Margery Beddingfield (also known as Margaret Beddingfield) (1742–1763) was a British woman convicted and burnt for murder in 1763.

Biography

Daughter to farmer John Rowe and his wife, Margery was named after her mother and baptized on 29 June 1742 in the

Blaxhall Blaxhall is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. Located around south-west of Leiston and Aldeburgh, in 2007 its population was estimated to be 220, measured at 194 in the 2011 Census.

church. She was married to John Beddingfield, a farmer, on 3 July 1759. They had one daughter Pleasance and one son John; the latter died when he was four months old. Four years into their marriage, Margery developed an illicit relationship with Richard Ringe, one of the house servants whom she promised to marry as soon as he "destroyed her husband". He at first persuaded a housemaid, Elizabeth Riches, to poison Beddingfield. After her refusal, he bought white arsenic from

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...

and mixed it in John's water, who, fully unaware of their intentions, refused the cup after noticing the sediments. On the night of 27 July 1762, Margery shared the bed in the nearby kitchen chamber with Elizabeth Cleobald, another maidservant, and Ringe strangled Beddingfield while he was sleeping. To silence the maid, Margery gave her a gown. The coroner's inquest of Beddingfield's body showed signs of willful murder. He was buried on 30 July. Both Ringe and Margery were tried at Lent

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 ...

before

Baron of the Court of Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...

Richard Adams. Ringe confessed to his crime and added that Margery's previous affection for him had turned to hatred. She too eventually gave her confession. Since Beddingfield was Ringe's master and Margery's husband, both of them were convicted of

petty treason Petty treason or petit treason was an offence under the common law of England in which a person killed or otherwise violated the authority of a social superior, other than the king. In England and Wales, petty treason ceased to be a distinct offen ...

. Margery was strangled and burnt while Ringe was hanged at

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

on 8 April 1763 before a huge gathering of onlookers.

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Biography

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