Witchcraft and Demonology in South-West England, 1640–1789 PDF
Preview Witchcraft and Demonology in South-West England, 1640–1789
Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic Series Editors: Jonathan Barry, Willem de Blécourt and Owen Davies Series foreword The history of European witchcraft and magic continues to fascinate and chal- lenge students and scholars. There is certainly no shortage of books on the subject. Several general surveys of the witch trials and numerous regional and micro studies have been published for an English-speaking readership. While the quality of publications on witchcraft has been high, some regions and top- ics have received less attention over the years. The aim of this series is to help illuminate these lesser known or little studied aspects of the history of witch- craft and magic. It will also encourage the development of a broader corpus of work in other related areas of magic and the supernatural, such as angels, devils, spirits, ghosts, folk healing and divination. To help further our under- standing and interest in this wider history of beliefs and practices, the series will include research that looks beyond the usual focus on Western Europe and that also explores their relevance and influence from the medieval to the modern period. Titles include: Jonathan Barry WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY IN SOUTH-WEST ENGLAND, 1640–1789 Edward Bever THE REALITIES OF WITCHCRAFT AND POPULAR MAGIC IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE Culture, Cognition and Everyday Life Alison Butler VICTORIAN OCCULTISM AND THE MAKING OF MODERN MAGIC Invoking Tradition Johannes Dillinger MAGICAL TREASURE HUNTING IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA A History Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller (editors) WITCHCRAFT AND BELIEF IN EARLY MODERN SCOTLAND Jonathan Roper (editor) CHARMS, CHARMERS AND CHARMING Alison Rowlands (editor) WITCHCRAFT AND MASCULINITIES IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE Rolf Schulte MAN AS WITCH Male Witches in Central Europe Laura Patricia Stokes DEMONS OF URBAN REFORM Early European Witch Trials and Criminal Justice, 1430–1530 Forthcoming: Arne Bugge Amundsen and Soili-Maria Olli TALKING TO DEVILS AND ANGELS IN SCANDINAVIA, 1500–1800 Louise Nyholm Kallestrup LOOKING FOR THE DEVIL Lay and Inquisitorial Witchcraft Prosecutions in Early Modern Italy and Denmark Peter Kreuter VAMBYRES A Cultural History of the Southeast European Vampire Belief Andrew Sneddon WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC IN IRELAND, 1586–1949 Robert Ziegler SUPERNATURALISM IN FIN-DE-SIÈCLE FRANCE The Satanist, the Sage, and the Saint Witchcraft and Demonology in South-West England, 1640–1789 Jonathan Barry Professor of History, University of Exeter, UK Palgrave macmillan © Jonathan Barry 2012 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-29226-0 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-33230-4 ISBN 978-0-230-36138-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230361386 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 To Nicole This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Abbreviations viii Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction 1 2 Robert Hunt and the Somerset Witches 14 3 The Trial of the Bideford Witches 58 4 The Politics of Pandaemonium 103 5 John Beaumont: Science, Spirits and the Scale of Nature 124 6 Public Infidelity and Private Belief? The Discourse of Spirits in Enlightenment Bristol 165 7 Methodism and Mummery: The Case of George Lukins 206 8 Conclusion 256 Notes 276 Bibliography 320 Index 349 vii Abbreviations BCL Bristol Reference Library, Bristol Collection BUL Bristol University Library CSPD Calendar of State Papers, Domestic: Edward VI to Anne 1547– 1704 (1863–1950) HMC Reports of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (1870–1980) NDRO North Devon Record Office ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004 and revised online) SP State Papers SRO Somerset Record Office TNA The National Archives viii Acknowledgements Many people have helped me, both practically and intellectually, in the writing of this book. Outside Exeter, and in rough chronological order, they are Roy Porter, Keith Thomas, Charles Webster, Margaret Pelling, David Harley, Michael MacDonald, Stuart Clark, Willem de Blecourt, Peter Elmer, Robin Briggs, James Sharpe, Lyndal Roper, Michael Hunter, Ian Bostridge, Ronald Hutton, Owen Davies, Malcolm Gaskill, Peter Maxwell-Stuart, Peter Marshall, John Newton, Scott Mandelbrote, Alan Roberts and Jacqueline Wheeler (for information on the Wake family) and Mike Slater. During my 25 years at Exeter University, I have been helped and inspired by many staff, including Colin Jones, Marianne Hester, Gareth Roberts, Todd Gray, Joe Melling, Marion Gibson, Jeremy Black, Alex Walsham, Henry French, Sarah Toulalan, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Catherine Rider and Chris McCullough. I also owe a great debt to students of the MA course in the History and Literature of Witchcraft at the University of Exeter (notably Emma Wilby, Nancy Cooper, Jean Jenkinson, Christine Corey, Jason Semmens and Dave Evans) and to other students of my undergraduate and post- graduate modules on witchcraft, who have helped me to understand what my research meant. A number of research students I have supervised helped me with information: Ruth Fisher, Stuart Walsh, Priscilla Flower-Smith, Matthew McGuiness, David Reeve, Ian Mortimer, Andrea Davies and Tom Blaen. I would like to thank the Earl of Dartmouth for permission to quote from the Dartmouth papers in Staffordshire Record Office and the ever-helpful staff of the Bristol Record Office; Bristol Central Library Local History collection; West Country Studies Library, Exeter; University of Bristol Special Collections and University of Exeter Special Collections. Sadly, during the writing of this book I lost several people dear to me, including my friends Gareth Roberts and Roy Porter; my mother, Frances; and my first wife, Harriet. Two sets of people have particularly sustained me in the completion of this book. The first are my fellow series editors, Willem de Blécourt and Owen Davies, whose productiv- ity has shamed me while their personal kindness and patience have ix
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