True Life Tuesday: Anne Greene

 This is a crazy story that again should be made into a movie. Anne Greene was born around 1628 in Steeple Barton, Oxfordshire, England. She worked as a scullery maid in the home of Sir Thomas Read, a justice of the peace. In 1650 she claimed that she was seduced by Read's grandson, Geoffrey Read. She became pregnant but ended up miscarrying at 17 weeks. She claimed that she did not know she was pregnant until she miscarried. She attempted to hide the fetus but she was caught. She was prosecuted under the Concealment of Birth of a Bastard Act of 1624. Under this act it was assumed that if a woman tried to conceal the death of her illegitimate child she committed infanticide.

During her trial a midwife testified that the fetus was to under development to have ever been alive. Several of her fellow students also testified that Anne was having "issues" for about a month before her miscarriage. However, she was found guilty and was hung at Oxford Castle on December 14, 1650. Her body was given to physicians William Petty and Thomas Willis with the University of Oxford. When they opened her casket the next day they noticed that she had a faint pulse and was weakly breathing. They immediately began attempts to revive her and she was able to speak within 12-14 hours. After a month she was fully recovered although she had no memory of the hanging. 

After her recovery she was eventually pardoned. The argument was that she was saved by the hand of God. She moved to the country to live with friends taking her casket with her. She eventually married and had 3 children. Her death date has been reported as both 1659 and 1675. Her story was reported in the 1659 edition of The History of the World and the 1677 edition of The Natural History of Oxfordshire.