Name: Isobel Roby Location: Lancashire Date: 1612 Accusations: One of the less well-known of the “Pendle Witches”, Isobel Roby was unusual in that she was not actually indicted for a specific act of witchcraft against a named victim. Several people however spoke against her, including Peter Chaddock of Windle, Jane Wilkinson, Margaret Lyon, and Margaret …
Tales of strange disappearances and people being transported from one place to another through mystical means are not uncommon in English myth and folklore. What is perhaps more surprising is to find them contained in accounts that purport to be a more ‘accurate’ telling of historical events. Such an example is the 1652 pamphlet …
The Missing Mercer’s Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Katherine Atkins Read More »
Name: Agnes Hurst Location: Westhoughton, Lancashire Date: 1665 Accusations: Jane Gregory testified that her husband Thomas had been taken ill after an encounter with Agnes Hurst, a woman reputed to have been a witch for the last twenty years. He had helped in transporting the old woman in a chair with a group of others, …
Name:Alice Gooderidge Date:1596 Location:Stapenhill, Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire Accusations: In February 1596, Alice was accused of bewitching young Thomas Darling after meeting the boy when he got lost in the woods while hunting with his uncle. Shortly afterwards, Thomas suffered from vomiting and hallucinations; when the doctor called to attend him could do nothing to ease his condition, …
Name:Margaret Flower Date:1619 Location: Bottesford, Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire Accusations: After Margaret was dismissed from service at Belvoir Castle by the wife of the Earl of Rutland, she was accused along with her mother Joan and sister Philippa of bewitching two of the Earl’s sons to death in revenge. The magic was worked against them …
Name: Margaret Ellnore Date: 1694 Location: Ipswich Accusations: Francis Hutchinson recorded in his Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft that when a man named Rudge refused to let Margaret Ellnore a house, his wife fell ill soon afterwards and Margaret was blamed. The woman remained unwell for three years, only improving during the periods when Margaret was arrested …
Name:Agnes Duke Location:Hatfield Peverel, Essex Date:1566-1589 Accusations:Agnes’ first official step on the wrong side of the law was not actually for witchcraft. At the Brentwood Assizes on 14 March 1566, she was indicted along with William Spayne on the charge of burglary; on 15 December the previous year, the pair had stolen goods from the house …
Name:Joan Cason Location:Faversham, Kent Date:1586 Accusations:When Sarah Cooke’s young daughter fell ill, a traveller told her that the girl had been bewitched. To cure her, the worried mother was advised to procure a roof tile from the house of the woman she suspected was responsible: Joan Cason. Sarah was to place the tile in the …
Name:Jane Brooks Location: Shepton Mallet, Somerset Date:1657/8 Accusations:The elderly Jane, along with her sister, was accused of tormenting young Richard Jones. Jane had begged bread from him, and in return had given the boy an apple; after taking a bite from it he had suffered a fit and could not move or speak. Jane and …
Agnes and her husband John Godfrey were married 25th January, 1578 at St. Andrew’s, Enfield, and had at least six children in the years that followed. There is no evidence one way or another as to how their marriage fared, but relations within the local community were certainly less than harmonious as Agnes was accused …
