94:, she again asked for Kemp's help. Kemp agreed to heal her for 12 pence. Thurlow got better but then refused to pay Kemp her fee, saying she could not afford it. The two women argued again and Kemp threatened to get even with Thurlow, who became lame again. Thurlow testified that since that quarrel, either she or her son had suffered. She blamed Kemp for her son's illness, her own lameness, and the death of her baby. Thurlow complained to the magistrate and an investigation followed.
150:. Kemp performed the ritual and recovered. Two women who she knew requested her help for lameness. She helped them in the same way that she had helped herself, and they apparently recovered. Since then she had performed healing services for her neighbours. She admitted to the four familiars her son had mentioned. She said that they were two male spirits, that killed people, and two female spirits, who brought sickness to people, and destroyed
154:. Kemp went on to confess to sending her familiars to make Grace Thurlow lame and to kill Joan Thurlow, Elizabeth Letherdale and Kemp's sister-in-law. She named twelve other women as witches, six of whom were hanged, including Kemp, in 1582. Many of the accused freely confessed to witchcraft despite knowing they faced death as a result.
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Justice Brian Darcy said that Kemp made a full confession to him in private. Kemp told him that approximately ten years previously, she had experienced a "lameness in her bones". She had gone to a local cunning woman who had told Kemp that she had been bewitched and that she should "unwitch" herself.
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Neighbour and former friend Grace
Thurlow testified that when her son Davy was sick, she asked for Kemp's help. Davy temporarily recovered from his illness and Thurlow believed that Kemp had cured him. Some time later, Thurlow and Kemp argued over the care of Thurlow's baby daughter Joan. At a few
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Alice
Letherdale testified that Kemp had asked her for some scouring sand (an abrasive cleaner) and that she had refused her, knowing Kemp to be a "naughty beast". Letherdale's daughter Elizabeth later saw Kemp, who "murmured" at her. When Elizabeth fell ill and died, Letherdale blamed Kemp for
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said that according to her research, the skeletons could belong to any of ten women who were executed for witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries. A more recent forensic study suggests that the bones are of Roman-era provenance.
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of two women were found in a St Osyth garden by
Charles Brooker, one of which was believed to be that of Kemp. The 'witches skeletons' became a local tourist attraction with an admission charge to view them. In 2007, historian
69:. She was a cunning woman who was frequently called upon by her neighbours to heal ailments and sicknesses. She was later blamed for intentionally causing illness and death, eventually being tried for witchcraft in
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and cake, and let them suck blood from her body. Thomas said that he had been present when Alice Newman had visited his mother. He said that his mother had given Newman an
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pot, which he believed to contain the familiars. Days later, he saw Newman return telling Kemp that she had sent spirits to kill a local man and his wife.
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in
February 1582. At her trial, several of her neighbours testified against her, making statements to Justice Brian Darcy. Along with her friend,
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bewitching the girl to death. Kemp's eight-year-old son Thomas testified that his mother kept four spirits, or
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called Pygine and a black cat called Jacke. He said that he had seen his mother give her familiars
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Semmens, Jason., "The
Posthumous Adventures of Ursula Kemp," in Godwin, Kerriann. (ed.),
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Lewd Women and Wicked
Witches : A Study in the Dynamics of Male Domination
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Early modern witches: witchcraft cases in contemporary writing By
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Barbara Rosen suggests that in this context, charnell could mean
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Ursula Kemp was hanged in
Chelmsford in 1582. In 1921, the
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49:. Kemp was accused of (and apparently confessed to) using
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589:(Boscastle: Occult Art Company, 2011) pp. 117, 118.
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People executed by the
Kingdom of England by hanging
543:
Reading
Witchcraft: Stories of Early English Witches
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90:and died of a broken neck. When Thurlow became
383:The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour
53:to kill and bring sickness to her neighbour.
380:Turner, Dennis C.; Patrick Bateson (2000).
587:The Museum of Witchcraft—A Magical History
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628:English people executed for witchcraft
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539:
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483:Dinner Party Database of Notable Women
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569:. University of Essex. Archived from
567:Centre for Local and Regional History
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340:Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits
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278:University of Massachusetts Press
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213:"St Osyth: Which witch is which?"
16:English cunning woman and midwife
485:. Brooklyn Museum. 11 March 2007
419:Witchcraft in England, 1558-1618
414:instead of referring to graves.
273:Witchcraft in England, 1558-1618
613:People from Tendring (district)
525:. Routledge. pp. 176–180.
86:months old, Joan fell from her
30:(ca. 1525 – 1582) was an
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102:. He described them as a grey
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546:. Routledge. pp. 33–34.
504:. Routledge. pp. 82–86.
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301:Ewen, C. L'Estrange (2003).
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633:16th-century English women
618:Executed people from Essex
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388:Cambridge University Press
211:Dwan, James (9 May 2007).
41:who in 1582 was tried for
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540:Gibson, Marion (1999).
498:Gibson, Marion (2000).
416:Rosen, Barbara (1991).
304:Witchcraft and Demonism
270:Rosen, Barbara (1991).
110:called Tyttey, a black
106:called Tyffin, a white
623:Executed English women
563:"BONES OF CONTENTION"
345:Sussex Academic Press
573:on 25 September 2012
280:. pp. 107–120.
519:Hester, M. (1992).
337:Wilby, Emma (205).
561:Rowlands, Alison.
131:She recommended a
61:Kemp was born in
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35:cunning woman
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643:Cunning folk
603:1520s births
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142:, charnell,
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75:Alice Newman
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24:Ursley Kempe
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608:1582 deaths
222:16 February
120:earthenware
20:Ursula Kemp
597:Categories
577:27 January
193:References
187:witch-hunt
126:Confession
71:Chelmsford
43:witchcraft
164:skeletons
100:familiars
81:The trial
57:Biography
51:familiars
464:Rowlands
176:See also
63:St Osyth
472:Sources
412:chervil
39:midwife
32:English
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455:Gibson
446:Hester
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152:cattle
133:ritual
88:cradle
47:hanged
26:alias
489:6 May
158:Death
137:hog's
67:Essex
579:2011
548:ISBN
527:ISBN
506:ISBN
491:2009
428:ISBN
392:ISBN
349:ISBN
309:ISBN
282:ISBN
224:2019
217:Echo
146:and
144:sage
140:dung
116:beer
112:toad
108:lamb
92:lame
45:and
37:and
28:Grey
104:cat
22:or
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