The Salem Script

Obituaries

http://www.salemmahistory.org/blog/2015/7/16/becoming-bridget-bishop-playing-the-witch-who-wore-red

Bridget Bishop 1630-1692

Bridget Playfer

Bridget was born

Waselby Oliver Bishop

in the United Kingdom,

second husband Thomas,

died on the 10th of June in

England during the

her daughter Mary, and

1692 in Salem,

1630s. Her parents and

son Benjamin. She is

Massachusetts. She

other siblings are

survived in death by her

suffered from a broken

unknown. Bridget did

third husband Edward,

neck due to being hung for

marry three times: first to

her daughter Christian,

accusations against her

Samuel Waselby, second to

and her grandchild.

concerning witchcraft.

to Thomas Oliver, and

Mrs. Bishop was believed

thirdly to Edward Bishop.

passion for cooking and

to be around 60 years old

Bridget is preceded in

she always had a spotless

when she passed.

death by her first

home. She was a very

Husband Samuel, her

Bridget had a

independent woman who

character (Morrell). This

held there to honor our

felt strongly about what

shows how highly her peers

beloved and misunderstood

she believed in. She is

thought of her and how

Bridget. Her grave site

known for wearing a

flamboyant her

will be located at the

bright red bodice, which

personality was.

Salem Town Cemetery. We

reflects her personality

One of Bridgets

hope you will all come out

perfectly. To help support

favorite restaurants was

to join us in this

the memory of Bridget, a

called the Lyceum. The

celebration of her life

close friend of her states,

family ask that any

(Morrell).

The real Bridget Bishop

flowers or food donations

By: Mollie Medine

was a colorful and

be dropped off there. There

controversial enough

will also be a reception

My obituary concentrates on the real death of the first victim of the Salem witch trails.
Her name was Bridget Bishop. Bridget had ben accused of witchcraft not one, but two times in
her life. The first time she was not found guilty, but the second time she went down hard.
Sources say that because of her past relationships with her many husbands, she took the fall
easier than others. She was known the get into fights publicly with her husband Thomas and was
once arrested for it. Again, she was an easy target because two of her husbands mysteriously died
and many pinned their deaths on her. So when the witch trials came about, her past did not help
her argument that she was innocent. Bridget liked to wear red, which was not accepted in that
time period because only the upper class were aloud or could afford such bright colors. This
made those around her view her as a rule breaker or flamboyant (Morrell).
The main reason I chose to do an obituary for this section of my research paper was
because death was a huge part of the Salem Witch Trials. Women and men everywhere died for
what they believed in or maybe even something they had no clue about. The fact is that people
suffered and faced life changing consequences for their religion or just the simple fact that
someone said they were associated with it because of how society views other religions other
than what we are used to.