The Yorkshire Witch

The Life & Trial of Mary Bateman

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Crimes & Criminals, Murder, True Crime, History, British
Cover of the book The Yorkshire Witch by Summer Strevens, Pen & Sword Books
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Author: Summer Strevens ISBN: 9781473863897
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Publication: January 31, 2017
Imprint: Pen & Sword History Language: English
Author: Summer Strevens
ISBN: 9781473863897
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Publication: January 31, 2017
Imprint: Pen & Sword History
Language: English

“A fascinating tale of witchcraft and skulduggery in darkest Yorkshire in the early 19th century. . . . An extraordinary story, brilliantly told.” —Books Monthly

On the morning of March 20, 1809, the woman who had earned herself the title of “The Yorkshire Witch” was hanged at York’s New Drop gallows before an estimated crowd of twenty thousand people—many of them victims of her hoaxes and extortion.

A consummate con artist, Mary Bateman was adept at identifying the psychological weaknesses of the desperate and poor who populated the growing industrial metropolis of Leeds. Exploiting their fears and terror of witchcraft, Mary was well placed to rob them of their worldly goods, yet she did much more than cause misery and penury. Though tried and convicted of only one murder, the contemporary belief that she was a serial killer is doubtlessly accurate.

A meticulously researched retelling of Mary Bateman’s life and death, and the macabre legacy of her mortal remains, The Yorkshire Witch is also a “wealth of social history . . . about the lives of servants; housing conditions . . . the rise in religious fervour . . . the prevalence of superstitious beliefs . . . accounts of early toxicology; how crimes were prosecuted; the treatment of female convicts; and public executions” (Crime Review).

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

“A fascinating tale of witchcraft and skulduggery in darkest Yorkshire in the early 19th century. . . . An extraordinary story, brilliantly told.” —Books Monthly

On the morning of March 20, 1809, the woman who had earned herself the title of “The Yorkshire Witch” was hanged at York’s New Drop gallows before an estimated crowd of twenty thousand people—many of them victims of her hoaxes and extortion.

A consummate con artist, Mary Bateman was adept at identifying the psychological weaknesses of the desperate and poor who populated the growing industrial metropolis of Leeds. Exploiting their fears and terror of witchcraft, Mary was well placed to rob them of their worldly goods, yet she did much more than cause misery and penury. Though tried and convicted of only one murder, the contemporary belief that she was a serial killer is doubtlessly accurate.

A meticulously researched retelling of Mary Bateman’s life and death, and the macabre legacy of her mortal remains, The Yorkshire Witch is also a “wealth of social history . . . about the lives of servants; housing conditions . . . the rise in religious fervour . . . the prevalence of superstitious beliefs . . . accounts of early toxicology; how crimes were prosecuted; the treatment of female convicts; and public executions” (Crime Review).

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