Agnes Hungerford
{{short description|English murderer (hanged 1523)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Agnes Hungerford
| honorific_suffix = Lady Hungerford
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| death_date = 20 February 1523
| death_place = Tyburn
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| other_names = Agnes Cotell
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| nationality = English
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Agnes, Lady Hungerford (died 20 February 1523) was a murderer and the second wife of Sir Edward Hungerford. When he died in 1522, Agnes was then charged and convicted of the murder of her first husband, John Cotell. She was hanged at Tyburn in 1523.
Biography
Agnes was the widow of John Cotell, the steward of Sir Edward Hungerford.{{sfn|Kightly|2019}} Agnes strangled her first husband at Farleigh Castle on 26 July 1518, with the aid of William Mathewe and William Inges, yeomen of Heytesbury, Wiltshire. She married Sir Edward after her first husband's body was burned in the castle kitchens. Her second husband may have been involved in the murder, or protected his wife from arrest during his lifetime.
Her second husband died 24 January 1522 and Agnes was the sole executrix of his will.{{harvnb|Harrison|1891|p=260}} cites: cf. Gent. Mag. 1858, pt. i. p. 122. Around this time, proceedings were taken against Agnes and her accomplices for the murder of her first husband. She and Mathewe were convicted and hanged at Tyburn on 20 February 1523;{{harvnb|Daybell|2008}}. she is likely buried in the Grey Friars' Church in London.{{harvnb|Harrison|1891|p=260}} notes: Stow, Chronicle, p. 517; Grey Friars' Chronicle, Camd. Soc., ed. Nichols, pp. 43, 100, where the attempts at identification are hopelessly wrong; Antiquary, ii. 233.An inventory of Agnes' goods, taken after her trial, is printed in "Archæologia", vol. 38, pp. 353 et.seq {{harv|Harrison|1891|pp=259, 260}}
After she died, Agnes' family left her out of documents such as genealogies due to her notoriety.
Notes
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References
- {{Cite ODNB |last=Daybell |first=James|date=3 January 2008 |title=Hungerford [other married name Cotell], Agnes, Lady Hungerford (d. 1523), murderer |id=14169}}
- {{Cite web |last=Kightly |first=Charles |year=2019 |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/farleigh-hungerford-castle/history/|title=History of Farleigh Hungerford Castle|website=English Heritage |access-date=27 June 2019}}
Attribution:
- {{DNB|first=William Jerome |last=Harrison |wstitle=Hungerford, Walter (1503-1540)|volume=28|pages=259–261}} Endnotes
Further reading
- {{Cite ODNB|ref=none |last=Ashton |first=D. J. |date=January 2008 |orig-date=2004 |title=Hungerford, Walter, Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury |id=14183}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hungerford, Edward}}
Category:Year of birth missing
Category:English people convicted of murder
Category:British female murderers