Castle Characters - Jane Martin
“The Accused Witch”
Visualise what you think a witch looks like. Do you picture green skin, a warty nose, or maybe someone riding on a broomstick? Well, “witches” in the 17th century were nothing like what we might imagine thanks to film and TV. They were much more like you and I, normal people going about their daily lives.
Our latest Castle character is Jane Martin, a real-life working woman from the mid-1600s who was accused of witchcraft. We unfortunately do not know a lot about her, but what we do know is that she was the miller’s wife of Chatton, Northumberland. A miller would have been in charge of the mill, which would have ground down grain to make flour. This means Jane and her husband would have been key members in their community, providing the flour to make bread.
You may have heard of the biggest witch hunt in England, the Pendle Witch Trials. Did you know that Newcastle had its own Witch Trials in the year 1649? 14 women, including our character Jane Martin, and 1 man were hanged for their supposed witchcraft. This blog will tell you a little bit more about the context of the time that led up to these accusations.
But what makes Jane Martin’s tale relevant to our lives today? Well, you may have heard of the concept of a “witch hunt” against a celebrity or a group in society. It is interesting to think about why people become the targets of these hunts. Many of them stem from people holding different views to others. Out of control gossip can also ruin the lives of people, whether it is founded in truth or not. It is these aspects that can be seen even in the 1600s, a time when differences between people could result in them being accused of witchcraft.
Wondefull Newes from the North
How did Jane find herself being accused of witchcraft? Whilst we do not know much about Jane herself, but we do have records of the events that led up to Jane’s indictment. What little we know about her is written in a pamphlet published in 1650, supposedly written by Mary Moore, the mother of the afflicted Muschamp children. The pamphlet has a very long name but is known as “Wonderfull Newes from the North”, and you can read it online here.
The Events of the Pamphlet
In the pamphlet, Mary Moore writes that her 11-year-old daughter, Margaret Muschamp, fell ill in July of 1645. Margaret has strange “heavenly visions” that continued for weeks, until her eldest brother also became poorly. In a similar fashion to his sister, he lost the use of his legs, and could not bring himself to eat or drink anything. One of Margaret’s visions even involved her fighting something in the shape of a bear, horse, cow, or even a dragon!
After all these afflictions, Margaret eventually writes the initials “Jo. Hu.” And “Do. Swo.” The family begins to suspect that someone else is involved in the children’s illnesses: Dorothy Swinnow and John Hutton. They send for John, who explains that much of the family’s misfortune, including the death of Mary Moore’s sister, supposedly came from Dorothy Swinnow.
The truth about Dorothy Swinnow lies on page 9 of the pamphlet and shows that there is more to Mary Moore’s writings than just the sickness on her children. Dorothy is accused of having killed one Lady Hambleton, in order to prevent her inheritance coming to Mary Moore. Could it be these arguments over inheritance that led to Mary Moore’s accusations over the women? Even more evidence for this is that the pamphlet is not published until 1650, whereas these events all happened in 1645. Jane and Margaret become the victims of Mary Moore’s attacks as she attempts to get to the wealthy Dorothy Swinnow, who has managed to escape being caught as officials refuse to apprehend her.
Jane Accused
If you read the pamphlet, you will see that Jane’s sister, Margaret White, is the one who confesses on behalf of them both. Margaret White is the webster’s (an archaic term for weaver) wife of Chatton.
In her confessions, Margaret White suggests that she had been “the devil’s servant” for five years, and that she had a familiar that came to her in the likeness of a black greyhound. The pamphlet also suggests that Dorothy, Jane, Margaret, and the devil would eat together. Margaret tells how her sister Jane supposedly caused the death of a man named Thomas Young, by manipulating a kiln of oats to explode with her “mind powers”. Margaret also suggested that Jane had troubled Richard Stanley with a sore leg. In a time where suspicions were high, gossip and hearsay about individuals in society made it easier to pin events onto them. This was especially true for people slightly outside of society, who may have been considered different or strange to their neighbours. Unfortunately for Margaret and Jane, these confessions led to their deaths. They were both hanged with the other accused witches in 1650.
Trials in Newcastle and Beyond
Jane was kept in Newcastle Castle before the trials took place. When the 15 out of 30 accused were found guilty, they were taken to Town Moor where they were then hanged.
But how were people proven to be witches? Up and down the country, so-called “witch finders” were employed by local communities to seek out potential witches. Perhaps the most famous of these witch finders is Matthew Hopkins, the “witchfinder general”. His role was to prosecute anyone thought to be a witch, and he did so by various means, one of which was needles used for “pricking” moles and birth marks, thought to be marks of the devil. If the accused witch did not bleed, then it was proven that she was a witch. It is suggested that many of these pricking utensils were retractable, so that even if someone was pricked, they would not bleed!
In Newcastle, an anonymous witch finder was paid to seek out witches in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. Supposedly active along the border between England and Scotland, he was paid twenty shillings per witch, worth approximately £103 in modern money. Could this be the reason so many men and women were found to be “witches”?
A Time of Uncertainty: The Influence of the Civil War
To understand why people were accused of witchcraft, it is important to understand the context of the time. Life was tumultuous in the seventeenth century, and this gives us some clues as to why the witch trials took place.
One argument for so many people being accused of witchcraft is due to the “Civil War”, a series of wars between 1642 to 1651. It affected all parts of the country with death, poverty, and political unrest. People became more fearful, especially as pamphlets could be so easily disseminated across the country. Mary Moore’s “Wondefull Newes from the North” pamphlet was printed in London. This gossiping could easily spread fear at a time when people are already on edge.
Religion played an important role both in everyday life, but also in the Civil War. The Parliamentarians were fearful of the king’s Catholic choices, such as creating William Laud the Archbishop and marrying the Catholic Henrietta Maria. During this time, Parliament had a significant role in the taxation and control of money in the country. Charles struggled against Parliament before beginning a “tyrannical” eleven years where he did not assemble Parliament and attempted to rule without their influence.
Protestantism was dominant in England, and it was necessary for everyone to belong to the Church of England. There were strict measures imposed on Catholics, a continuation from Elizabeth I’s reign. The fear of Catholicism was felt across England, including in Newcastle which had a strong Puritan community, and it was the Puritans who were in charge at the time of Jane’s trial.
In 1639 and 1640, Charles’ period of personal rule came to an end with the rebellion of the Scots. After assembling Parliament, multiple laws were passed undermining the power of the king. Charles moved across England to raise support. After multiple battles across the country, Charles was eventually captured. Though attempts were made by the Royalists to defeat the Parliamentarians, it was to no avail. The Parliamentarians were victorious, and after being tried for treason, they cut off Charles I’s head. His son, Charles II, escaped to France.
The Civil War affected Newcastle directly, with the Scots taking control of it in 1640 and Charles being imprisoned there from 1646-7, the time at which the events of Jane Martin’s life were occurring. Undoubtedly this created an atmosphere of uncertainty, especially seeing such a large presence of soldiers in the region. The number of people killed in the Civil War both directly and indirectly is estimated at about 200,000.
Glossary of Terms
Dissolved Parliament A period of time when Parliament were not in session
Familiar A supposed animal companion of a witch
Indictment A formal charge of a serious crime
Kiln Somewhere to dry the oats before they are milled into flour
Miller A person who mills oats to make flour
Mosstrooper People who operated as thieves along the borders of England and Scotland
Parliamentarian Someone who supported Parliament
Pricking A method of testing for a witch, by using a pin to see if a mole would bleed
Royalist Someone who supported the King
Webster A weaver
Witchfinders People who were paid to find witches using various techniques