Giles Corey

This article is about the English farmer accused of witchcraft. For the band of the same name, see Giles Corey (band).
Not to be confused with Giles Coren.

Giles Corey
The pressing of Giles Corey
Born
Northampton, Northamptonshire
Baptized16 August 1611
Died19 September 1692(1692-09-19) (aged 81)
Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Cause of deathPressed to death
OccupationFarmer
Criminal charges
  • Witchcraft (rehabilitated)
  • Murder (reduced to unreasonable force and fined)
Spouses
Margaret
​
(died 1664)​
Mary Bright
​
​
(m. 1664; died 1684)​
​
(m. 1690)​
Children5

Giles Corey (bapt.Tooltip baptized 16 August 1611 – 19 September 1692) was an English-born farmer who was accused of witchcraft along with his wife Martha Corey during the Salem witch trials in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. After being arrested, Corey refused to enter a guilty or not guilty plea. He was subjected to torture in the form of crushing in an effort to force him to plead, dying after three days of being crushed. Because Corey refused to enter a plea, his estate passed on to his sons instead of being seized by the Massachusetts colonial government.

Corey is believed to have died in the field adjacent to the prison that had held him, in what later became the Howard Street Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts, which opened in 1801. His exact grave location in the cemetery is unmarked and unknown. There is a memorial plaque to him in the nearby Charter Street Cemetery.