Florence Newton

Florence Newton (fl. 1661) was an alleged Irish witch, known as the "Witch of Youghal". The case against Newton is described as one of the most important examples of Irish witch trials, similar to witch trials in England, and the "most known of 17th-century witch trials in Ireland".

Witch trial

Florence Newton was arrested and imprisoned 24 March 1661. She was put on trial 11 September 1661 at the Assizes held at Cork where she was accused of having "enchanted" Mary Longdon and employing sorcery to cause the death of David Jones. The Crown appears to have regarded the trial as one of some importance, as evidenced by the fact that Sir William Domville, the Attorney General for Ireland, travelled from Dublin to Cork to prosecute her in person.

According to accounts of her trial, in Christmas of 1660, Newton was heard to mumble curses after she was denied a piece of beef at the house of John Pyne. Afterward, she met an employee of Pyne named Mary Longdon on the street and "violently" kissed her. Longdon then became sick, and experienced fits, cramps, and visions. Sorcery was suspected, and a coven of witches were claimed to exist in the area. Longdon claimed that Newton was responsible for her illness.

Newton was also accused of causing the death of David Jones by sorcery. At Newton's trial, the widow of Jones said that Newton had kissed the hand of Jones though the bars of a prison gate, and afterward, he had become sick and died after having screamed the name of Newton on his death bed.

According to St John Seymour, Newton was accused of two counts of witchcraft, and court documents are missing so the verdict is not confirmed, however, "if found guilty (and we can have little doubt but that she was) she would have been sentenced to death in pursuance of the Elizabethan Statute, Section 1."

See also

• Islandmagee witch trial
• Alice Kyteler
• Laurien Magee

Further reading

• Montague Summers: Geography of Witchcraft

• St. John Drelincourt Seymour: Irish Witchcraft and Demonology