ENGLANDS WITCHCRAFT TRIALS
For Jolyon and Oliver
ENGLANDS WITCHCRAFT TRIALS
Willow Winsham
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by
PEN AND SWORD HISTORY
an imprint of
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire S70 2AS
Copyright Willow Winsham, 2018
ISBN 978 1 47387 094 9
eISBN 978 1 47387 096 3
Mobi ISBN 978 1 47387 095 6
The right of Willow Winsham to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Acknowledgements
As with the first, there were times when it seemed unlikely this book was ever going to happen at all, largely due to the fact that it was written during the pregnancy and early months of life of our third and very much nonsleeping child!
Just as with children, thankfully I did not have to go it alone, and a book isnt brought into being and nurtured in isolation. There are, as always, many people whom I need to thank for their support and input in making this the best book it can be and keeping me sane in the process.
Firstly, a huge and heartfelt thanks to my long-suffering husband, not least for helping create the time and space to carry out the work this book has needed. Thanks and love also to our children, Elizabeth, Alfred, and now Jolyon, for making our family all that it is and bringing so much meaning and happiness to my world. One day I hope youll read these books and be proud of your history-obsessed mother.
I also need to thank:
Debbie Corlett, both for her many years of friendship and for the tireless and painstaking proofreading and suggestions which have helped make this book the best that it can be. Long may we continue to share interests and conversations regarding the correct or otherwise use of grammar.
An Victoir, simply for being herself and being there; I would not be able to believe in myself the way I do today without her having first shown me the way.
Two special thankyous go out to Amanda Capern, for planting the seeds of interest in womens history many, many years ago. I might have eschewed witches in favour of eighteenth-century female reformers at the time, but without the thorough grounding in the value of research, along with the encouragement and fanning of the flames of passion for getting it right, my books would not have been possible. Heartfelt thanks also to Dave Berger for many hours of support and at many times just listening; without him this and my previous book would literally not have come into being, as he gifted me the desk at which both have been written.
Further thanks go out to John Worland for his kind help and patience in answering my questions regarding the case of Ursula Kempe and for sharing his superb research. Malcolm Gaskill for likewise aiding in my digging on the Matthew Hopkins chapter and general help and encouragement. I am also in debt to Philip Almond for his permission to use his personal images and for discussion on details of the Warboys case.
This list wouldnt be complete without a massive shout-out to the #FolkloreThursday crowd. So many wonderfully kind, enthusiastic and fascinating individuals come together each week to share a passion for all things folklore, and it has truly been a privilege to get to know so many of them over the last two years. Thank you. And an extra special mention to Dee Dee Chainey, co-founder, friend, and sharer of many, many moments of hilarity, fun and misbehaving technology. I raise a badger in her honour.
Last but not least, I also extend thanks to the several archives and records offices that have aided in my research for this book, amongst them, Essex Record Office, Huntingdonshire Archives, Norfolk Record Office, Gary Knaggs of North Devon Record Office, John Monks of Exeter Civic Society, and various other individuals and organisations accessed throughout the course of my research. It has been a true pleasure, and I heartily hope I have done the original source material the justice it deserves.
Willow Winsham, August 2017.
List of Illustrations
Title page of A True and Just Record. ( Wellcome Library, London.)
1921 image of the St Osyth skeleton Ursula.
Examination of Ursula. ( John Worland.)
Detail of nail fragment in Ursula skeleton. ( John Worland.)
The Manor House at Warboys. ( Philip Almond.)
The Manor House at Warboys, side view. ( Philip Almond.)
Church of St Mary Magdelene, Warboys. ( Philip Almond.)
Interior of Huntingdon gaol. ( Philip Almond.)
Outside Hutingdon gaol. ( Philip Almond.)
Location of the Huntingdon gallows today. ( Philip Almond.)
Read Hall. ( Jennie Lee Cobban)
Lancaster Castle. ( Jennie Lee Cobban.)
Trough of Bowland. ( Jennie Lee Cobban.)
Ruins of a barn at Bull Hole Farm. ( Jennie Lee Cobban.)
Witches gathering for a meal with Devils. ( Wellcome Library, London.) Rumoured Grave of Alice Nutter. ( Jennie Lee Cobban.)
Matthew Hopkins. ( Wellcome Library, London.)
Eighteenth-century image of Matthew Hopkins. ( Wellcome Library, London.)
Matthew Hopkins with several familiars. ( Wellcome Library, London.) Witch Swimming. ( Wellcome Library, London.)
Title Page of An Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft . ( Wellcome Library, London.)
Burial Record for Matthew Hopkins D/P 343/1/1 (With permission of Essex Record Office.)
John Andrews Trust Account Book entries for 1679 NDRO B1003/1/1 (With kind permission of North Devon Record Office and John Andrew Trust.)
John Andrews Trust Account Book entries for 1680 and 1681 NDRO B1003/1/1 (With kind permission of North Devon Record Office and John Andrew Trust.)
Bideford Quarter Sessions Records, 1682 NDRO 1064Q-SQ-1 (With kind permission of North Devon Record Office.)
Close up of Bideford Quarter Sessions Records, 1682 (With kind permission of North Devon Record Office.)
Close up of Bideford Quarter Sessions Records, 1682 (With kind permission of North Devon Record Office.)
Witch Cottage, Bideford. (With kind permission of Bideford Library.)
Plaque Commemorating the Bideford Witches. Exeter Civic Society ( www.exetercivicsociety.org.uk )
