Humphrey Winch

He had a distinguished career in both Ireland and England, but his reputation was seriously damaged by the Leicester witch trials of 1616, which resulted in the hanging of several innocent women.

[2] In 1606, despite his earlier conflict with the Crown, he was recommended to King James I as a man who was suitable for judicial appointment, by reason of his legal ability and integrity.

[3] Francis Bacon said that Winch's qualities of "quickness, industry and dispatch" made him a model for other judges to emulate.

Winch, like many (though by no means all) transplanted English officials disliked the Irish climate and complained of its effect on his health.

Despite the reluctance of the Dublin Government to lose such a valued Crown servant, he was transferred to the English Court of Common Pleas in 1611.

Fifteen women had been charged with witchcraft on the sole evidence of a young boy called John Smith, who claimed that they had possessed him.

The King had always shown a keen interest in witchcraft, but, although he was a firm believer in the reality of witches, he could be sceptical about individual cases, and was quite shrewd in detecting impostors.

[8] Despite the damage to his reputation caused by the witchcraft trial's fiasco, Winch remained on the bench until he died suddenly at Chancery Lane from a stroke in February 1625.