The Widow Orchard: Witchcraft In Malmesbury

Malmesbury, Wiltshire, 1658 One day a woman known as “Widow Orchard” asked Mary Bartholomew, Daughter of Hugh Bartholomew the brewer, for some yeast. Mary told the widow that there was no yeast to spare, but Orchard suspected – correctly – that she was lying. Telling the young woman ominously that “Then you will give me …

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Elizabeth Abbot and Dionisia Josselyn: Two Essex Witches

Sometimes research is the most fabulous fun in the world. Other times, it leaves you tearing your hair and wondering why you ever started. This was definitely the case when I decided to look into the supposed witch burning of Elizabeth Abbot in Great Canfield, Essex. I was looking for information on something else entirely, …

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Baptised by the Devil: The Confessions of Isobel Gowdie

Isobel Gowdie, perhaps the most famous of accused Scottish witches, came to the attention of the authorites in 1662. It is uncertain just what led to her arrest, although it seems there were rumblings in the area of Auldearn, Nairnshire, for a while beforehand. What is known is that Isobel made a series of spectacular …

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A-Z of the Accused: Anne Maidenhead

Name: Anne Cade, alias Maidenhead Location: Great Holland, Essex Date: 1645 Accusations: According to her confession, around 1623, Anne had been initiated into witchcraft when she received four imps or familiars from her mother. Three of these were like mice, and called James, Prickeare and Robin. The fourth, in the form of a sparrow, was, …

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A Case of Cornish Witchcraft: The Sufferings of John Tonken

According to the pamphlet,  A True Account of a Strange and Wonderful Relation of One John Tonken, of Penzance in Cornwall, a youth of fifteen or sixteen years of age by the name of John Tonken or Tomkins found himself “strangely taken with sudden fits” in May, 1686. As he lay suffering in his bed, …

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A-Z of the Accused: Elizabeth Lightbone

Name: Elizabeth Lightbone or Lightbound Location:  Christleton, Cheshire Date: 1613 Accusations:  Elizabeth, wife of yeoman William Lightbone, was accused of several counts of witchcraft against her Christleton neighbours. On 30 May, 1613, she was believed to have bewitched Richard Rider so that he became lame until 20 September of that year. Prior to that, on …

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