Closed petition Request a Monarch's pardon for those who were hanged for Witchcraft in 1612

Closed on 7 April 2022

We call on the Government to request a Monarch's pardon for the 10 innocent people convicted and hanged for Witchcraft at the Lancashire Witch Trials of 1612. This was was a political and religious persecution, a pardon is long overdue & should be granted.

The trial itself changed legal precedent by using a child of only 9 to convict members of her own family; it concluded with no defence testimony or sound evidence & involved the use of coercion and torture. We seek justice.

“This case is important in 2021 as it teaches us that if we identify members of a community, however marginal, as some kind of ‘other’, that it’s going to lead to other miscarriages of justice.” – Robert Poole, Professor of History at the University of Central Lancashire.