Bridget Bostock (born c. 1678, died after 1749), also known as the Cheshire Doctoress, was a faith healer who spent her entire life in Coppenhall, Staffordshire (some sources describe the location as Cheshire). She is documented as having worked as a healer for many years, employing methods described as "fasting spittle, a little liquor of 'a red complexion', touch, and prayer."
Bostock came to national prominence after being featured in a local newspaper in August 1748, when she was approximately 70 years of age. Her fame grew rapidly; by the following month she was reportedly receiving 600–700 visitors per day seeking her assistance. She subsequently decided to see only those she had previously dealt with or who were deaf. Sir John Price, a Welsh baronet, repeatedly asked Bostock to raise his wife from the dead, but she refused.
According to William Harding, the minister of St Lawrence's Church in Coppenhall, Bostock was a regular churchgoer and a person of great faith. Harding's son claimed that Bostock had cured his lameness. Nothing is known of her life after 1749.
Bostock is sometimes referred to as the "white witch" of Coppenhall, a characterization reflected in later publications about her. Her life and practices are documented in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and in various historical accounts of 18th-century English folk healing.
