William Harding (Virginia witch trials) explained

William Harding (born c. 1625, date of death unknown), was the first man to have been convicted of witchcraft in the Colony of Virginia,^[1] and also one of the few men to have been tried in a witch trial in Colonial America.^{[2] [3]}

Background

Wright was born around 1625 in England. He emigrated to British America and resided in Northumberland County. where he later was a landowner near Nomini Creek.^{[4] [5]} He was described as a "cunning man" and a troublemaker who caused dissension.^{[6] [7]}

Witch trial

In November 1656, Scottish Reverend David Lindsay of Wicomico Church, Virginia accused William of witchcraft and sorcery, and he was subsequently imprisoned.^{[8] [9]} A 24-member jury was convened, and the witch trial heard testimony from numerous county residents.^{[10] [11]} All records regarding his charges have been lost.^{[12] [13] [14]}

On November 20, 1656, Harding was found guilty of the charges, sentenced to 13 whip lashes, ordered to pay all court costs, and formally banished from the county.^{[15] [16]} Harding's banishment was considered unorthodox as it was not a prescribed punishment in the Witchcraft Act 1603.^[17] His case was one of the few male witchcraft trials in the New World.^{[18] [19]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Burr, George Lincoln . Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706 . 1914 . C. Scribner's Sons . 435 . 9780722266083 . en.
2. Book: Meyers . Debra . Order and Civility in the Early Modern Chesapeake . Perreault . Melanie . 2014-07-16 . Lexington Books . 978-0-7391-8975-7 . 23 . en.
3. Book: Sobel, Mechal . The World They Made Together: Black and White Values in Eighteenth-Century Virginia . 2021-06-08 . Princeton University Press . 978-1-4008-2049-8 . 83 . en.
4. Book: Waring, Lucy Lemoine . Hardings of Northumberland County, Virginia, and Their Related Families: Mini-history, Homes and Churches . 1971 . The author . en.
5. Book: Marion Nugent, Nell . Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623 -1800 . 337.
6. Book: Gipson, Lawrence H. . Revisioning the British Empire in the Eighteenth Century: Essays from Twenty-five Years of the Lawrence Henry Gipson Institute for Eighteenth-Century Studies . 1998 . Lehigh University Press . 978-0-934223-57-7 . 211–212 . en.
7. Book: Bruce, Philip Alexander . Institutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century: An Inquiry Into the Religious, Moral and Educational, Legal, Military, and Political Condition of the People Based on Original and Contemporaneous Records . 1910 . G.P. Putnam's sons . 978-0-598-84156-8 . 288 . en.
8. Book: Moyer, Paul B. . Detestable and Wicked Arts: New England and Witchcraft in the Early Modern Atlantic World . 2020-10-15 . Cornell University Press . 978-1-5017-5106-6 . 23 . en.
9. Book: Picariello, Damien K. . The Politics of Horror . 2020-06-26 . Springer Nature . 978-3-030-42015-4 . 163 . en.
10. Book: Wertenbaker, Thomas J. . The First Americans . 1927 . 146 . en.
11. Book: Scott, Arthur Pearson . Criminal Law in Colonial Virginia . 1930 . University of Chicago Press . 240 . en.
12. Book: Laulainen-Schein, Diana Lyn . Comparative Counterpoints: Witchcraft Accusations in Early Modern Lancashire and the Chesapeake . 2004 . University of Minnesota . 314 . en.
13. Book: Sheppard, Nancy E. . Hampton Roads Murder & Mayhem . 2018-10-08 . Arcadia Publishing . 978-1-4396-6538-1 . en.
14. Book: Booth, Sally Smith . The Witches of Early America . 1975 . Hastings House . 978-0-8038-8072-6 . 191 . en.
15. Book: Beau, Bryan F. Le . The Story of the Salem Witch Trials . 2016-05-23 . Routledge . 978-1-315-50904-4 . 22 . en.
16. Book: Hines, Emilee . Mysteries and Legends of Virginia: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained . 2010-08-17 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-0-7627-6657-4 . 3 . en.
17. Book: Porterfield . Amanda . Religion in American History . Corrigan . John . 2010-04-26 . John Wiley & Sons . 978-1-4051-6137-4 . en.
18. Hudson Jr., Carson O. Witchcraft in Colonial Virginia. The History Press. 2019.
19. Book: Blanton, Wyndham Bolling . Medicine in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century . 1972 . Arno Press . 978-0-405-03936-2 . 170 . en.