Scotland's First Minister issues witchcraft convictions apology

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has issued a formal apology to the almost 4000 women who were convicted of witchcraft from 1563-1736. 

In the Scottish Parliament, the FM said: "Today on International Women's Day, as first minister on behalf of the Scottish government, I am choosing to acknowledge that egregious historic injustice and extend a formal posthumous apology to all of those accused, convicted, vilified or executed under the Witchcraft Act of 1563."

It is now up to the Scottish Parliament to decide whether it wishes to legislate to issue pardons to all of those who were prosecuted and executed. 

For more on the story visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-60667533. 

For more on historic Scottish witchraft trials in the period, visit http://www.shca.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches//

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.