Elizabeth Lane: the White Witch of Walsworth

Simon Walker

Between the years 1542 and 1736 (with a short break during the reign of Edward VI), the practice of witchcraft was a crime in England. Before then, such matters were dealt with by the Ecclesiastical Courts; now, they were tried at Assize. Serious offences attracted the death penalty, by hanging.

Most people accepted the reality of the devil, evil spirits and witches. Should someone be taken unexpectedly ill, or some disaster occur on the farm, it was quite likely to be attributed to witchcraft. When that happened, there were a number of well-known precautions that could be taken – a horseshoe over the door, or a sprig of rowan wood for example – but the best cure was to consult a white witch.

These individuals went by a number of names; blessing witches, white witches, or cunning men or women. It was upon their skill and knowledge that ordinary folk relied, not just to save them from bewitchment, but for aid in a whole range of disasters. They could cure disease; find lost or stolen goods, and identify the thief; they could provide love potions; give an indication of future events, and so on. They were therefore much valued within most of the community.

There were some, however, that viewed them differently. Some thought them frauds: in 1627 Richard Barnard wrote that

These witches, to keep their credit, often deliver the medicines with an If: If it doe no good, come againe. When they returne and find that the Devill hath not removed the disease, the Wizards blame them, that they came not in time, or they applied not the means aright, or that they wanted faith to believe, or at least they acknowledged their power not great inough, and therefore they advise them to goe to a more cunning man or woman.

Others objected for a different reason. In 1608, William Perkins expressed the view that they were worse than the black witches. The latter harmed only their victim’s goods or corporeal body, whilst the white witch, whilst seeming good, was in fact in league with the devil, imperilling the eternal soul of their customers in an insidious manner. “Death therefore,” he wrote, “is the just and deserved portion of the good Witch.”

But say what they might, cunning folk were generally popular, and rarely prosecuted. When they were, the reason was often their failure to perform. More unusual was Elizabeth Lane; she came to the attention of the courts as a result of what seems to have been a vendetta against a clergyman, John Knightly, of Guilden Morden. Whatever her reasons were, in the late 1590s she embarked upon a campaign of slander against Knightly. He in turn got to hear of her remarks, and gathered evidence against her, to present at the Quarter Sessions.

On 30 January 1598 he gave a recognizance before Thomas Docwra JP to appear and give evidence against Elizabeth, charging her with witchcraft. On the same day she gave a recognizance of £20 for her appearance; Richard Spede and Michael Wylkenson, or Wilkenson, both of Walsworth, gave recognizances of £10 each on her behalf, all substantial sums of money at the time.

The evidence against her was substantial:

• John Smythe went to see her, because his wife was “in desperation,” and was told by her that she was bewitched by “deep and profane learning” by Knightly.
• Robert Frost, troubled with a pain in his throat, visited her and was told that he was possessed by spirits and bewitched by John Knightley, but that she could help him; she received 16d and said he had promised to give her 6s 7d more.
• Joan Shatbolte admitted to the churchwardens that she had been to see Lane about her husband who was then ill, and was told that he was “beworded and bewatled” by Mr. Knightly, and she should cut off his hair and send her son with it to Lane. She should also turn his bed another way and throw his water on the fire. Shadbolt gave Lane 2s and a cheese. Her husband had since died.
• Thomas Payne went to her on behalf of his wife and paid her money, but was not prepared to say what actually happened.
• Walter Copis went to see her for a pain and said that she spoke evil words of the minister.
• Henry Wood went to see her about his horse that was stolen, for which she received money.
• John Kidd was sent to her by Anne, wife of Richard Lilley, with their daughter Grace.
• Elizabeth Follye, servant to Richard Lilley was sent by her mistress to see her with Grace Lilley, but she would not repeat what Elizabeth Lane said.
• Anne, wife of Richard Lilley, went to speak to her about her daughter, but she too refused to go into any detail of the meeting. Elizabeth Lane also went to her house to see her about things stolen from her buttery.
• Agnes Cooper went to her about a gown that had been stolen.
• Robert Shatbolt the elder went to see her because his wife was ill, and was told she was bewitched.

Kidd, Follye and Anne Lilley’s visits are probably concerned with a childhood ailment in Grace Lilley.

The last reference we have of this affair is a clerk’s note that Elizabeth Lane was to appear at the next Assizes. Wilkenson and Spede gave recognizances of £40 each that she would appear at the Assizes to answer the charges against her. Unfortunately there is no mention of her appearance at the Assizes, though the records for that year and the subsequent few years still exist. It may well be that the Grand Jury threw the case out, and any indictments were therefore discarded. As Lane and her supporters provided recognizances for her appearance, there would be no record of her in Gaol Calendars.

But that is not the last we hear of Elizabeth Lane. Some years later, in 1613, an “Elizabeth Laine” of Walsworth in Hitchin, described as a widow, and William Burr, husbandman, of Aspenden, entered recognizances to give evidence against Thomas and Agnes Hamond on a charge of witchcraft (they were acquitted). The hamlet of Walsworth was a pretty small place, not even meriting a church until the 1890s, so it seems likely that the two Elizabeths are one and the same person; this time though, she seems to be appearing on behalf of a prosecution, perhaps as an “expert witness.”

(Simon Walker is author of The Witches of Hertfordshire, published by Tempus, and available at all good bookshops…)

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Hitchin Journal, Autumn 2004

This page was last updated on 6 March 2007