Bideford witch trial
The Bideford witch trials began in 1682. Three women from Bideford, England were accused of witchcraft and hanged. The women were named Temperance Lloyd, Susanna Edwards and Mary Trembles. They were the last women in England to be executed for this crime.
At that time, Bideford was an important part of a growing transatlantic trade route with Newfoundland and Virginia. Due to plague and smallpox epidemics, by 1680 the crowded town had a population of 2,600.
Religion and folklore played key parts in the beliefs of 17th-century people. At the time, there was a reviving interest in and fear of witchcraft.
Bideford Witch Trial Media
A plaque commemorating the executions on the wall of Rougemont Castle in Exeter.
Jurist Sir John Holt by Richard van Bleeck, c. 1700. Holt greatly helped eliminate prosecutions for witchcraft in England after the Bideford witch trial. National Portrait Gallery, London.
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