 2009 Sunday 2:50 PM.

15. Civil Registration Index, Marriage of Eliza Merrils and James Legget, 2nd Quarter (Apr-May-Jun), Year 1844, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 12, Page 305. Searched March 2, 2009 Monday 3:58 PM.

16. Civil Registration Index, Marriage of Matilda Murrels and Wm Benson, 4th Quarter (Oct-Nov-Dec), Year 1844, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 12, Page 399. Searched February 20, 2010 Saturday 6:35 PM.

17. 1847 Death of Rev. William Atkinson, the Vicar of Canewdon. Online at Google Books, The Gentleman’s Magazine. July 1847. By Silvanus Urban, Gent. Page 103, 1847. Clergy Deceased. William Atkinson mentioned. January 4, 2009 Sunday 7:09 PM.

18. Civil Registration Index, Marriage of Louisa Whitwell Murrell and William Spendell, 4th Quarter (Oct-Nov-Dec), Year 1848, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 12, Page 425. Searched February 17, 2009 Tuesday 2:15 PM.

19. Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper (London, England), Sunday, April 1, 1849; Issue 332. Article about Witchcraft and the Cunning man near Rayleigh, Essex. British Newspapers, 1800-1900, http://newspapers.bl.uk. August 1, 2009 Saturday 8:30 PM.

20. 1851 Census of England, Essex, Hadleigh, District 9a, Image No. 3, Ancestry.com. Public Record Office Reference: H.O. 107 / 1777, Original Page No. 3, No. of Householder’s Schedule 9, Household of James Murrills. March 5, 2008 Wednesday 2:51 PM.

21. Civil Registration Index, Death of Hannah Whitwell, 4th Quarter (Oct-Nov-Dec), Year 1851, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 12, Page 139. http://www.freebmd.org.uk. Searched May 21, 2010 Friday 5:08 PM.

22. Whitwell family, on a website http://www.stockfamily.nildram.co.uk. Information on the death of Hannah Whitwell. May 21, 2010 Friday 8:30 PM.

23. 1851 Census of England, Essex, Canewdon, District 7, Image No. 31, Ancestry.com. Public Record Office Reference H.O. 107 / 1777, Original Page No. 31, No. of Householder’s Schedule 123, Household of Eliza Lodwick. December 28, 2008 Sunday 7:47 PM.

24. Civil Registration Index, Marriage of Eleanor Murrells and Elijah Barker, 4th Quarter (Oct-Nov-Dec), Year 1853, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 4a, Page 263. Searched February 25, 2009 Wednesday 4:18 PM.

25. The Ipswich Journal (Ipswich, England), Saturday, September 25, 1858; Issue 6229. Article about Witchcraft in Easthorpe, Essex and it mentioned Murrell. British Newspapers, 1800-1900, http://newspapers.bl.uk. April 1, 2009.

26. 1859 Death of Mary Ann Atkinson, widow of Rev. William Atkinson. Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle, Volume 6, Published 1859, Page 658 Obituary for June 1859. Online at Google Books. June 2, 2010 Wednesday 6:25 PM.

27. Civil Registration Index, Marriage of Louisa Spendell and Robert Felton, 4th Quarter (Oct-Nov-Dec), Year 1859, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 4a, Page 295. Searched February 16, 2009 Monday 8:30 PM.

28. Civil Registration Index, Death of James Murrell, 4th Quarter (Oct-Nov-Dec), Year 1860, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 4a, Page 97. Searched March 2, 2009 Monday 1:41 PM.

29. 1860 Death Certificate of James Murrell. From the General Register Office, Southport, Merseyside, England. Received September 24, 2009 Thursday 10:00 AM.

30. 1861 Death of Eliza Frost Lodwick. The Essex Standard (Colchester, England) Friday, March 22, 1861; Issue 1579. British Newspapers, 1800-1900, http://newspapers.bl.uk. June 2, 2010 Wednesday 7:36 PM.

31. 1861 Census of England, Essex, Hadleigh, District 9, Image No. 9, Ancestry.com. Public Record Office Reference: R.G. 9 1083, Original Page No. 9, Stamped Page No. 128, No. of Schedule 50, Household of Stephen Choppen. May 31, 2010 Monday 1:39 PM.

32. 1861 Census of England, Essex, Hadleigh, District 9, Image No. 4, Ancestry.com. Public Record Office Reference: R.G. 9 1083, Original Page No. 4, No. of Schedule 22, Household of James Pitts. March 2, 2009 Monday 3:37 PM.

33. Civil Registration Index, Death of James Petts, 2nd Quarter (Apr-May-Jun), Year 1862, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 4a, Page 107. Searched May 9, 2010 Sunday 5:18 PM.

34. 1867, “The History of Rochford Hundred by Philip Benton. Published 1867 by A. Harrington. Pages: 102 about William Atkinson and his wife Mary Ann Kesteman, 127 about Jeremiah Kesteman Lodwick and his wife Eliza, 254-257 about Cunning man James Murrell. Google Books, Original from The New York Library, Digitized March 20, 2007. Searched August 24, 2009 Monday 9:03 PM.

35. 1891 Census of England, Essex, Hadleigh, District 9, Image No. 5, Ancestry.com. Public Record Office Reference: RG 12/1390, Original Page No. 5, Stamped Page No. 97, No. of Schedule 24, Household of John Cracknell. May 31, 2010 Monday 1:45 PM.

36. Civil Registration Index, Death of John Cracknell, 3rd Quarter (Jul-Aug-Sep), Year 1893, Age 49, District Rochford, County Essex, Volume 4a, Page 289. Searched May 31, 2010 Monday 2:03 PM.

37. 1900, “A Wizard of Yesterday” by Arthur Morrison. The Strand Magazine, Volume 20, pages 433-442. Google Books, Original from The University of Michigan, Digitized April 3, 2007. Searched August 24, 2009 Monday 8:59 PM.

38. 1959, “Witches over the Crouch” from a correspondent. In a newspaper article in The Times, Tuesday, Jan 27, 1959; pg. 10; Issue 54369; col F. Arthur Downes interviewed about Canewdon and Cunning James Murrell. Online at infotrac.galegroup.com or archive.timesonline.co.uk. February 26, 2010 Friday evening.

39. 1960, “Cunning Murrell A Study of a Nineteenth-Century Cunning Man in Hadleigh, Essex” by Eric Maple in the March 1960 of Folklore, Volume 71, Pages 37-43. From the book that I purchased on December 4, 2009 Friday.

40. 1960, “Death of a Wizard, James Murrell last of the old “Cunning Men” of Essex” from a correspondent in a newspaper article in The Times, December 15, 1960, pg. 12; Issue 54955; col F. Online at infotrac.galegroup.com or archive.timesonline.co.uk. May 15, 2010 Saturday 8:30 PM.

1. Jeremy Trewin Dixon of Australia - Thanks for the finding and letting me know about the 1858 Newspaper article and the 1900 Strand Magazine article.

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