We ask HM Government to grant a pardon to Anne West for a conviction of murder.

Rejected 16 signatures

What the petition asks

Anne West was hanged for murder by witchcraft in 1645. Her fourteen year old daughter Rebecca had been coerced into testifying against her mother, in trade for her own freedom. Granting Anne a pardon can go some way in exonerating all witch hunt victims, and strengthening our stand on human rights.

Resources used include:
Essex Record Office, ERO Archivists LS , www.essex.gov.uk/ero; http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk

Gaskill, Malcolm, Witchfinders, A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy 2005, John Murray, London

Thurston, Robert W., The Witch Hunts, A history of the witch persecutions in Europe and North America, 2007.

Wallington, Nehemiah circa 1660 Diary, John Ryland Library at the University of Manchester in Manchester, England http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet

Why it was rejected

It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.

A pardon of this kind would be granted by the Monarch.

You could start a petition to ask the Government to request such a pardon in this case.

Timeline

7 Oct 2015	Petition opened for signatures
14 Oct 2015	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 16

Status Rejected

Rejected 14 Oct 2015

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