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.
January 2007
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
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
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
Click below to add your ideas/questions to the forum
JOIN THE ESSEX WITCH TRIALS MEMORIAL SOCIETY
Help to erect memorials to the victims
JOIN THE "ESSEX-WITCHES" MAILING LIST
A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in the Witches of Essex
RECOMMENDED SITES
Stephanie du Barry
Somerset Witchtrials
Other trials in East Anglia by Pete Jennings
Essex Records Office
Essential Reading For Further Research
Even in the 21st Century, Witch trials still occur!
