The Wateringbury Witch (1585)

Post date: Apr 22, 2011 12:13:51 PM

The following is an extract from the Assize records for Kent

Elizabeth Hilbie, spinster, wife of Clement Hilbie of Wateringbury, was indicted at Rochester Assizes (21 February 1586) for murder by witchcraft. On 4th February 1585 at Wateringbury she bewitched James Collison, son of John Collison of Wateringbury, glover, so that he languished until 24th April 1585 and then died.

She was tried by jury and found Not Guilty. If found guilty the punishment would have been death by hanging, not burning at the stake in England. Most judges were probably sceptical about the existence of magical powers. Across England only 25% of those accused were found guilty and executed (source: Diane Purkiss, Professor of English literature, Oxford University writing online for English Heritage).

That Elizabeth is described as both a wife and a spinster is strange but whatever it means it was fairly common in Kent and 18% of all accusations were against women described as 'married and spinster'

Elizabeth in being found Not Guilty was more fortunate than an estimated 40,000 other women in Europe (estimated under 1,000 in England). Witchcraft accusations were not common before the late fifteenth century when, encouraged by the Church, the hysteria of witchcraft started, lasting over 200 years. Accusations of witchcraft are found in most, but not all, societies around the world. All denominations of Christianity in Western Europe persecuted witches to some degree but not Eastern Orthodox churches.

In Kent accusations of witchcraft at the Kent assizes were distributed in time as follows:

Period no

1560-79 16

1580-99 23

1600-19 13

1620-39 8

1640-59 45

1660-79 15

1680-99 10

Total 130

So Elizabeth's case was during an early peak of accusations although the true peak came during the Civil war/Commonwealth/Protectorate period.

91% of accused witches in Kent were women and the men accused were often connected with an accused woman. In some Scandivian countries slightly more men than women were accusred. Although hard data is lacking the indications are that accused witches were more likely to be elderly than young.

'Victims' were fairly evenly split, 55% being women, 45% men. Many 'victims' were children as in the Wateringbury case, possibly as a result of a dispute between the accused and the parent with revenge taken on the child.

Reginald Scott (?1537-99) of Smeeth, Kent as well as writing on hops, wrote a book 'The Discoverie of Witchcraft', 2 years before Elizabeth's indictment, a work of scepticism. He is regarded as one of the principal contemporary commentators on witchcraft and must have drawn much on his Kent experience.

An article by Adrian Pollock on witchcraft accusations in Kent is to be found in volume 95 (1979) of Archaeologia Cantiana.

In Europe the country with the highest number of accusations per head of population was Switzerland (980 per hundred thousand) followed by Scotland (509), Finland (355), Norway (173). England's 33 per hundred thousand was low but Italy (5) was the lowest. (Source: Seriously Curious; The Economist explains edited by Tom Standage, page 27.)

For more snippets about Wateringbury women go to Women burglars of Wateringbury; Women own all of Wateringbury ;and Wateringbury wet nurse.

For more snippets about crime in Elizabethan Wateringbury go to Shenanigans in Pelicans; Warlike riot in Wateringbury; Wateringbury man sentenced to death; Wateringbury sheep rustlers; Prosecuted for not going to Church; Women burglars of Wateringbury and Wateringbury Constable indicted.