Essex Witch Trials



This website is dedicated to "Dummy" killed by his neighbours in 1863, just for being different, and the thousands of other innocent people accused of WITCHCRAFT.
I hope that this site will be of use to students and researchers alike, but please give us credit for anything you use, and don't just steal it for your own site.
June 2017


Trials listed in YEAR order
with added information

Trials listed in NAME order

Trials listed in VILLAGE order



WITCHCRAFT ACTS

1542 Henry VIII ... 1547 Edward VI ... 1563 Elizabeth I

1580 Elizabeth I ... 1604 James I ... 1736 George II


DOCUMENTS AND PAMPHLETS

Malleus Maleficarum

Hatfield Peverel Trial 1566

A Detection of damnable driftes, practized by three Witches 1579

Pamphlet about the St. Osyth Trial 1582

Confession of Three Notorious Witches 1589

A Dialogue Concerning Witches and Witchcraftes 1593

A Guide to Justices of the Peace Regarding Witches 1618

Trial of Manningtree Witches in Chelmsford 1645

Confession of Rebecca West 1645

Advice to Judges 1645

Discovery of Witches by Matthew Hopkins

A Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft by John Stearne


Biography of Matthew Hopkins by George Knowles

Hopkins Family History from Local Parish Records by Helen Barrell

Video Documentary about Matthew Hopkins

Colchester in 1645

Chelmsford in 1645

Other English Witch Trials

Witches of the 21st Century



POSSIBLE CAUSES & ESSAYS

"Witches, Wives & Mothers" by Louise Jackson
this is a .pdf file and requires adobe acrobat

"Female Power - witches and gender in Elizabethan England" by Kate Dumycz
this is a .pdf file and requires adobe acrobat

"False Memory Syndrome and the Inquisition" by Summer C. Woodsong

"To What Extent Did Superstition Or Other Factors Influence The Convictions" by Victoria Hulford

"Misogyny in the 16th and17th Centuries" by Stephanie du Barry

"Comparison of Trials in Scotland and Essex" by Stephanie du Barry

"Were They Insane?" by Stephanie du Barry

"The Role Of The 'Familiar' In English Witch Trials" by Thomas A. Donaldson

"False Memory" by Steve Hulford

"Ergot Poisoning" by Steve Hulford

St. Osyth Trial 1582 by Steve Hulford



RECOMMENDED SITES

Stephanie du Barry

Somerset Witchtrials

Other trials in East Anglia by Pete Jennings

Essex Records Office



Essential Reading For Further Research

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