7. Agnes Waterhouse
More familiarly known as Mother Waterhouse, Agnes, the next one our list of most famous witches in history was one of the most famous witches in England due to her unspeakable crimes paired with being the first witch ever to be executed in England by a secular court. Although not much was documented about Agnes prior to her confession of being a witch, the fact that she was known around town as Mother Waterhouse suggests how the locals may have viewed her as a compassionate and helpful woman. It has also been suggested that she was a very wise woman and a healer, which are two attributes many witches seem to share. Her life seemed relatively quiet and normal until after the beheading of Anne Boleyn when King Henry VIII passed a new act against witchcraft in 1542. In 1566 she was accused of using witchcraft and sorcery to cause death to a neighbor, kill livestock and bring illness to the town. Agnes was even accused of killing her husband! Mother Waterhouse openly confessed to her accusations and claimed to have sent her cat (named Satan) to do her dirty work. It has been said that the cat taught her and her her sister witchcraft from a young age and that it could even speak. Agnes was hung for her crimes in 1566.
