John Bonham (abt. 1590)

Born about 1590 in Sutton, Cambridgeshire, England [uncertain]

Husband of Grace (Unknown) Bonham — married before 1616 (to 1620) in Sutton, Cambridgeshire, England [uncertain]

Husband of Bridget (Wesland) Bonham — married 22 Aug 1620 in Sutton, Cambridgeshire, England

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Biography

John Bonham was accused of witchcraft in witch trials

John was born about 1590 (estimated from known dates)

John first married Grace and had several children by her including:

1. Nathaniel Bonham (abt.1612-)
2. John Bonham (1616-1627)
3. Robert Bonham (1619-)

(witnesses to a later trial insinuated John Bonham was cruel to Grace, and that several of their children had run away.)

John married Bridget Wesland on the 22nd of August 1620 in Sutton ^[1], just 7 weeks after Graces death.

They had children:

1. Francisca Bonham (1621-)

In 1636, following the discovery of an earthen pot full of bones in a gravel pit, suspicion of foul play soon fell on John and Bridget Bonham, whose son John Bonham (1616-1627) was known to be missing. Although it appears they were acquitted.

The couple remained in Sutton and next appear in the assize records accused of witchcraft by Charles Lamb, whose deposition was taken by Thomas Castell, JP, on 26 May 1647. He claimed that John Bonham had confessed to him that his wife had a familiar spirit, which sucked her body, and she also knew of those that sucked on him. They were arrested and placed in the custody of Thomas Daye, where Bridget confessed the same in private to Lamb. Examined on the same day by Castell, she rebutted claims of her own witchcraft but willingly implicated her husband.

Sources

1. ↑ Marriage: "England Marriages, 1538–1973"
   citing Digital film/folder number: 007567603; FHL microfilm: 1040549
   FamilySearch Record: NVB9-TY1 (accessed 9 April 2024)
   John Bonham marriage to Bridget Wesland on 22 Aug 1620 in Sutton, Cambridgeshire, England.

See also:

• https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=19899&fbclid=IwAR1oZxUVcsyTYampWYMHZ7k4tf18DKUr-Xzei3jvEDBv7a2ySW4IS7Y8EtY_aem_AcfLzhGDkMmuidA98oRfTSJGMUrXbr6VTDJoHwRWyomC1MprC6eYK8yzamKjZgVPJlY
• https://practitioners.exeter.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Eastanglianwitchtrialappendix2.pdf
• Malcolm Gaskill, Crime and Mentalities in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 2000), pp. 259-60,
• Malcom Gaskill, ‘Witchcraft and power in early modern England: the case of Margaret Moore’ in Women, Crime and the Courts, ed. J. Kermode and G. Walker (London, 1994), pp. 139-140.