Sybil Leek claimed to be able to trace her mother's ancestry back to the witches of southern Ireland in 1134, and her father's ancestry to occultists close to royalty in czarist Russia. Her most notable ancestor was 'Molly Leigh', an Irish witch who died in 1663.

As the story goes, Leigh was buried at the very edge of the local church graveyard well away from others on account of her being a witch. A stort time after her burial the local vicar and others went to open her cottage and retrieve her pet jackdaw. When they arrived they were shocked to see Leigh (or an apparition of her) sitting in an armchair with her pet jackdaw perched on her shoulder just as she had often been seen in real life.

Frightened, the vicar and others returned to the graveyard and reopened her grave. They drove a stake through her heart and threw the living jackdaw into the coffin and reburied it.

Sybil took special pride in being descended from Molly Leigh, and on a visit to Ireland she visited Molly's grave. Later she was seen about town with her own pet jackdaw, Mr Hotfoot Jackson, perched on her shoulders, following the same custom that old Molly had done before her.

Sybil was born on February 22, 1923 in Staffordshire but from an early age she lived and grew up in the New Forest.

In 1932 when she was only nine, famous black magician Aleister Crowley became a frequent visitor to her home. She claims to have spent time with him wandering through forests near to her home. In her autobiography, Diary of a Witch, Sybil wrote that he talked to her about witchcraft and recited his poetry, encouraging her to write her own.

Sybil's family was relatively well to do and she grew up as a young lady of society. In their New Forest home, her mother and friends regularly met for tea, and called themselves the 'Pentagram Club'. During one of the family's regular trips to France, at age 15, Sybil was initiated into a French coven.

Returning home, Sybil met a well-known pianist-conductor who was 24 years her senior. Despite the age difference, they fell in love and were married shortly after her 16th birthday. During the relative quiet of the pre-war years they toured and travelled about England and Europe. He died two years later and she returned home to Hampshire. During the Second World War, Sybil joined the Red Cross and worked as a nurse in a military hospital near Southampton.

After the war, Sybil returned to Hampshire and moved to Burley in the New Forest. There she lived among the gypsies, joining the Horsa coven they claimed had existed for 700 years. The gypsies knowing she was a witch born, accepted her as one of their own. From them she learned a great deal about herbal potions and elixirs.

While living in Burley, Sybil started up and ran a successful antique shop. While working in the woods one day Sybil had a vision, which brought her to the realisation that her purpose in life was to promote witchcraft.

In 1963 she claimed that there were four covens in the New Forest alone, and about 600 flourishing across Britain.

She was once reported in the Daily Echo to have said: "I practise witchcraft because it's the only True Religion."

Her second husband, Brian, wasn't a witch but said of Sybil: "Look at it this way - I'd rather have her on my side than against me."

Her reputation as a psychic, astrologer and witch came to attract attention. Media publicity brought tourists to Burley, but all this had a bad effect on Sybil's antiques business. Her landlord refused to renew her lease, which Sybil claimed was because she was a witch.

Sybil decided to move to America, where witchcraft was still in its infancy, to spread her message. While over there she even formed herself into a company - Sybil Leek Inc.

She was sad to leave the New Forest. She told the Daily Echo: "I am still very much a New Forest witch and always will be, I guess. If I could, I'd stay in the Forest all my life'.

But the pull of America and the promise of all the dollars she could make was too much for Sybil and she left for New York.

Sybil continued to promote witchcraft in a positive sense, both as an author and a media celebrity, dispelling myths and educating the public. She worked as an astrologer and gained quite a reputation in the field, editing and publishing her own astrological journal. Such was her reputation that she toured frequently, holding lectures throughout the United States as well as making trips to England and Europe.

Sybil died aged 65 on the October 26, 1982 in Florida. One of the reports of her death has it that a train derailed near her home, and dosed her with a toxic gas. This, the report states, occurred when she was magically attacked by a group of witches after an argument.

She will always be remembered as a remarkable woman of many accomplishments, a gifted psychic, astrologer and writer. But most of all she will be remembered as the famous New Forest witch.