Joan Prentice

Joan Prentice or Joan Prentis ( – 5 July 1589) was an Englishwoman executed after being accused of witchcraft with Joan Cunny and Joan Upney in Chelmsford in Essex in 1589.

Life

Prentice lived in an almshouse in Sible Hedingham. She told investigators about her pet who she said was a ferret named "Satan" or "Bid". The ferret she said had asked to be fed and this she had done on a number of occasions. The 1563 Act in England required that the death penalty could only be used where the accused had caused the death of another. In Prentice's case she said that had asked her familiar to hurt a child but the familiar disobeyed her and the child died. This justified the death penalty. She was hanged at Chelmsford with Joan Cunny and Joan Upney who were also found guilty of similar crimes. Joan Cunny's daughter, Avis, was also found guilty but she escaped immediate execution because she was pregnant. and a copy of a publication at the time, "The Apprehension and Confession of Three Notorious Witches Arraigned and by Justice Condemned and Executed at Chelmsford" is also known.