The Bideford witch trial resulted in hangings for witchcraft in England. Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles and Susannah Edwards were tried in 1682 in the town of Bideford in Devon. Much of the evidence against them was hearsay, although there was a confession by Lloyd, which she did not fully recant even with her execution imminent. They often get labeled as the 'last' witches to be hanged in England but there are several not so well documented cases after this.
It is sometimes said that Alice Molland was the last person to be hanged for witchcraft in England; the only evidence for this comes from a single book, Side-lights on the Stuarts by J Inderwick; although Molland was sentenced to hang, there is no evidence that the sentence was carried out but it is most likley she was hanged.
Read more about Bideford Witch Trial: Investigation of Temperance Lloyd, Investigation of Mary Trembles and Susanna Edwards
Famous quotes containing the words witch and/or trial:
“I am no more a witch than you are a wizard. If you take my life away, God will give you blood to drink.”
—Sarah Good (?–1692)
“A trial cannot be conducted by announcing the general culpability of a civilization. Only the actual deeds which, at least, stank in the nostrils of the entire world were brought to judgment.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)