Jane Wenham (died 1730) was one of the last people to be condemned to death for witchcraft in England, although her conviction was set aside. Her trial in 1712 is commonly but erroneously regarded as the last witch trial in England. [1]
The twice-married Jane Wenham, of Walkern, Hertfordshire, had apparently separated from her second husband and about 1710 brought a charge of defamation against a farmer, John Chapman, in response to an accusation of witchcraft. The local justice of the peace, Sir Henry Chauncy, referred the matter to the Rev Godfrey Gardiner, the rector of Walkern. She was awarded with a shilling, though advised to be less quarrelsome. She was disappointed with this outcome, and it was reported that she had said she would have justice "some other way". She supposedly then bewitched Ann Thorne, a servant at the rectory.
A warrant for Wenham's arrest was issued by Sir Henry Chauncy, who gave instructions that she be searched for "witch marks". She requested that she undergo trials to avoid being detained, such as a swimming test, however, she was asked to repeat the Lord's Prayer. [2]
The accused was brought before Sir John Powell at the assize court at Hertford on 4 March 1712. A number of villagers gave evidence that Wenham practised witchcraft. The judge was clearly more sceptical than the jury of the evidence presented. When an accusation of flying was made, the judge remarked that flying, per se, was not a crime. [3] Through the good offices of Sir John Powell, Queen Anne granted Jane Wenham a pardon. A detailed account of the trial and of the claims then made by parishioners is provided by the Hertfordshire antiquary William Blyth Gerish (died 1921) in his 'Hertfordshire Folk Lore, No. 4', A Hertfordshire Witch; or the Story of Jane Wenham, the 'Wise Woman' of Walkern (1906). He concludes on page thirteen that the key to her persecution by Bragge lay in her claim to have attended Dissenting Meetings.
Wenham was removed from her village for her own safety and given a home on the estate of Mr Plumer at Gilston. Here she was visited by Bishop Francis Hutchinson (1660–1739), author of an Historical essay concerning witchcraft (1718), in which he applied an extremely rational approach to the subject. Hutchinson, who had met other survivors of witch-hunts, regarded their persecution as Tory superstition. [4] After Plumer's death she moved to a cottage on the Cowper estate at Hertingfordbury where she died on Thursday, 11 January 1730, and was buried in Hertingfordbury churchyard on the Sunday following, her funeral sermon being preached by the curate, Rev Mr Squire [5] .
According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Jane Wenham was the last person convicted of witchcraft in England. [2]
However, trials and executions for witchcraft continued in England after the Wenham case. One such case involved Mary Hicks and her nine-year-old daughter Elizabeth, who were condemned to death by the assize court and were hanged in Huntingdon on Saturday 28 July 1716. [6] [7] [8]
The trial caused a sensation in London, where publishers such as Edmund Curll sold material proclaiming Wenham's innocence or guilt. Chauncey's son-in-law and one of the witnesses at the trial, Revd Francis Bragge, published three pamphlets about the case, including, A full and impartial account of the discovery of sorcery and witchcraft practis'd by Jane Wenham of Walkern in Hertfordshire. [9]
Some historians, such as Keith Thomas, have suggested, taking this case is an example, that at this stage in English history there was generally a difference in attitudes towards supposed witchcraft between educated and less educated people, the latter being more credulous. [3] However, the Wenham case is arguably more complicated than this distinction might imply, as Henry Chauncy, for example, was a published author who had studied at Cambridge University. Chauncy's motivation has been the subject of speculation. [1] Ian Bostridge, one of Keith Thomas's students, has argued that political issues were involved in the case. [4]
In 1700 about a fifth of the population of Hertfordshire were nonconformists [10] and a return made in 1715, shows that Walkern, a small rural parish then had eighty-four dissenting families [11] . The house of Edward Ives in Walkern had been certified for meetings of protestant dissenters for religious worship in 1699 [12] . Dissent thus had a firm hold in the parish of Walkern, where some local high-church clergy were greatly disliked. The Revd. Francis Bragge, for instance, a witness at the trial and Vicar of near-by Hitchin (1690-1728), has been described as 'that horrible man' [13] . Francis Bragge himself recorded that Wenham said that she was "persecuted out of Spite, only because she went to the Dissenting Meetings". [14] .
In 2012, a play entitled The Last Witch was performed at Hertford Theatre and Walkern Hall, 300 years after the original trial. Written by Kate Miller and directed by former Hertfordshire vicar Richard Syms, the play starred Toni Brooks as the titular character, with Rhiannon Drake as Anne Thorne and Lindsay Cooper as Debora Gardiner. [15]
In 2015 a play about Wenham by Rebecca Lenkiewicz opened at Watford Palace Theatre and went on tour. [16] [17]
Francis Hutchinson was a British minister in Bury St Edmunds when he wrote a famous book debunking witchcraft prosecutions and subsequently was made Bishop of Down and Connor in Ireland.
