25/03/2026
The Last Witch Ducking in England: The Tragedy of Tring, 1751
In 1751, the town of Tring in Hertfordshire became the scene of one of the final recorded witch duckings in England , a cruel and deadly act born of superstition, long after the law had condemned such practices.
In April of that year, the town crier of Hemel Hempstead received a peculiar notice: a man and a woman were to be publicly ducked in Tring for their “wicked crimes.” Similar announcements were issued in Winslow and Leighton Buzzard, spreading excitement and fear across Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. By the following Monday, thousands had made their way to Tring to witness the spectacle.
The intended victims were John Osborne, overseer of the parish, and his wife Ruth. Both were well-regarded locally, though Mrs Osborne had gained a reputation as a witch , a superstition that lingered in rural England despite legal prohibition. Recognising the danger, John Barton, a parish official who knew the Osbornes well, intervened and placed the couple in the local workhouse for their protection.
Yet, on the day of the event, a crowd of some 5,000 people descended upon the town. Learning of the couple’s hiding place, the mob stormed the workhouse, demolishing walls, smashing windows, and ransacking furniture in search of them. Superstitious beliefs led some to inspect salt boxes, thought to be hiding places for witches. Eventually, the workhouse master revealed that the Osbornes had been moved to the parish church. The mob, led by Thomas Colley, located the couple and dragged them to Mariston Mere.
There, the Osbornes suffered a horrifying ordeal. Stripped and wrapped in sheets, they were repeatedly submerged in the pond—Mrs Osborne three times, her husband twice. On her final immersion, Mrs Osborne was left unconscious and naked. She died as a result. Colley reportedly collected money from the crowd for providing the “entertainment” of the ducking. A surgeon confirmed her death, and Colley was arrested and charged with murder.
During his trial, Colley claimed he had acted only out of curiosity and had intended to protect the Osbornes. The jury rejected this defence, and he was found guilty. Before his ex*****on, Colley issued a public declaration, urging people to abandon belief in witches:
“Good people, I beseech you to take warning by an unhappy man’s suffering. Believe not in such beings as witches, and let no one presume to persecute a fellow creature under such delusions.”
Colley was executed on 24 August 1751, and his body was displayed near the pond where Ruth Osborne had been killed. Despite the violence and damage caused by the mob, he was the only person punished.
The Osbornes were elderly and impoverished; their only apparent “crime” was owning a tabby cat, which superstition often associated with witchcraft. This tragic incident remains the last documented case of witch ducking in England, a stark reminder of the lethal power of fear, ignorance, and superstition.
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