Margery Beddingfield

Margery Beddingfield (also known as Margaret, Ann, Annne or Anne Margaret) (1742–1763) was a British woman convicted and burned at the stake for murder in 1763.

Biography Daughter to farmer John Rowe and his wife, Margery was named after her mother and baptized on 29 June 1742 in the Blaxhall church, Suffolk. They had one daughter Pleasance and one son John; the latter died when he was four months old.

Elizabeth Riches and the boys William Masterson and John Nunn also lived with them. and attempted to convince the servant Elizabeth Riches to add the poison to Mr Beddingfield's morning helping of rum and milk, saying he would be her "constant friend". She refused and Ringe later tried to poison Beddingfield himself when he was asked to get water to cool off the hot water that Beddingfield had been given to treat his vomiting. Beddingfield noticed a white sediment in the water and refused to drink it but did not suspect foul play.

Strangulation of John Beddingfield One night in March 1763, Ringe pretended to sleep while Beddingfield entertained a business associate he had invited over for punch. After Beddingfield went to bed, Ringe sneaked into his room. He lingered there for about 15 minutes before attacking the sleeping man,

Inquest and trial The coroner's inquest of Beddingfield's body showed signs of willful murder. He was buried on 30 July. and was probably strangled with a rope as the fire was lit. There was a huge gathering of onlookers.

An account of the events was included in The Newgate Calendar, a collection of moralising stories about 18th- and 19th-century English criminals, and bore an illustration of Beddingfield being burned to death. According to the author, in the case "females will find another warning against the shocking consequences which ever attend illicit love". Though Ringe committed the murder of Beddingfield, Newgate describes Ann as the murderer and Ringe as her "accomplice".