by Liz Baalham | Feb 1, 2026 | Shelley
Stearne travelled to Shelley with Priscilla Briggs – one of the ‘Witch prickers’ who had accompanied Matthew Hopkins in Manningtree. The widow Thomasine Ratliff (or Ratcliffe) confessed to Abigail Briggs that she slept with the Devil in the shape of her recently...
by Liz Baalham | Feb 1, 2026 | Copdock
Mary Skipper was implicated by Nathaniel Bacon and after three days of interrogation confessed to having entered a pact with the devil and killing the child of one ‘Lane’ after three days. The Devil also told her to go to church ‘and make a greate...
by Liz Baalham | Feb 1, 2026 | Copdock
Jane Rivet was accused along with Susan Manners. Both were accused by Robert Hitchcock, Thomas Bull, Rebecca Ustwood, Mother [Mary] Phillips and Mother Mills (the latter both searchers) Jane (and Susan) was sent to Ipswich gaol before Bury St Edmunds, both were found...
by Liz Baalham | Feb 1, 2026 | Copdock
Susan Manners, along with Jane Rivet, was accused by Robert Hitchcock, Thomas Bull, Rebecca Ustwood, Mother [Mary] Phillips and Mother Mills (the latter both searchers) Susan Manners (and Jane) was sent to Ipswich gaol before Bury St Edmunds, both were found guilty...
by Liz Baalham | Jan 26, 2026 | Learning Library, Politics
A true bill is an old legal term for a formal indictment. In early modern England, criminal cases were first considered by a grand jury. They reviewed the accusations and evidence and then decided whether there was enough to put the accused on trial. If they agreed...
