Name:
Margaret Ellnore
Date:
1694
Location:
Ipswich
Accusations: Francis Hutchinson recorded in his Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft that when a man named Rudge refused to let Margaret Ellnore a house, his
wife fell ill soon afterwards and Margaret was blamed. The woman
remained unwell for three years, only improving during the periods
when Margaret was arrested and chained up; as soon as Margaret was
released, Mistress Rudge once again fell ill. Further accusations
were made against her by others, who said they had fallen ill after
likewise quarelling with Margaret. To make matters worse, it was said
that Margaret's Grandmother and aunt had previously been hanged for
witches, (the grandmother having passed her own imps on to her
children) something that made her guilt all the more believable as
witchcraft was known to run in families.
Outcome:
One of the later witchcraft
trials to take place in England, Margaret Ellnore had the good luck
to be tried by Sir John Holt, a judge who was responsible for
acquitting several accused witches during his career and had a
reputation for leniency where this particular crime was concerned.
Margaret was accordingly found innocent of the crimes of which she was accused. It seems that Holt's leniency only bought Margaret a few more years; a burial record for Maragret Elmore in Ipswich suggests she died in 1697.
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