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The Witch Of Stoke On Trent

The Witch of Stoke on Trent

Stoke on Trent, the city known as the potteries, well known for making pottery and wherever a Stokie goes, you will be able pick them out in a cafe, checking the underneath of a plate to see where it was made.

As well as being a proud Stokie, many locals are as passionate about their local history as they are about their oatcakes. This is the case with the story of Molly Leigh, her story has been past down through the generations, it’s hard to find anyone in Stoke on Trent who hasn’t heard Molly Leigh’s story.

So why is she so well known in Stoke on Trent?
Molly Leigh is a well known local woman who was accused of witchcraft in 1746.Molly born as Margaret in 1685 and lived in a cottage with her pet blackbird on Hamil Road, Burslem . She was a loner and said to be very ugly with a nasty temper.She made a living by keeping cows and selling their milk in the town to passersby whilst having her pet blackbird perched on her shoulder.
Molly rarely attended church which upset the minister Reverend Spencer. It wasn't long before she was accused for any misfortune that happened in town.Reverend Spencer claimed that one day when he was in the local pub The Turks Head her blackbird came and sat on the pub sign and turned the beer sour.
Molly Leigh died in 1746 and buried at St Johns graveyard before her trial of being a witch.

However it wasn't long till locals reported seeing her spirit haunting the streets of Burslem. Reverend Spencer and local clerics exhumed her body , opened the coffin and put her alive blackbird in with her. Then they repositioned her grave in a north to south direction to stop her spirit from returning.

One story of Molly Leigh that is still being told to local children today is that if you go to her grave and go round saying Molly Leigh , Molly Leigh chase me around the apple tree her spirit will return!
  Many children over the decades have dared each other to do this.

Was Molly Leigh a witch?

That we will never know but another local witch called Sybil Leek claimed she was a descendant of Molly Leigh. 
However, in the era Molly lived in, it was easy to accuse someone’s a witch.

What do we know is true about her?

The local newspaper the Sentinel looked into their archives and found a copy of her will. It revealed a lot about her a person, her character, her business mind,those who were around her  and the fact she was actually a benefactor to the church and the poor of Burslem.
It seems Molly wasn’t in fact as lonely as the story goes, in fact her will mentions
mother, her aunt Margaret Booker, and her cousins Ann Donbavin and Luke Bennett.
All relatives and local people would benefit from her will. After the death of Molly’s aunt, mother, and cousin, a sum of £400 was to be shared equally among Ann’s children.Cousin Luke was to receive Molly’s silver plates and utensils. Her friend, Alice Beech, who lived on land owned by Molly called Wall Flatt in Burslem. Alice, who witnessed the will, was given Wall Flatt after Molly died. The will begins by mentioning Molly’s “honoured mother”, Sarah Booth, who received the rent and profits of Molly’s land at Jackfield. “I do hereby expressly order and declare that Mr Joseph Booth, my father-in-law, shall have nothing to do with the rents and profits of the said lands but is hearby utterly excluded and debarred,”. Mr Booth did receive gold mourning rings.

So what about the local people of Burslem?

20 shillings would be paid to Alice Beech every year, and then to her descendents after her death. This cash would be used to buy 40 six-penny loaves to feed the, “poor inhabitants and widows of Sneyd and Burslem.”After her mother, aunt and cousins had all died, Molly had instructed Mr Joseph Lovatt the Younger of Penkhull to sell off all her land and tenements – apart from Wall Flatt, which would remain with Alice Beech’s descendents – and the profits used to build, “a hospital in Burslem for the reception and habitation of so many poor women as he think requisite.”The rest of the profits would be used to provide food and clothing for these “poor women of the Parish”.

It seems the ‘wicked witch’ was in fact a strong minded, independent business woman which some local men were scared of in those times. Whether she was a witch or not, it doesn’t really matter but you have to admire the greatness she did after life.