Mother Redcap, Londons Most Infamous Witch

I love looking into local history, and thought it was about time I gave London its due attention as I haven't really done much research since I moved back here! And so I came across Mother Redcap - one of London's most famous witches.


She was said to live in a tavern called 'Mother Redcaps Tavern' which was located near what is now Camden Lock, in Camden. The pub still stands, and is now better known as 'The World's End' (a pub I have drunk in many times, before I moved to London, and never realised the history behind it!), a popular venue near Camden tube station.


Her real name was Jenny/Jennie, or Jinny Bingham, and she lived in Camden during the 17th Century (it is estimated she was born during the reign of King James I, so between 1603 and 1625). Back then, Camden was a very different place than what it is today; today you can struggle to get from one end of the high street to the other thanks to the dense crowds of people enjoying the large number of shops, market stalls, and venues the place has to offer. However, back in the 17th century Camden was primarily a rural area, surrounded by fields, meadows, and orchards, populated by farmers and wealthy landowners. It was here that Jenny lived, and despite her reputation, somehow managed to avoid being arrested and tried as a witch which is very surprising considering the beliefs of the time.

Jenny wasn't exactly subtle about her beliefs and practices either. It is said that she wore a cloak which she sewed bats onto, had a black cat that would follow her around, constantly smoked, and would happily yell abuse at anyone who would question her ways. She was also reported to be incredibly ugly, with a “hideous head, wrinkled and sallow, shaggy of brow, sunken and bleared of eye, hug of nose, wide of mouth, and sullen of look” (Doubleyew 1879: 514)." She also began to wear a red cap, hence the name. Her reputation was well-known as she was never short of customers looking for tinctures and potions (and it was said that she was particularly knowledgeable in poisons), and divinations into the future, as well as curses and hexes. Whilst people at the time were suspecting, paranoid, and fearful of witches and the death and destruction their devilry could cause, a good many of them still sought out cunning folk for their own purposes.


Her love life is also a rollercoaster of death and intrigue. Her first husband, Gipsy George, was hung for steeling sheep. Her next boyfriend, a man called Darby who was known to be a violent alcoholic disappeared without a trace, and her boyfriend after that - a man named Pitcher - also disappeared. He was eventually found dead in Mother Redcap's oven. Yes, you read that correctly - in her oven. The defence was aided by a witness who testified that Pitcher used to hide from Mother Redcap in the oven, and one day he must have hid from her in there and fallen asleep as Mother Redcap started cooking and baking. Surprisingly, the jury was convinced and acquitted her.


At around the time Darby disappeared, Jenny's own parents were hanged on charges of witchcraft after they were accused of using black magic to kill a girl.


Whilst she may have been acquitted of the murder, this and her parents own hanging, did not do her reputation any good and her business declined. She eventually found another possible suitor, seemingly by chance; a man who was in need of shelter offered her money to stay at hers in an effort to lose his attackers. It worked, and he continued to live with her even after, but when he too died rumours circulated that she had poisoned him, which didn't help matters. Mother Redcap went from being one of the most sought after cunning folk to becoming a recluse and a pariah; whereas people seemed to turn a blind eye in the past, now whenever some sort of misfortune afflicted the small town the townsfolk would gather in front of her home and directly accuse her. However, she was still never arrested nor tried as a witch.


Accounts of her death seem to differ; some believe that she died in her kitchen and was found by a neighbour, and that the devil himself came to Camden to collect her soul. Another source states that she and her then husband were accused of witchcraft after the death of a woman, and for the last time, for they were both hanged at Tyburn (perhaps there is some confusion here with the hanging of her parents?).


History seems to be determined to paint Mother Redcap as the stereotypical, old hag, the evil crone who murders and poisons those around her. However, we are all aware of the treatment of cunning folk during this time, and I'm sure there is probably more to the story of Mother Redcap than history would allow us to know!