The Cauchés Family

Catherine Cauchés and Family (put to death July 1556)
A disgraceful episode; sorrowful simpletons sacrificed as scapegoats by scoundrels.
In his ‘Christian Martyrdom’ the Reverend John Fox recounts the horrifying case of the treatment meted out to three Guernsey women in the year 1556. 

The story is that on 27 May Vincent Gosset stole a silver cup from Nicholas le Conronney and then tried to pawn it for 6d to Perrotine  Massey, the married daughter of Catherine Cauchés, who lived with her mother and her sister Guillemine Gilbert. Realising it was stolen, Perrotine advanced the requested 6d, thereby securing the cup, after which she notified Conronney. When confronted by by Conronney, Gosset confessed.
Gosset’s admission notwithstanding, the case was investigated by the senior St Peter Port Constable, Nicolas Carey, who then reported finding a pewter vessel in the house where the Cauchés family lived. As a consequence the three women were taken into custody at Castle Cornet and when examined it transpired that although they had come by the pewter vessel perfectly honestly; yet they had disregarded the commands of the Holy Church, having absented themselves from Mass. Accordingly they were returned to custody on 1 July.

On 14 July the accused appeared before the Dean’s Court; despite their undertaking that they would ‘keep the ordinances of the King and Queen (ie Philip of Spain and Mary I) and the commandments of the Church’ they were nevertheless convicted of heresy and referred to the Royal Court, where sentence of death was passed.

The auto-da-fé took place on 18 July at the foot of Tower Hill. As the faggots blazed Perrotine, ‘her womb bursting asunder by the vehemency of the flame’ gave birth to a son. On the orders of the Bailiff, Helier Gosselin the baby was thrown back into the fire.

This story is often wrongly told as a witchcraft trial; which it wasn’t. But there were many witchcraft trials over the years; the last being as recently as 1914. The accused was Aimee Lake nee Queripel.