British History

On this day in history….19th August 1612

On this day in history : 19th August 1612 – Jane Southworth, Jennet Bierley and Ellen Bierley are put on trial accused of practising witchcraft, including child murder and cannibalism….

An illustration from ‘The Lancashire Witches’ – John Gilbert – Public domain

The three women lived in the village of Samlesbury in Lancashire…. Everyone has heard of the Pendle Witches, where a total of ten were convicted at the Pendle Witch Trails – but the tale of the Samlesbury Witches is not so well known…. In fact eight people from Samlesbury were accused – and were held in the same dungeon at Lancaster Castle as those from Pendle…. They were also hauled before the same Judge, Sir Edward Bromley, at the same Lancashire assizes….

Lancaster Castle – Image credit : Tom Oates CC BY-SA 3.0

Out of the eight accused from Samlesbury only three came to trial – Jane Southworth, who had recently been widowed and mother and daughter Jennet and Ellen Bierley…. They were accused by 14 year old Grace Sowerbutts, the granddaughter of Jennet and niece of Ellen, of practising witchcraft upon her – she was the chief prosecution witness….

It was a complicated time in British history…. King James I had succeeded the throne, following the death of his cousin Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 – and he was a great believer in witchcraft…. In 1604 a new law came into force in England ‘An Act against Conjuration, Witchcraft and dealing with Evil and Wicked Spirits’…. The death penalty was imposed for anyone believed to be causing harm through witchcraft….

At the time Lancashire was regarded as being a particularly lawless part of the country…. Many had refused to abandon Catholicism after Elizabeth I became Queen – large numbers still attended Mass, which was held in secret…. In the year of the witch trials it was ordered that each Justice of the Peace draw up a list of those who did not attend Church on a Sunday – which was a criminal offence at the time….

The Southworth family, who lived at Salmesbury Hall, were divided by their religious beliefs…. Most of them remained Catholic but the eldest son, John, converted to the Church of England…. As a result he was disinherited by his father…. Jane Southworth was the widow of John – and the mother of seven children…. She, along with Jennet and Ellen, was accused of using ‘diverse devilish and wicked Arts, called Witchcrafts, Inchauntments, Charmes and Sorceries, in and upon one Grace Sowerbutts’…. All three pleaded not guilty….

Salmesbury Hall – Image credit : Alexander P Kapp – CC BY-SA 2.0

Grace claimed her grandmother and aunt could turn themselves into familiars in the form of dogs and that they had ‘haunted and vexed’ her…. She said they had tried to persuade her to drown herself and had pulled her up to the top of a haystack by her hair…. She told of how they had stolen a baby from Thomas Walshman and his wife, so that they could suck its blood…. The child died; they cooked the body, ate some and then used the rest to make ointment to transform themselves into other beings…. Grace also claimed that the three attended Sabbats every Thursday and Sunday night and they met ‘Faire black things, going upright and yet not like men in the face’…. She accused them of eating, dancing and then having sex with these beings….

Thomas Walshman confirmed that his child had died of unknown causes…. He said that Grace had been found lying as if dead in his father’s barn on or around the 15th of April and she did not recover until the following day…. The three defendants, when asked to respond, fell to their knees weeping and begged the Judge re-examine Grace…. The witnesses then began to quarrel and accuse each other….and eventually Grace admitted that she had been put up to it by Jane’s uncle-by-marriage…. Christopher Southworth, also known as Thompson, was a Catholic priest who had gone into hiding….

When the three accused women were asked as to why they thought such evidence had been fabricated against them, the only reason they could give was that they attended the Anglican Church….

Lord Bromley ordered that the jury find the three defendants not guilty….

“God hath delivered you beyond expectation. I pray God you may use this mercie and favour well; and take heed you fall not hereafter: And so the court doth order that you shall be delivered”….

The Witches of Pendle were not so fortunate….

On this day in history….18th August 1826

On this day in history : 18th August 1826 – Alexander Gordon Laing, a Scottish explorer, becomes the first European to reach Timbuktu – and is murdered there a month later….

Laing had left Tripoli in Libya on the 16th of July 1825 to journey across the Sahara Desert, on his mission to explore the Niger Basin…. He left behind Emma Warrington, his bride of just two days…. It took Laing and his party until the 25th of October to reach the oasis of Ghadames – and they still had 1,000 miles to cover before they would reach their destination…. By December 1825 they had arrived at Salah, the middle of the desert….

On the 10th of January 1826 the party set off on the remaining leg of their journey…. However, it wasn’t long before they were attacked by a band of Tuareg, whilst they slept in their tents…. It is thought Laing may have been mistaken for Mungo Park, a fellow Scottish explorer…. Park was hated and feared by the Tuareg people – as he had a tendency to shoot any African he found disagreeable or threatening….

