Elizabeth Sawyer

Elizabeth Sawyer was an inhabitant of the town of Edmonton, north of London (now part of Greater London), who was convicted and executed for witchcraft in 1621.

Trial and execution

Sawyer's was arraigned on charges of witchcraft and murder on 14 April 1621. The pamphlet records Sawyer's alleged crimes, among which was the charge that she had caused the death of her neighbor, Agnes Ratcleife, after Ratcleife had struck one of Sawyer's sows while it was eating her soap. In addition to Goodcole's pamphlet, it inspired broadside ballads (none of which survive)