Mary Ann Pittingale (Pickingill) fined for stealing potatoes, Chelmsford Chronicle, 7 November 1862

Chelmsford Chronicle, Friday 7 November 1862, page 4. Rochford Petty Sessions, 30 October 1862: "Mary Ann, wife of George Pittingale, of Eastwood" is charged with stealing two pecks of potatoes growing in a field belonging to James Tabor, one of the magistrates, who left the bench while the case was heard. She was fined 10s., with 1s. for the potatoes and 8s. costs, or fourteen days in prison. The fine was paid. She was the wife of George Pickingill. George Pickingill (1816-1909), farm labourer of Canewdon, Essex, was remembered in the village as a cunning man, and Eric Maple's writing in the 1960s made him the best-known figure of the Canewdon witch traditions. The newspapers of his lifetime spell the name Pittingale, Pettingale and Pickingale. One of a set of documents on him found by William Wallworth. The small crop is the paragraph itself; the full page follows. How to cite: 'Petty Sessions. Rochford, October 30', Chelmsford Chronicle, 7 November 1862, p. 4 (British Newspaper Archive). Alexandrian Witchcraft Timeline & Archive.

PETTY SESSIONS. Rochford, October 30. Before the Rev. T. S. Scratton, James Tabor and A. Tawke, Esqrs. Mary Ann, wife of George Pittingale, of Eastwood, was charged with stealing two pecks of potatoes growing in a field, the property James Tabor, Esq. The case was proved by Superintendent Ackers. - Fined 10s., value of potatoes 1s., and costs 8s.; in default 14 days' imprisonment. Paid. - [Mr. Tabor retired from the bench during the hearing of this case.]