'When shall we three meet again,
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When the hurley-burley’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.
That will be ere the set of sun.
Where the place?
Upon the heath.
There to meet with Macbeth.

I come, Graymalkin.

Paddock calls …..'

It is likely that King James was pleased with Macbeth which was probably performed at court in the summer of 1606; for as well as flattering the King with the prophecy that his descendants would occupy the throne of England far into the future, Shakespeare also exploited one of the preoccupations of his sovereign – witchcraft.

In 1589 James had married, by proxy at Copenhagen, Anne, the daughter of the King of Denmark. The actual marriage took place in Norway, whither the young queen had been driven by a storm on the 23rd November of that year. The winter was spent in Denmark and on the 21st April 1590 James and his bride sailed for Scotland, landing at Leith on the 1st May. Shortly afterwards a conspiracy was unmasked, the main object of which was the destruction by magic of the King himself. The people engaged in this plot were Francis, Earl of Bothwell, the King’s cousin, and the witches of North Berwick. When James was returning from Denmark with his consort, spells had been cast which were intended to wreck the ship in which the royal couple were sailing. A storm had arisen immediately, but the ship, although much harassed by bad weather, came safely home to Scotland. This experience strengthened the King’s belief in the power of witches and in 1597 he published his Daemonologie, a book in the form of a dialogue in which he clearly stated his own views upon certain aspects of witchcraft.

As the work of a reigning king, his book naturally had a fair amount of influence and in 1604, soon after he had acceded to the English throne, it was re-published in London, where it must certainly have helped to establish his reputation as a witch-hunter among his contemporaries. But James had an acute and scholarly mind and if he believed wholeheartedly in the general possibility of witchcraft, he was always extremely cautious in dealing with any particular cases of it that came to his notice. He insisted on real and adequate evidence and his ideas of what constituted such evidence were often far stricter than those of his judges.

The fact that the King was interested in the matter was enough to provoke mindless persecution of eccentric innocents among small justices of the peace and bored villagers. The age throve on superstition.

However, the previous reign had not been free from such persecution. In 1563 a Witchcraft Act was passed and it was after this date that we first meet our Chesterford witches. There were three of them.

In documents relating to the Archdeaconry of Colchester there is a record that in 1579 Elizabeth Moresby of Great Chesterford stood accused of being a witch. This she denied and was ordered to 'purge' herself by bringing forward five 'honest neighbours' who would swear an oath that her denial of guilt was true. It is clear Elizabeth failed to find such people, since we meet with her again, still in trouble with the ecclesiastical authorities, and with the secular authorities as well.

In January 1580 Jane Moresby of Great Chesterford was presented at the Archdeaconry Court by the church wardens on suspicion of practising witchcraft. This she denied, and, like Elizabeth, was ordered to 'purge' herself by finding five 'honest neighbours' who would declare her to be innocent of the charge. This she was also unable to do, or so it appears, since her name occurs again.

It is not clear whether Elizabeth and Jane were imprisoned or allowed to return home, but we next hear of them when they were again before the Archdeaconry Court in March 1584, accused of being witches 'on long suspicion'. Their sentence was to be excommunicated. Their relationship is made plain, as they were said to be mother and daughter. The two women still persisted in denying the charge, and, as formerly, were ordered to find five people willing to testify to their innocence. Jane and Elizabeth must have searched in vain. In April things took a more serious turn. Elizabeth was presented at the Essex Quarter Sessions as a witch responsible for murder. Although the records do not say so, she must have been found not guilty through lack of evidence; however, she was not released but kept in prison until she was passed on to stand trial at Essex Trinity Assizes. Perhaps some fresh evidence came to light upon which the authorities thought they could convict her. The name of 'Elizabeth Morrisbee or Moresby of Great Chesterford' is merely recorded as being an accused person at the Assizes. Against her name there is no comment whatever. The judges obviously could find no sound evidence in her case.

The last we hear of these unhappy women is in October 1584 when they were once more in the hands of the Church and stood before a Consistory Court to have their sentence of excommunication reaffirmed.

The third woman to be tried at an Ecclesiastical Court under the Archdeaconry of Colchester in January 1586 was Joan Page of Great Chesterford whose offence was to be a witch and 'devilishe of her tonge'. She, too, was excommunicated.

