James Device & John Bulock: The Forgotten Men of the Pendle Witch Trials

When people think of the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612, it's usually the women who come to mind. Names such as Alizon Device, Anne Whittle and Alice Nutter have become synonymous with one of England's most infamous witchcraft prosecutions.

But hidden among those stories are two men whose lives ended in exactly the same way.

James Device and John Bulock are often overlooked, yet they remain the only men executed during the Pendle Witch Trials.

A Family Drawn into Suspicion

James Device came from one of the families at the heart of the accusations. The Devices were poor and already viewed with suspicion by their neighbours. In a society where illness, failed crops and sudden deaths were often blamed on witchcraft, rumours could quickly become deadly.

James was accused alongside members of his own family. Whether guilt was assumed because of his relatives, because of local gossip, or because of the evidence presented against him, we'll never know for certain. Like so many others caught up in the trials, his fate was sealed long before the verdict was announced.

John Bulock

Less is known about John Bulock than many of the other accused. Historical records provide only fragments of his life, but they reveal that he, too, became entangled in the web of accusations that swept through Lancashire during the summer of 1612.

His conviction reminds us that the panic surrounding witchcraft did not distinguish between men and women entirely, even if women made up the overwhelming majority of those accused.

Fear Over Facts

The Pendle Witch Trials took place during a period when belief in witchcraft was not only common but supported by the law.

Confessions, rumours, neighbourly disputes and testimony from children could all be accepted as evidence. Today, much of what was presented in court would almost certainly fail to meet modern standards of proof.

The trials reflected a society shaped by fear, superstition, poverty and religious tension. Once accusations began, they spread rapidly through families and communities.

20th August 1612

On 20th August 1612, James Device and John Bulock were executed at Lancaster alongside those convicted during the Pendle Witch Trials.

More than four centuries later, historians continue to debate what really happened. Were those accused practitioners of folk magic? Victims of personal rivalries? Casualties of religious and political unrest? Or simply ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances?

The truth is that many questions remain unanswered.

Why Their Story Still Matters

James Device and John Bulock rarely receive the attention given to some of the women involved in the trials, yet their stories are just as important.

Their executions remind us that history is rarely as simple as the version we learn at school. Behind every famous event are people whose names have faded but whose experiences help us understand the past more fully.

The Pendle Witch Trials continue to fascinate because they force us to ask uncomfortable questions about justice, evidence, prejudice and the dangers of allowing fear to outweigh reason.

Discover More with Carol Ann Lee

If you'd like to explore the real story behind the Pendle Witch Trials, join us for Matinees of Murders & Mysteries with Sunday Times bestselling historian Carol Ann Lee.

Drawing on years of meticulous research, Carol will separate fact from folklore, uncover the lives of the people caught up in the trials and reveal why, more than 400 years later, the Pendle Witches continue to captivate us.

History isn't always what we've been told. Sometimes, the forgotten stories are the ones worth hearing most.