{"id":975,"date":"2019-08-26T11:11:08","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T11:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?p=975"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:38:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:38:48","slug":"slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Slander and ‘witchcraft’ in Stuart England"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following examples of slander (and an allegation of witchcraft) were found in a manorial court book, and all come from 1691.<\/p>\n

Manor courts<\/h2>\n

The manor was Inglewood (Forest), in Cumberland. Manor courts were the lowest courts of law in England and dealt with both the preservation of the rights of the lord, and the regulation of relations between tenants.<\/p>\n

They recorded the surrender and admission to copyhold land, held of the manor. And also dealt with disputes over hedges, the maintaining of watercourses, misuse of common land\u2026 and minor crimes.<\/p>\n

Cases were heard by a jury of 12 elected copyholders.<\/p>\n

Manor court books are an interesting source for family history research, if you are dedicated enough to spend a day in the relevant County Archives. Possibly for \u2018thin pickings\u2019.<\/p>\n

You can read more about them here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Stuart England<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve headed this post: slander and \u2018witchcraft\u2019 in Stuart England.The Stuart period<\/a> ran (from 1603) until 1714.<\/p>\n

The Stuart on the throne in 1691 was Mary II, ruling jointly with her husband William III.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Slander and \u2018witchcraft\u2019<\/h2>\n

The court book of Inglewood, 1691.<\/p>\n

A strange insult<\/h4>\n

We fine Richard Bargatt of Lazonby, for slandering Bridgett Abbot and Margaret Abbot, by calling them \u201csheep\u2019s hooves (God damn them)\u201d.<\/p>\n

There was none abroad at that time of night, but \u2018sheep\u2019s hooves\u2019. We fine him 3 shillings and 4 pence.<\/p>\n

Humphrey Porter was guilty of exactly the same offence, and received the fine.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear if Richard and Humphrey exclaimed \u201csheep\u2019s hooves (God damn them)\u201d simultaneously, or what!<\/p>\n

A capital accusation<\/h4>\n

In the same year, John Hoad was fined 5 shillings for slandering Ann Wilson, saying she ought to be hanged (something about a husband and a cow).<\/p>\n

Pinny talk<\/h4>\n

Comments about an apron caused strife between Ann Clarke, who accused Jane Thornborrow of slander. Jane went round saying Ann had bought this -ay apron in Penrith, for which Ann was \u2018follow\u2019d hound for\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ann said she\u2019d never owned a -ay apron in her lifetime. Jane was fined 2 shillings and 6 pence.<\/p>\n

A family affair<\/h4>\n

Dorothy Ritson, meanwhile, was found guilty of slandering Mary Bell (wife of Andrew Bell), and Jennet Lazonby (Mary\u2019s mother). Dorothy accused mother AND daughter of committing adultery with her husband!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Mr Ritson thought of all this isn\u2019t recorded.<\/p>\n

And ‘witchcraft’<\/h4>\n

There is another suggestion of domestic discord a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Among the cases dealt with in 1690, there is one regarding a John Holme (bit of\u00a0 <\/span>guess at the name, as it looks more like \u2018Hohme\u2019). The co-respondent is an Isabell Holme.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t say if Isabell is his wife or what.<\/p>\n

The book does say that John had slandered her by claiming she had bewitched him.<\/p>\n

And not in a lovey-dovey way, for he claimed she had \u2018almost witched him to death\u2019.<\/p>\n

Witch trials did occasionally still take place in the second half of the 17th Century. It wasn\u2019t until 1735 that a Witchcraft Act made it illegal to accuse someone of practising witchcraft.<\/p>\n

However, the Inglewood jury in 1690 had no truck with John\u2019s claims, finding him guilty of slander.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following examples of slander (and an allegation of witchcraft) were found in a manorial court book, and all come from 1691. Manor courts The manor was Inglewood (Forest), in Cumberland. Manor courts were the lowest courts of law in England and dealt with both the preservation of the rights of the lord, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,2,232,231],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cumbria-history","category-family-history","category-manor-courts","category-stuart-life","tag-manor-courts"],"yoast_head":"\nSlander and 'witchcraft' in Stuart England - Cumbrian Characters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Slander in the 1690s landed people before the Manor Court. As in the following cases of strange insults and an accusation of witchcraft.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Slander and 'witchcraft' in Stuart England - Cumbrian Characters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Slander in the 1690s landed people before the Manor Court. As in the following cases of strange insults and an accusation of witchcraft.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cumbrian Characters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-26T11:11:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-15T14:38:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/witch-2146712_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"HarrietP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GnaOxdown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GnaOxdown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"HarrietP\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Slander and 'witchcraft' in Stuart England - Cumbrian Characters","description":"Slander in the 1690s landed people before the Manor Court. As in the following cases of strange insults and an accusation of witchcraft.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Slander and 'witchcraft' in Stuart England - Cumbrian Characters","og_description":"Slander in the 1690s landed people before the Manor Court. As in the following cases of strange insults and an accusation of witchcraft.","og_url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/","og_site_name":"Cumbrian Characters","article_published_time":"2019-08-26T11:11:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-15T14:38:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/witch-2146712_640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"HarrietP","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GnaOxdown","twitter_site":"@GnaOxdown","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"HarrietP","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/"},"author":{"name":"HarrietP","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7"},"headline":"Slander and ‘witchcraft’ in Stuart England","datePublished":"2019-08-26T11:11:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-15T14:38:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/"},"wordCount":521,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/witch-2146712_640.jpg","keywords":["manor courts"],"articleSection":["Cumbria history","family history","Manor courts","Stuart life"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/","name":"Slander and 'witchcraft' in Stuart England - Cumbrian Characters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/witch-2146712_640.jpg","datePublished":"2019-08-26T11:11:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-15T14:38:48+00:00","description":"Slander in the 1690s landed people before the Manor Court. As in the following cases of strange insults and an accusation of witchcraft.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/witch-2146712_640.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/witch-2146712_640.jpg","width":640,"height":512,"caption":"slander and witchcraft, Cumbrian Characters, manor courts"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/26\/slander-and-witchcraft-in-stuart-england\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Slander and ‘witchcraft’ in Stuart England"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/","name":"Cumbrian Characters","description":"Family history is so much more than names and dates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7","name":"HarrietP","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"HarrietP"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg"},"description":"Journalist and amateur genealogist","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pinterest.co.uk\/harrietpears\/","https:\/\/x.com\/GnaOxdown"],"url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/author\/harriet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":977,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975\/revisions\/977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}