Francis Hutchinson was Bishop of Down and Connor

Bishop of Down and Connor

The Bishop of Down and Connor is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Downpatrick and the village of Connor in Northern Ireland...

 and an opponent of witch-hunting.

Hutchinson was born in Carsington

Carsington

Carsington is a village in the middle of the Derbyshire Dales, England; it adjoins the hamlet of Hopton, close to the historic town of Wirksworth and village of Brassington.Population - 111-History:...

, Wirksworth

Wirksworth

Wirksworth is a small market town in Derbyshire, England, with a population of over 9,000.The population of the Wirksworth area including Cromford, Bolehill and Middleton-by-Wirksworth is about 12,000. Wirksworth is listed in the Domesday Book in 1086. Within it is the source of the River...

, Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, the second son of Mary and Edward Hutchinson or Hitchinson (a family of the lesser landed gentry). He was taught history by his uncle, Francis Tallents

Francis Tallents

Francis Tallents was a non-conforming English Presbyterian clergyman.-Life:He was the eldest son of Philip Tallents, whose father, a Frenchman, accompanied Sir Francis Leake to England after saving his life. Francis Tallents was born at Pilsley in the parish of North Wingfield, Derbyshire, in...

, a Puritan

Puritan

The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

 clergyman, before beginning his studies at Katharine Hall, Cambridge

St Catharine's College, Cambridge

St. Catharine’s College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473, the college is often referred to informally by the nickname "Catz".-History:...

 at the age of 18. He graduated B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in 1681 and M.A.

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in 1684, a year after he was ordained by the bishop of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and was appointed Lecturer at the rectory of Widdington

Widdington

Widdington is a village and a civil parish near Saffron Walden, in the Uttlesford district, in the county of Essex, England. The village is located near the M11 motorway. Widdington has a church called St Mary the Virgin, Widdington and a barn called Prior's Hall Barn.- External links :* * *...

, Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

. This living represented the lowest rung of the career ladder of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 and Hutchinson remained there until appointed vicar of Hoxne

Hoxne

Hoxne is an anciently established village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about five miles east-southeast of Diss, Norfolk and one-half mile south of the River Waveney...

, Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

 in early 1690 by local Whig

British Whig Party

The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

 magnate, William Maynard

William Maynard

William John Maynard was an English footballer who played for England, firstly as a forward and later in goal, in the first international match against Scotland.-Career:...

.

He studied several cases of witchcraft

Witchcraft

Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

 and witch trials, criticising some procedures. For example, he opposed the idea that children and young teenagers acted as accusers in cases of bewitching after having reached the conclusion that they feigned demon possession and several innocents had died for that reason, and wrote a book that ended the persecution of witches in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Note

This Francis Hutchinson should not be confused with the Francis Hutchinson who was connected with John Nelson Darby

John Nelson Darby

John Nelson Darby was an Anglo-Irish evangelist, and an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism. He produced a translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation...

, Edward Cronin, and John Bellett in the movement of the late 1820s later known as "Plymouth Brethren

Plymouth Brethren

The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...

".