Dummy, the Witch of Sible Hedingham ( – 4 September 1863) was the pseudonym of an unidentified elderly man who was one of the last people to be accused of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

in England in the 19th century. He died after being beaten and thrown into a river by

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The Witch trials in the early modern period, classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and European Colon ...

ers. A longtime resident of Sible Hedingham, Essex, a small farming village in the English countryside, he was a

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have som ...

who earned a living as a local fortune teller. In September 1863, Dummy was accused by Emma Smith from

Ridgewell Ridgewell is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England, about six miles from Haverhill on the main road between Haverhill and Braintree. Its population was 503 in 216 households in the 2001 census, with mean age 4 ...

of 'cursing' her with a disease, and dragged from ''The Swan'' tavern by a drunken mob. He was ordered to 'lift the curse'. When Dummy didn't, he was thrown into a nearby brook as an "

ordeal by water Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience. In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, tri ...

". He was also severely beaten with sticks before eventually being taken to a

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011 pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. Following an investigation by authorities, Emma Smith and Samuel Stammers, who was a master carpenter and also friends with Smith, were charged with having "unlawfully assaulted an old Frenchman commonly called Dummy, thereby causing his death." (The idea that Dummy was French was common in the village, but there seemed to be little evidence of whether it was true.) They were tried at the

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

Assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

, where on 8 March 1864 they were sentenced to six months' hard labour.

References

*
Foxearth & District Local History Society – The Hedingham Witchcraft Case

See also

References

Further reading