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 …
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 …
Baptised by the Devil: The Confessions of Isobel Gowdie Read More »
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, …
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, …
A Case of Cornish Witchcraft: The Sufferings of John Tonken Read More »
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 …
I’ve written many, many words on Anne Wagg, the Derbyshire woman accused of witchcraft by her fellow residents of Ilkeston in 1650. She is, after all, both my “local” witch, and responsible for the journey that led me to write my first book on the subject of accused British witches. My initial research suggested strongly …
Name: Elizabeth Kennit/Kennet, alias Smith Location: Stepney, Middlesex Date: 1659 Accusations: Elizabeth was accused of bewitching Sarah Rose on 1st April 1659. Sarah was “wasted, consumed, pained and lamed”, and was still in the same lamentable condition in June of that year when Elizabeth was before the courts. Interestingly, it appears that the widowed Elizabeth …
Name: Rebecca JonesLocation: St. Osyth, EssexDate: 1645Accusations: In the midst of the fresh surge of witchcraft accusations during the Civil War period, Rebecca was accused of causing the deaths of Thomas Bumpstead and his wife Katherine through witchcraft. After her apprehension she confessed that nearly a quarter of a century beforehand, she had been in …
From the middle of the 16th century, to be found guilty of witchcraft was officially a felony in England. Accordingly, if you were unlucky enough to be found guilty of carrying out a range of related practices, you could expect to find yourself facing punishment, from a relatively lenient stint in the pillory to facing …
Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch To Live: A Tour of England’s Witchcraft Legislation Read More »
Belief in witches and their ability to cause harm to others was prevalent throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. One popular way to counter the bewitchment and to break the hold of the witch over an individual or his family and livestock was to remove the heart of a dead and bewitched animal. This would …
The Heart of the Matter: Two Cases of Devonshire Witchcraft Read More »
