Janet Parker first became ill on 11 August, but nine days passed before she was admitted to hospital and her infection was identified as smallpox.

The trials of the Pendle Witches are not only some of the most famous but also some of the best recorded witch trials in British history, and represent two per cent of all British witches to face trial over three centuries.

The Labour government of Clement Atlee won the first post-war election with a pledge to implement the recommendations of the 1942 Beveridge Report and improve the social welfare system in Britain.