Hi Bev! So far I've only found two discussions of Lydia Gilbert. The first is in David Hall's book, which you have, which contains a paragraph on Lydia's biography and a brief excerpt from her trial. The second is an article in The American Genealogist, vol. 67 (1992) by Douglas Richardson: "The English Origins of Thomas(1) Gilbert of Braintree, Mass., and Wethersfield, Conn. With a Note on Lydia Gilbert, Executed for Witchcraft in 1654." Richardson cites another source I haven't been able to find: Donald Lines Jacobus' _The Gilbert Family: Descendants of Thomas Gilbert, 1582-1659_. I apologize if you've already read this, but I thought I'd summarize it for list-readers who may not have seen it. There's some uncertainty about how Lydia fits into the Gilbert family tree. She's called the wife of Thomas Gilbert of Windsor -- but there were two Thomas Gilberts she could have wed: Thomas Sr. (born circa 1589, died around Sept 5, 1659 in Wethersfield, CT) and his son Thomas Jr. (baptized Feb 16, 1611/1612 in Yardley, England, died June 5, 1662 in Springfield, MA). In the past Lydia has generally been identified as the wife of Thomas Sr, though the colonial records never mention Thomas Sr.'s wife's name. Richardson says that Jacobus' book contains a summary of the evidence for and against the theory that Lydia Gilbert was Thomas Sr.'s wife. Unfortunately, he doesn't summarize the summary, and I haven't found a copy of the original yet. Despite this, Richardson makes a strong case for identifying Lydia as the wife of Thomas Jr., not Sr. The evidence is this: 1) Richardson located the baptisms of Thomas Sr.'s children in the parish registers of Yardley, Worcester, England. The Yardley records show him marrying Elizabeth Bennett. There is no evidence of a second wife Lydia -- no marriage records, nor any indication that Elizabeth died in England. The only wife who appears in the Connecticut records is the unnamed Mrs. Gilbert who died about the same time that Thomas Sr. did (in 1659, five years after Lydia was executed). 2) It was probably Thomas Jr., not Sr., who lived in Windsor, CT. Several sources do say that Thomas Sr. lived there. However Richardson points out that when "Thomas Gilbert" bought his Windsor CT property (on 24 January, 1644/5) Thomas Sr. was still living in Braintree, MA. Thomas Sr. lived in Braintree as late as May of 1646, when his neighbors complained about him feeding his animals upon a certain "iland or upland". Thomas Jr. emigrated to America some time after 1641, so it's likely he, not his father, bought the Windsor property. 3) Henry Stiles, the man Lydia was accused of bewitching to death, was the former employer of Thomas Gilbert, Jr. All in all, a very nice, well-reasoned article. If you're interested in any part of the article not related to witchcraft (like the parentage of Thomas Gilbert Sr.) drop me a note off-list and I'll be happy to send it along! Jenny (jenny@panix.com)