Bideford Witches Hang
By lazydays | Sunday, November 22, 2009, 17:01
In 1682, three women from Bideford were hanged - their crime was
witchcraft. They were the last women in England to be executed for this
crime.
The three witches charged were - Temperance Lloyd, Susanna Edwards and Mary Trembles.
All
lived in Bideford although little is known about them beyond their
arrests, trial and execution. The women were tried at the assizes of
Exeter Castle.
According to the official record of the trial, all
three pleaded not guilty. They were hanged at Heavitree just outside
the city.

Comments
After the Bideford Witches there was a young lady named Alice Molland who was tried and sentenced to death, for witchcraft in 1685, 3 years after the three women from Bideford. There seems to be no written record of what happened to Alice after she was sentenced, did she swing at Heavitree, die in gaol or even escape? There is a plaque at the site of the old Exeter assizes which bears the names of Temperance, Susannah and Mary as well as Alice which would suggest she was indeed executed. In the extract called 'The context of witchcraft: The case of Jane Wenham' Phyllis.J Guskin writes that the last in witch in England to be executed is in 1684, although she does not name them.
There's also the little matter of "Old Woman Coneman" at Coggeshall in1699, Elinor Shaw and Mary Philipps in Northamtonshire on 17th March 1705 and Mary and Elizabeth Hicks on 28th July 1716 in Huntingdon, to name just a few, who were all executed for witchcraft prior to the amendment of 1735. We will never know whether any of these women where witches of powerful covens, solitary practitioners, simple herbalists or simply unpopular yet totally innocent. I would recommend that you read the book by Montague Summers titled Geography of Witchcraft
If your interested in the subject then the tale of Mary Bateman is a fantastic account of magic, deceit and murder. Mary, The Yorkshire Witch was hung at New Drop near The Castle of York on Monday 20th March 1809. She was referred to as "the Witch" by the witnesses and at the trial the prosecution states "witchcraft" as a source of her crimes
By nickiejoy at 14:27 on 13/09/12
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