Jane Wenham (alleged witch)
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Jane Wenham was one of the last people to be condemned to death for witchcraft in England, although her conviction was set aside. Her trial in 1712 is commonly but erroneously regarded as the last witch trial in England.
Title page of a book by Richard Boulton, an "answer" to Francis Hutchinson's essay
Witch trials in England
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In England, witch trials were conducted from the 15th century until the 18th century. They are estimated to have resulted in the death of perhaps 500 people, 90 percent of whom were women. The witch hunt was at its most intense stage during the English Civil War (1642–1651) and the Puritan era of the mid-17th century.
Ordeal of water
A plaque commemorating the executions of the Bideford witch trial 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.