Crime -- Great Britain; Criminals -- Great Britain; Executions and executioners; Tyburn gallows (London, England)
Stow, who in his Annals has a marginal reference to this Chronicle, adds
a particular omitted by the earlier Chronicler—that the lady was executed
for the murder of her husband. The curiosity of antiquaries was naturally
excited by this story, half-revealed, half-concealed. The first discovery
made was of the inventory of the lady’s goods. This was printed in
_Archæologia_, vol. xxxviii. (1860). The goods fell into the hands of
the king by forfeiture: so it came about that an inventory existed. It
is a list of plate and jewels, of sumptuous hangings, “an extraordinary
collection of valuable property.”
Finally more of the story was disclosed by Mr. William John Hardy, in the
_Antiquary_ of December, 1880. It is one of the greatest interest.
The lady’s name is given as Alice, both by the chronicler and by Stow
in his Annals. Stow also, in a list of the monuments in the Grey Friars
church, mentions one to “Alice Lat Hungerford, hanged at Tiborne for
murdering her husband” (Survey, ed. Thoms, p. 120).
But the lady’s name was not Alice, but Agnes. She was the second wife of
Sir Edward Hungerford, who was first married to Jane, daughter of John
Lord Zouche of Haryngworth. The date of the death of Sir Edward’s first
wife is not known. If we knew it there might arise a new suspicion. Nor
do we know the date of Sir Edward’s second marriage, but it must have
been not earlier than the latter half of 1518.
Sir Edward Hungerford was one of the great ones of the land. In 1517 he
was sheriff for Wilts: in 1518 for Somerset and Dorset. In 1520 he was
present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. In 1521 he was in Commission
of the Peace for Somerset.
We have seen that the original seat of the family was at Heytesbury,
in Wilts, distant from Farleigh about twelve miles, and here Sir
Edward commonly lived. In addition to Farleigh Castle, Sir Edward
possessed a great London house, standing with its gardens where now is
Charing Cross station. From this house were named Hungerford Street
and Hungerford Stairs. On the site of the house and garden was built
by a later Hungerford, in the reign of Charles II., Hungerford Market,
which continued till the site was taken for the railway station.
The foot-bridge over the Thames, starting from this point, was known
as Hungerford Bridge, a name still sometimes given to its successor,
the existing railway bridge. It was in Hungerford Street that Charles
Dickens, a child of ten, began life by sticking labels on blacking
bottles.
Sir Edward made his will on December 14, 1521. By it, after leaving
legacies to certain churches and friends, “the residue of all my goods,
debts, cattalls, juells, plate, harnesse, and all other moveables
whatsoever they be, I freely geve and bequeth to Agnes Hungerforde my
wife.” She was also appointed sole executrix. Sir Edward died on January
24, 1522, six weeks after making this will.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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