During the attack most of the party were killed…. Laing himself received substantial injuries…. He suffered a total of 24 serious injuries including a broken jaw, having the lobe of his ear hacked off and a hand severed…. Despite all this he was able to join a caravan travelling south and finally reached Timbuktu (which is now in Mali) on the 18th of August 1826….

Laing’s house in Timbuktu – Image credit : upyernoz CC BY-SA 2.0

He was received with hostility from Fula Chieftain Bello, ruler of Timbuktu….and worried for his own safety he only stayed for a month…. He then set off in the direction of the Senegal River, an area he was familiar with from previous expeditions…. Only he was never to be seen again…. In 1910 a skeleton, believed to be his, was exhumed from a grave by the French authorities….

British History

On this day in history….17th August 1945

On this day in history : 17th August 1945 – George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ – the book which tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer – is first published….

Orwell was a democratic socialist and a critic of Stalin…. He claimed the story reflected the events which had led up to the Russian Revolution of 1917…. In his essay ‘Why I Write’ in 1946, he stated that Animal Farm was the first book in which he had attempted to ‘fuse political purposes and artistic purpose into one whole’….

Following his experiences during the Spanish Civil War Orwell had written ‘Homage to Catalonia’ in 1938 – but it did not sell well and he decided fiction was the best way to get his message across…. He saw Stalinism as ‘corruption of original socialist ideals’ – he wanted to expose and condemn Stalin’s methods….

Animal Farm was written between November 1943 and February 1944 – at the time when the UK was in a wartime alliance with Russia against Nazi Germany…. The British held Stalin in high esteem and Orwell hated this…. His book was initially rejected by UK and US publishers – but became a success as the relationship with Russia moved towards the Cold War….

The original title had been ‘Animal Farm : A Fairy Story’ but US publishers dropped the second part of the title when they published it in 1946….

British History

On this day in history….16th August 1952

On this day in history : 16th August 1952 – One of the worst flash floods ever to occur in Britain sweeps its way through the North Devon village of Lynmouth….

Torrential rainfall deposited 9 inches of rain on already saturated soil…. Over 100 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged – as were 28 bridges…. 38 cars were washed out to sea and 420 people lost their homes – but even more tragically – 34 lost their lives….

Following the flood controversy arose as to whether it had been caused by secret cloud seeding which had been carried out by the RAF between 1949 and 1952…. Cloud seeding is a method of weather modification aimed at altering the type of precipitation falling from clouds….

A 2001 BBC radio documentary fuelled speculation that the flood was linked to Project Cumulus – as the disaster happened just days after the RAF had been performing rain making experiments over Southern England…. However meteorologists deny this could have caused the flooding….

British History

On this day in history….15th August 1941

On this day in history : 15th August 1941 – The execution by firing squad, at the Tower of London, of Corporal Josef Jakobs…. It is to be the last ever execution at the Tower….

The Miniature Firing Range, Tower of London – ‘The Shed of Death’ – Photograph from the collections of the Imperial War Museums

Jakobs, born in Luxembourg in 1898, was a German spy – who during World War Two worked for the Abwehr, the German Army’s intelligence department….

On the 31st of January he was flown into Ramsay, Huntingdonshire from Schipol Airport, Holland…. He parachuted from the aircraft and landed in a field but broke his ankle in the process…. The following morning, to get the attention of two farmers, Charles Baldock and Harry Coulson, who were working nearby, he fired his pistol into the air….

The Home Guard were notified and Jakobs, still wearing his flying suit, was arrested…. He was carrying £500 in British currency, a radio transmitter, forged identity papers – and a German sausage! He also carried a photograph of German singer and actress Clara Bauerle, who was his lover and also a spy…. She was already in England and the idea was for him to join her….

Jakobs was transferred to Cannon Row Police Station in London, where he gave a voluntary statement to MI5…. He was then taken to Brixton Prison Infirmary where his ankle was treated before being held at Dulwich Hospital for the next two months….

His court martial took place on the 4th and 5th of August 1941 at the Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea…. The British had been aware that he was coming to England as they had been informed by a double agent, Welsh Nationalist Arthur Owens…. Jakobs was found guilty and sentenced to death….

The execution took place ten days later at the miniature rifle range at the Tower of London…. Jakobs was tied blindfolded to a Windsor chair…. Eight soldiers of the Holding Battalion Scots Guards took aim with their 303 Lee-Enfields at a white cotton target pinned above his heart…. At 7.12am a silent signal was given by Lieutenant-Colonel C.R. Gerard…. Jakobs died instantly; five bullets hit him, three of the soldiers had been issued with blanks…. Jakobs was buried in an unmarked grave in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green, London….