Editing Matthew Hopkins (section)

==Early life==
Little is known of Matthew Hopkins before 1644, and there are no surviving contemporary documents concerning him or his family.<ref>
[[#biography|Cabell 2006]]: p. 9; it is the author's opinion that "unfortunately one cannot dispute that all Hopkins documentation was deliberately destroyed after his death".
</ref> He was born in [[Wenham Magna|Great Wenham]], Suffolk,<ref name="Gas9">[[#Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005]]: p. 9
</ref><ref name="Dea13">
[[#Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976]]: p. 13
</ref><ref name=dnb /> and was the fourth son<ref name="Gas9"/> of six children.<ref>[[#Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976]]: pp. 15–17</ref> His father, James Hopkins, was a [[Puritan]] [[clergy]]man and  [[Vicar (Anglicanism)|vicar]] of  St John's of Great Wenham, in Suffolk.<ref name=dnb /><ref>[[#Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976]]: pp. 13, 17</ref> The family at one point held title "to lands and tenements in [[Framlingham Castle|Framlingham]] 'at the castle{{'"}}.<ref>[[#Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005]]: p. 23; [[#Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976]]: p. 17; quoting James Hopkins's last will and testament</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.witchtrials.co.uk/matthew.html|title=Matthew Hopkins – Witch–finder General|last=Knowles|first=George|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305051928/http://witchtrials.co.uk/matthew.html|archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> His father was popular with his parishioners, one of whom in 1619 left money to purchase Bibles for his then three children James, John and Thomas.<ref name="Dea13"/>

Thus Matthew Hopkins could not have been born before 1619, and could not have been older than 28 when he died, but he may have been as young as 25.<ref>
[[#biography|Cabell 2006]]: p. 6</ref> Although James Hopkins had died in 1634,<ref name="Dea13"/>  when the iconoclast [[William Dowsing]], commissioned in 1643 by the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] [[Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester|Earl of Manchester]]<ref>[[#biography|Cabell 2006]]: p. 19</ref> "for the destruction of monuments of idolatry and superstition", visited the parish in 1645 he observed that "there was nothing to reform".<ref>[[#Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005]]: p. 13</ref> Hopkins's brother John became [[Minister (Christianity)|Minister]] of [[South Fambridge]] in 1645 but was removed from the post a year later for neglecting his work.<ref>[[#Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976]]: p. 14</ref> Hopkins states in his book ''The Discovery of Witches'' (1647)<ref name="Discovery">The Discovery of Witches – In Answer to Several Queries, Lately Delivered to the Judges of Assize for the County of Norfolk; London; 1647</ref> that he "never travelled far&nbsp;... to gain his experience".<ref>[[#biography|Cabell 2006]]: p. 15</ref>

In the early 1640s, Hopkins moved to [[Manningtree]], Essex, a town on the [[River Stour, Suffolk|River Stour]], about {{convert|10|mi}} from Wenham. According to tradition, Hopkins used his recently acquired inheritance of a hundred [[Mark (money)#England and Scotland|marks]]<ref>[[#Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005]]: p. 23</ref> (£66 13s. 4d.) to establish himself as a [[gentleman]] and to buy the Thorn Inn in [[Mistley]].<ref>[[#Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005]]: p. 27</ref> From the way that he presented evidence in trials, Hopkins is commonly thought to have been trained as a lawyer, but there is scant evidence to suggest this was the case.<ref>[[#Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976]]: pp. 58–59</ref>