by this time, pickingill was increasingly inflating his age, eventually claiming that he was 105 years old. this attracted attention from other areas, including london, and in september 1908 a journalist visited canewdon; he arrived by automobile, the first that pickingill had ever seen, and allowed the old man to ride in it. the journalist subsequently wrote an article about the alleged centegenerian, in which he claimed that his name was "frederick pickingale"; it is possible that pickingill gave the false name so that no one would be able to look up the parish records and discover his real age.