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.
Hertfordshire is an English county, founded in the Norse–Saxon wars of the 9th century, and developed through commerce serving London. It is a land-locked county that was several times the seat of Parliament. From origins in brewing and papermaking, through aircraft manufacture, the county has developed a wider range of industry in which pharmaceuticals, financial services and film-making are prominent. Today, with a population slightly over 1 million, Hertfordshire services, industry and commerce dominate the economy, with fewer than 2000 people working in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
Walkern is a village and civil parish in East Hertfordshire, England. It is about two miles (3 km) from Stevenage.
Rebecca Lenkiewicz is a British playwright, screenwriter and former actress. She is best known as the author of Her Naked Skin (2008), which was the first original play written by a living female playwright to be performed on the Olivier stage of the Royal National Theatre.
Sir Henry Chauncy was an English lawyer, topographer and antiquarian. He is best known for his county history of Hertfordshire, published in 1700.
The Witches of Warboys were Alice Samuel and her family, who were accused of and executed for witchcraft between 1589 and 1593 in the village of Warboys, in the Fens of England. It was one of many witch trials in the early modern period, but scholar Barbara Rosen claims it "attracted probably more notice than any other in the sixteenth century".
In the early modern period, from about 1400 to 1775, about 100,000 people were prosecuted for witchcraft in Europe and British America. Between 40,000 and 60,000 were executed, almost all in Europe. The witch-hunts were particularly severe in parts of the Holy Roman Empire. Prosecutions for witchcraft reached a high point from 1560 to 1630, during the Counter-Reformation and the European wars of religion. Among the lower classes, accusations of witchcraft were usually made by neighbors, and women made formal accusations as much as men did. Magical healers or 'cunning folk' were sometimes prosecuted for witchcraft, but seem to have made up a minority of the accused. Roughly 80% of those convicted were women, most of them over the age of 40. In some regions, convicted witches were burnt at the stake, the traditional punishment for religious heresy.
Ursula Kemp or Ursley Kempe alias Grey was an English cunning woman and midwife who in 1582 was tried for witchcraft and hanged. Kemp was accused of using familiars to kill and bring sickness to her neighbour.
Henry Bentinck Boyle, 5th Earl of Shannon, styled Viscount Boyle from 1842–68, was an Honorary Colonel of the 2nd Brigade, South Irish Division, Royal Artillery.
Hertingfordbury is a small village in Hertfordshire, England, close to the county town of Hertford. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Hertingfordbury is also the name of a neighbouring civil parish, which does not contain the village. Hertingfordbury village is within the Castle ward of Hertford Town Council. The population of the civil parish as of the 2021 census was 689.
Abigail Faulkner, sometimes called Abigail Faulkner Sr., was an American woman accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials in 1692. In the frenzy that followed, Faulkner's sister Elizabeth (Dane) Johnson (1641–1722), her sister-in-law Deliverance Dane, two of her daughters, two of her nieces, and a nephew, would all be accused of witchcraft and arrested. Faulkner was convicted and sentenced to death, but her execution was delayed due to pregnancy. Before she gave birth, Faulkner was pardoned by the governor and released from prison.
Wenham can refer to:
Ruth Osborne (1680–1751) was an English woman who was accused of being a witch.
Martha Carrier was a Puritan accused and convicted of being a witch during the 1692 Salem witch trials.
Mary Hicks was an English woman accused of witchcraft in Huntingdon, England. She was condemned to death by Huntingdon assizes on 28 July 1716 along with her nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Hicks, and is thought to be the last person executed in England for witchcraft.
In England, witch trials were conducted from the 15th century until the 18th century. They are estimated to have resulted in the death of perhaps 500 people, 90 percent of whom were women. The witch hunt was at its most intense stage during the English Civil War (1642–1651) and the Puritan era of the mid-17th century.
The Maryland Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Colonial Maryland between June 1654, and October 1712. It was not unique, but is a Colonial American example of the much broader phenomenon of witch trials in the early modern period, which took place also in Europe.
During a 104-year period from 1626 to 1730, there are documented Virginia Witch Trials, hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Colonial Virginia. More than two dozen people are documented having been accused, including two men. Virginia was the first colony to have a formal accusation of witchcraft in 1626, and the first formal witch trial in 1641.
Maria Stevens was an English woman who was executed for witchcraft.