Further reading revealed a fourth witch, but she belonged to the next century. At the Essex Trinity Assizes in 1650 Elizabeth Whitelocke of Great Chesterford stood accused of practising sorcery. There is no record that she was executed or imprisoned further, so it is assumed that her guilt could not be proved. It was fortunate for Elizabeth that her case was not held a few years earlier, as she might then have come under the scrutiny of Matthew Hopkins, the 'Witch Finder General'. This man was responsible for bringing misery, torment and death wherever his evil shadow flitted.

[Extract from an article by Mary Symonds published in The Chesterford Chronicle. p.202].

THE WITCHES OF CHESTERFORD

Today Great Chesterford is a very pleasant place in which to live. The variety of the people, like the variety of buildings in which they live, add colour and interest to our village.

But in the days of England’s first Elizabeth, to be different was to be suspect. Superstition was rife and anything untoward that happened was put down to the work of the powers of darkness and those powers were often personified in a witch.

Everybody believed in the supernatural, in magic – white, as well as black. 'Cunning women' acted as midwives and were skilful in the use of herbs, their ministrations far less lethal than those of the doctors of the day. Often however, local outbursts of hysteria produced indictments of evil-doing against persons who did not conform to the normal, expected behaviour. Wasting diseases, like consumption and cancer, producing a 'pining away', seemingly with no evident cause, were not understood. But, if a woman had cast upon the sufferer a spell, or a curse, then that wasting could be explained to the satisfaction of superstitious minds.

Great Chesterford has had its witches. In November 1579 Elizabeth Moresby (or Morrisbee) in the Ecclesiastical Court of the Archdeaconry of Colchester, was denounced as a witch. In January of the following year Jane Moresby (Elizabeth’s daughter) was also named as a witch. Elizabeth was denounced again in March and found guilty.

The mother’s and daughter’s names appear again in the Ecclesiastical Court presentments of March 1584 – again denounced as witches.
This time the mother at least must have been handed over to the Assize Court for, from the files for July 1584, we learn of the indictment against Elizabeth. She was accused of murder.

There were two entries, numbers 34 and 35:

34. Elizabeth Morrisbee of Great Chesterford, spinster, 26 June 25 Eliz., (that is, in the 25th year of the reign of Elizabeth) there bewitched Jane, daughter of Tho. Rowlande, husbandman, whereof she languished until 1 August next following. Pleads not guilty; guilty.

35. The same 24 June 24 Eliz., there bewitched Agnes Wynterflud, whereof she died 24 December. following. Pleads not guilty; guilty.

The entry in a list of prisoners, a torn and faded document, reads: 'Guilty. Elizabeth Morsebye……Chester……a witch, for murder'.

On an average between the years 1580 and 1589 ten witches a year were hung in Essex. Our village produced another woman denounced as a witch in 1650. The Assize file of the Assizes held at Chelmsford on the 10th August contains this indictment (number 9 in a list of 14):

'Elizabeth Whitlock of Great Chesterford. wid., 20 Sept. 1649 there bewitched Roger Rayner, whereby he died on 10 Oct. following. Witnesses Alice Rayner, Margt. Reynolds, Kath. Basse, Jane Rookes, Dorothy Glover, Eliz. Swallow, Helen Reynolds, Francis Bridges'.

Unfortunately these court indictments give only a few tantalising glimpses of these accused Great Chesterford women.

I am hoping that when Dr Emmison – our County Archivist from 1938 to 1969 – publishes his third book on Elizabethan life, he will throw more light on them. Great Chesterford has only one casual mention in his first volume, ' Disorder', but in the second, “ Morals and the Church Courts”, we learn something of the 'goings on' in our village in the days of England’s first Elizabeth.

In 1585 the Great Chesterford Wardens presented this complaint to the Church Courts: 'We did hear by voice of him that will justify (i.e. give evidence) that Hunt’s wife, contrary to God’s law, did put on man’s apparel and went forth from one house to another so ungodly and shamefully, with other naughtiness of words.' Evidently, females who wore man’s apparel were of a “lewd and lively disposition”. Times have changed indeed.

Complaints too were brought against innkeepers. A Great Chesterford innkeeper and his wife were accused of ' receiving and housing suspected persons'. The wife too was suspected for her 'incontinent life' with three named parishioners.

