Mary Hicks (died 28 July 1716,

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

) was an English woman 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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She was condemned to death by Huntingdon assizes on 28 July 1716 along with her nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Hicks, and is thought to be the last person executed in England for witchcraft.

Biography

Mary Hicks lived in Huntingdon with her husband, Edward and daughter Elizabeth. Their story is recorded in an eight-page pamphlet entitled, ''The whole trial and examination of Mrs. Mary Hicks and her daughter Elizabeth'', printed by W. Matthews (London) in 1716. The trial accused Hicks and her daughter of taking off their stockings “in order to raise a rainstorm”. Her investigation and execution is unusual because by the early eighteenth century many people questioned the reality of witchcraft.

References

18th-century English women 1716 deaths Year of birth missing English women executed for witchcraft People from Huntingdon People executed by England by hanging Executed children {{England-bio-stub