Sir Ranulphe Crewe

A Judgement

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Sir Ranulphe Crewe 1558-1646

A Judgement of Sir Ranulphe Crewe

This is a shorter version edited from “Blue Blood Like Blue Ink” (see About section).

Discountenanced

I thought I had found a brief memoir, some reminiscences of his life, but the few pages of notes at the back of great-grandfather’s tattered photograph album turned out to be a summary of the research he had been carrying out into the history of his aristocratic ancestors, the Crewe family. It was evident that he had dictated them and that his eldest daughter had typed them up. The purpose was, it seemed to me, to discover where all the titles and money had gone, as he was a well-off businessman but did not possess a stately home and estates or even, by the time he died, the Crewe name itself. On the final page, his daughter had tried to create a family tree but had become frustrated by the difficulty of drawing lines using the typewriter, so had resorted to a blue pen to make the connections. I remember thinking that this was more appropriate, as it looked like blue blood.

The central character from whom all lines emanated was Sir Ranulphe Crewe1, the founder of the Crewe dynasty. He was the epitome of the self-made man, who rose from relatively humble beginnings in Cheshire in the mid-sixteenth century to become Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench, the most powerful judge in the country, under not one, but two Kings: James I and Charles I. Not forgetting his roots – in fact he was obsessed by his genealogy – he built one of the largest houses in the North of England of the time, Crewe Hall, as well as maintaining a comfortable ‘town house’ in Westminster. I did my own brief scan of his achievements. He had his own Wikipedia page and an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and seemed to be best remembered for a quote about lost noble family names, but I noted that he received almost unanimously favourable testimonials from his peers and historians of the period. On his character: “…he did not seek to obtain the applause of the world; he was a modest man… contented with the approbation of his own conscience.” On his legal career: “…his legal honesty and political consistency raised him high in the estimation of all public-spirited men.” As Lord Chief Justice: “…there was never a more laudable appointment… he had patience in hearing, evenness of temper and kindness of heart.” There was just one flaw. In the summer of 1616, Sir Ranulphe Crewe was one of two senior judges who hanged six innocent women as witches, a decision for which they were censured by James I, a revelation in itself as the King had confirmed, and indeed broadened the scope, of the death penalty in his Witchcraft Act of 1604.

I could have left it at that. After four hundred years of praise, why not leave this unedifying stone unturned? But then I discovered that there still existed twenty-four pages of vellum manuscripts from the trial of the Bewitchment of John Smith (a Child) 1616 in the Lincoln Archives, and that a local historian had made a transcript.2

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The Bewitching of John Smith

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The Bewitching of John Smith, a Child 1616: A True Account

In the manor house of Husbands Bosworth1, a village of around eighty cottages a few miles south of Leicester, John Smith, eldest son of the owner with his second wife2, was unwell. Ever since early childhood, and he was now nearly twelve3, he had complained of headaches and stomach pains, but recently, beginning around Shrovetide4, he had taken a turn for the worse and had begun to have fits that were now occurring several times a day. His father, Roger, at first tried to hold him down, but his child was thrashing about so wildly that he had to call for help, and even with servants holding his arms and legs, they could not calm him. Over the course of a few fretful weeks, the child’s condition worsened, until he no longer had bowel movements and was wailing in pain from his bloated stomach, and was refusing food and water.

Roger Smith was reluctantly away on business in London when Doctor Sheppard was called for. Vomit purges were administered to the boy that relieved the most pressing symptoms, but the fits continued, so further remedies were applied in an attempt to restore the equilibrium of the humours; but not one was successful. At a loss to explain the child’s suffering, Doctor Sheppard wrote to Roger that, summarising conversations at the boy’s bedside, he hoped that his son had not been possessed by demons. A second opinion from Doctor Cotta was requested who suspected ‘falling sickness’5. This diagnosis, however, corresponded with a further level of affliction, that everyone referred to as the ‘senseless fits’ in which, even when not convulsing, John Smith was struck blind, deaf and dumb, and during the fits appeared to be fighting unseen tormentors, and was shrieking and making strange noises. He now needed to be watched constantly, with onlookers armed with sheets to try and catch him if he should fall out of bed. At night, he insisted on having the candles lit at all times. The observers were horrified at the spectacle, most especially John’s mother, and Roger returned to find a household in chaos and panic.

Into this maelstrom came Randall, a woman from the village known for her powers of healing. Desperate for some alternative to the medical advice that had failed, Roger ushered her to the invalid’s bedside where John was having yet another of his interminable fits. The doctors stepped aside to let this dishevelled person pass, and watched suspiciously as Randall recited some incomprehensible incantations, and applied foul-smelling potions, but then there was general astonishment as John’s body stopped shaking, and he opened his eyes. Shortly afterwards, rumours began to circulate that witchcraft was the cause of John’s ailments and, in a settlement of less than five hundred souls, word spread quickly.

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Sir Ranulphe Crewe

I have written a biography of Sir Ranulphe Crewe of Crewe Hall, as part of a longer work which is based on some family history notes dictated by a great-grandfather, decended from Sir Ranulphe down a minor branch of the Crewe family, and typed up by his eldest daughter. My research highlighted some stories which have a broader appeal, which are listed in the links below:

The Bewitching of John Smith, A Child 1616

Whilst researching Sir Ranulphe Crewe, I discovered that he had been one of the Assize Court judges in the trial of the ‘witches’ of Husbands Bosworth in 1616, also known as “The Leicester Boy” trial. I subsequently obtained a copy of the original 24 pages of documents from Lincoln Archives, and made my own transcript based upon the partial one supplied, and wrote up a new version of the events that took place as the Prologue to the biography. One of the differences is that in the original contemporary account six named women are identified as being hanged, whereas most later reports state nine women, based on a letter from someone who I believe was hearing the news second-hand.

A Judgement of Sir Ranulphe Crewe

Impressed by his seemingly illustrious career, but alarmed by his error of judgement in the witch trial, I investigated Sir Ranulphe Crewe’s life, seeking to understand his character and motivations, and discovered that the truth was far more complex than a few biographical lines in history books would suggest.