As well as these moral offences the Courts tried people accused of religious offences. We have to remember that Elizabeth’s first Parliament decreed compulsory Church attendance, for all above the age of 14, on all Sundays and holydays. This was enforced 'upon pain of punishment by the censures of the Church and every person so offending shall for every such offence 12 pence to be levied by the church wardens to the use of the poor'. In 1595 some of the parishioners of Littlebury obviously disliked their own minister and sought spiritual guidance in another parish church. The Wardens had to report them: 'To cite the parishioners of Littlebury which goeth to Great Chesterford and to cite the churchwardens to present their names'. The preacher at Great Chesterford was more to their liking.

In 1598 John Joice of Great Chesterford, charged with “brawling and railing with Thomas Reynolds the elder most ungodly in the church”, answered that the fellow “called him thief and villain and a false knave.”

In 1584 a Great Chesterford woman was accused of using rude language to the minister. She addressed 'Mr Hawton our minister (not the vicar) ‘knave and lying knave’ and other opprobrious words to his discredit'.

Often a delinquent had to confess his fault to the whole congregation. In 1580 a Great Chesterford man was presented for disorderly conduct towards his neighbours, but was spared the disgrace of confession to all. He had to confess his fault in front of the vicar, wardens, and 'six or eight of the most substantial inhabitants'.

The same year a Great Chesterford man was charged with bigamy. When Ralph Hall was so charged 'he being married to one Agnes Bygrave is now married to one Agnes Fysher, Agnes still living', he alleged that 'about nine years past' he was married to the latter at Great Chesterford, 'from whom for her adulterous living with one John Chapman and others, he was lawfully divorced by Mr Bacon, Chancellor of Norwich, as showed to the judge under the seal of the Chancellor'.

The clergy were not spared. Thomas Prince the vicar of Great Chesterford in 1586 was accused of fornication. He denied the charge but failed to clear himself. He was excommunicated and had to do penance in his own church. 'He shall stand in the chancel door from the first lesson of morning prayer until all the service be said and a sermon preached, his face turned to the people and a white rod in his hand, and then shall kneel down and ask God and the congregation forgiveness and promise hereafter never to give occasion for offence.' All this while another minister officiated.

I would like to thank Dr Emmison for helping to clothe the bare bones of history. I do hope that he will be able to tell us more than I could find out about the witches of Great Chesterford.

Irene Roxburgh
[Extract taken from The Times of the Chesterfords Dec 1973, p.2]

 

List taken from Essex Witch Trials www.witchtrials.co.uk
June 2009

1579 Elizabeth Moresby

1580 Jane Moresby

1584 Elizabeth Morrisbee

1584 Jane Morrisbee

1586 Joan Page ( buried Feb 1603 - IR7 Burials)

1650 Elizabeth Whitelocke

Essex seemed to be in the grip of witch fever - 760 men and women (mostly single women living alone with a cat or other pet for company) were tried for witchcraft in Essex over this period.

The above women lived in Great Chesterford and what follows is an account of the circumstances surrounding the trial of Elizabeth Moresby.

 

Extract from “Witch hunting and Witch Trials” edited by C L’Estrange Ewen 1971

INDICTMENT No. 223 WITHAM SUMMER SESSIONS, 26 E (1584)

Translation:-

Essex. The Jurors for our lady the Queen do present Elizabeth Morsby of Great Chesterford in the county aforesaid, spinster, not having God before her eyes, but seduced by the instigation of the Devil, of her malice aforethought, on 24 June, 24 Eliz., with force and arms, at Great Chesterford, on a certain Agnes Wynterflud, in the peace of God, and the Queen, did make an assault then and there feloniously and wickedly did bewitch and enchant. By reason of which certain witchcraft and enchantment the aforesaid Agnes Wynterflud, at Chesterford aforesaid, from the aforesaid 24 June in the twenty fourth year abovesaid until 24 Dec in the 25th year of the said lady the Queen, did languish, upon which certain 24 Dec abovesaid, of the enchantment and witchcraft aforesaid, Agnes Wynterflud at Chesterford aforesaid, died. And so the jurors aforesaid say upon their oaths that the aforesaid Elizabeth Morsby, the aforesaid Agnes Wynterflud at Chesterford aforesaid, on 24 Dec., in the twenty fifth year abovesaid, of her malice aforethought, feloniously and wickedly did enchant, kill and murder, against the peace, etc., and against the form of the statute in this case lately made and provided.