Genealogy Chat

Thanks guys, I have found that witchcraft was made illegal from 1542 to 1547 which I did find interesting especially since it was for such a short time. Apparently England didn't go through the same crazy paranoia that Europe did. Joe :-)

Not witchcraft, but Katherine Hutt of Bocking, Essex was burned at the stake in Smithfield, 16 May 1556, for nothing more than her religious beliefs - she refused to recant. I'm still trying to establish a connection between her and my Essex Hutts

Thought you may be interested to know the last witch trial in Britain took place in 1944. The accused was Helen Duncan. More info on this site (remove brackets) http://heritage.scotsman(.)com/myths.cfm?id=1597372006 maggie

If you Google for Witch Hunt you'll find Wikipedia has the first entry where you will find a fascinating article on the history of witch hunts & trials. The last entry at the bottom of the Google page 'Witch Hunt' has a link to a long list of documented incidents in the killings of 'witches.' from all over the world from earliest times right up to the present day. UPDATED: The earliest execution I can find For an English Witch is : Jordemaine, Margery: burned at Smithfield, England, on 27 October, 1441 Plus a couple of early male witches: Nottingham, John of: died in custody, Coventry, England, 1324 Bolingbroke, Roger: hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, England, on 18 November, 1441

I've added an update at the top. :-)

I was rather hoping for one, because one line of my family comes from Husbands Bosworth in Leicestershire, were 9 women were executed as witches in 1616. I believe they were the last in England to be executed as witches. I haven't found any connection to my tree yet, though.

My grandmother used to go to the Spiritualist Church and my mother definitely knew things that she had never been told and could not have found out by other than second sight. Haven't found any witches yet, but I live in hope.

Haven't found anyone (yet) but, one side of the family does come from Wiswell which is the village next to Sabden (famous for the Pendle Witches) so I wouldn't be surprised when I dig around a bit more if I do find one - am secretly hoping for a whole coven really!!! Snowdrops

Yes. Kathryn Stubbs, a distant blood relation, was burnt as a witch in, um, 16-something. I discovered this whilst doing a systematic trawl of the Parish Registers in order to sort out the many Stubbs families in that area. Of course, the poor soul was unlikely to really have been a witch. Accusing women of being a witch was a very satisfying way of settling an old score. As she was only 25, I suspect her most serious crime was that of being too pretty. OC

Actually not the Pickity witch. Just wondering if anyone has come across any whiches in their family trees. How did you find them if you have. While I have't come across any witches I know my grandmother was a medium and found after my grandfathers death that he was a natural healer which apparently wasn't talked about, apparently he didn't like the fact he could do it or something. I'm into reincarnation etc as is my father and apparently so was my grandmother. Would love to find out where it all comes from, maybe I have Gypsy ancestors, which would also explain my wanderings. LOL Gypsyjoe.... UPDATE: I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find information in reguards to when the first witch trials took place in England?