According to this link, Sir Edward Hungerford , had a shocking story attached to his memory. Sir Edward’s second wife, was Agnes Cotell who died 20th February 1523/4. Ah, but that’s to understate the point, because she was actually hanged for murder.
What happened? Well, her first husband was John Cotell, who was Sir Edward Hungerford’s steward, and on 26th July 1518 she killed him by strangulation and his body was burned in the kitchen furnace. Presumably the possibility had arisen of a much grander match with Sir Edward himself. I don’t suppose she strangled John herself because she had two male accomplices, William Mathewe and William Inges, yeomen of Heytesbury, Wiltshire.
Agnes’s vile crime was apparently known to many at the time, but she wasn’t charged during Sir Edward’s lifetime. Whether or not he was entirely innocent of either the murder itself or the subsequent cover-up, is unclear. Was he party to the killing? Or did he simply love her too much to do anything about it? Maybe he was even afraid of meeting the same fate as his predecessor? Anyway, when he himself died, leaving Agnes the sole executrix of his will, proceedings were swiftly taken against her and her accomplices for the murder of John Cotell. She and William Mathewe were then convicted and hanged at Tyburn on 20th February 1523/4. There isn’t a record of what happened to the second accomplice, Willian Inges.
It’s thought she was buried at Greyfriars, London. Her family (her maiden name isn’t known to me) disowned her completely, and she was expunged completely from their records. I imagine her former in-laws, the Cotells, were triumphant. Justice had finally been done.
You will discover a little more about Agnes at this site and this one
For information about Farleigh Castle (which was once held by Richard III) and the Hungerfords (as distinct from Agnes) go here and here.
If you go to this site you will read that the ghost of Agnes, Lady Hungerford “….is still said to return here on occasion, and appear in the vicinity of the chapel, a serenely beautiful shade who flickers briefly in front of astonished witnesses, before fading into nothingness in those twilight moments when day turns into night….” Was the real Alice serene and beautiful? Somehow I doubt it.
Unfortunately I was unable to locate any images of either Agnes or Sir Edward Hungerford.
murreyandblue 