John Richards (colonial judge)

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John Richards (16??-????) was appointed as a magistrate on the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 by Massachusetts Governor William Phips[1], and then again as a justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize and general Goal Delivery in 1693[2], both of which courts heard the cases that have come to be known as the Salem witch trials, even though the latter court sat in Charlestown, Boston and Ipswich, as well as Salem.

[edit] Notes & References

  1. ^ Massachusetts Archives Collections, Governor's Council Executive Records, Vol. 2, 1692, pages 176-177. Certified copy from the original records at Her Majestie's State Paper Office, London, September 16, 1846.
  2. ^ Records of the Massachusetts Supreme Court of Judicature, 1692/3, Page 1. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Judicial Archives