Ursula Southeil

Ursula Southeil (c. 1488 - 1561), better known as Mother Shipton, was a English prophetess who prophesied the Great Plague, the Armada, the Great Fire of London of 1666 and the end of the world among other things. Possibly Ursula Sonthiel.

It is generally acknowledged that she was largely a myth, many of her prophecies were composed after her death and after the events they 'predicted'. Her prophecies were apparently recorded in a series of diaries but the first book of her work did not appear until 1641 and the most noted work until 1684 by Richard Head, who later admitted to inventing almost all the biographical details

The details of her life as recorded state that she was born in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, reputedly hideously ugly. She married Toby Shipton, a local carpenter, near York in 1512 and she told fortunes and made predictions throughout her life.