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Sir Walter Hungerford, Knight of Farley (died December 1596) was an English
landowner. In his lifetime he was popularly referred to as the "Knight of Farley" for his renowned sporting abilities. In his youth he recovered the lands forfeited by his father's attainder, and was favoured by
Queen Mary, whose
Maid of Honour
A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts.
Role
Traditionally, a queen r ...
,
Anne Basset, was his first wife. In 1568, he sued his second wife,
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
(née Dormer), for divorce. He failed to prove the scandalous grounds he alleged against her, but chose to be imprisoned in the Fleet rather than support his wife or pay the costs awarded against him by the court.
Biography
Walter Hungerford was the only son of
Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury
Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury (1503 – 28 July 1540), was created Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury in 1536.
Biography
Walter Hungerford was born in 1503 at Heytesbury, Wiltshire, the only child of Sir Edward Hungerford ...
, and his first wife, Susan Danvers, daughter of Sir John Danvers of
Dauntsey
Dauntsey is a small village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. It gives its name to the Dauntsey Vale in which it lies and takes its name from Saxon for Dantes- eig, or Dante's island. It is set on slightly higher ground in t ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, by the heiress Anne Stradling.
Hungerford succeeded his father on 28 July 1540. By an Act of Parliament in 1542 he was restored in blood, but did not immediately regain his father's title and lands. He was granted land by
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
in 1552, and, in 1554,
Queen Mary granted him the confiscated estate of
Farleigh Hungerford
Farleigh Hungerford () is a village within the civil parish of Norton St Philip in the Mendip District, Mendip district, in Somerset, England, 9 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset, Bath, 3½ miles west of Trowbridge on A366 road, A366, between Trow ...
, in Somerset, when the
attainder
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...
on his father was reversed. He was knighted in the same year.
He was
Sheriff of Wiltshire
This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire.
Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held '' ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle.
On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...
in 1557, 1572, 1581 and 1587.
Hungerford excelled at field sports, and "was present at the first recorded horse race in Wiltshire in 1585".
In 1568, he sued his second wife for divorce, alleging that she had tried to poison him some years earlier, and that she had committed adultery with
William Darrell of Littlecote, Wiltshire, and had had a child by him. Hungerford failed to prove the allegations in court, and subsequently spent three years in the
Fleet Prison for his refusal to support his wife or to pay the £250 in costs awarded against him in the divorce suit. Two letters from Lady Hungerford, written in 1570, speak of her impoverished circumstances.
Through the offices of the
Earl of Leicester
Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837.
Early creations ...
, Lady Hungerford obtained licence in 1571 to visit her dying grandmother, Jane Dormer (née Newdigate), who was living in the English Catholic community at
Louvain
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...
. She never returned to England. On 29 March 1586, she wrote from
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Namu ...
to
Sir Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster".
Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...
, requesting that he protect her daughters from Hungerford's attempts to disinherit them.
In his will, dated 14 November 1595, Hungerford left two farms to his mistress, Margery Bright, and the residue of his estate to his half brother, Sir
Edward Hungerford, with remainder to the male heirs of "any woman" he should "afterwards marry". Hungerford died in December 1596, and was succeeded by his half brother, whom Hungerford's widow, Anne, and his mistress, Margery Bright, both sued for
dower
Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law.
...
. Lady Hungerford was granted a ''generous'' dower, and died at Louvain in 1603.
Two portraits of Hungerford are shown as engravings in
Sir Richard Hoare's ''Modern Wiltshire, Heytesbury Hundred''; both were owned in Hoare's time by Richard Pollen, esquire, of
Rodbourne
Rodbourne is a suburb of Swindon in Wiltshire, England, north of the town centre and about northwest of Swindon railway station. It includes an area formerly called Even Swindon.
Northern area
Land to the north of the Wilts and Berks Canal a ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. In the earlier portrait, dated 1560, Hungerford is depicted in full armour, 'and about him are all the appliances of hunting and hawking, in which the inscription on the picture states that he excelled'. The later portrait, dated 1574, shows him with a hawk on his wrist.
Family
Hungerford married firstly
Anne Bassett
Anne Basset (1520 – before 1558) was an English lady-in-waiting of the Tudor period, reputed to have been the mistress of King Henry VIII.
Biography
Anne was born in 1520, the fourth child of Sir John Basset and Honor Grenville (daughter of ...
,
Maid of Honour
A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts.
Role
Traditionally, a queen r ...
to
Queen Mary, and daughter of Sir John Bassett of
Umberleigh
Umberleigh is a former large manor within the historic hundred of (North) Tawton, but today a small village in North Devon in England. It used to be an ecclesiastical parish, but following the building of the church at Atherington it becam ...
,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. On 11 June 1554 Robert Swyfte reported the wedding in a letter to
Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury
Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury, 5th Earl of Waterford, 11th Baron Talbot, KG (1500 – 25 September 1560) was the son of George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, and Anne Hastings. He also held the subsidiary titles of 14th Baron Strange o ...
, as having taken place "on Thursday last...at which day the Queen shewed herself very pleasant, commanding all mirth and pastime". There were two children of the marriage, who both died without issue.
He married secondly, by 5 May 1558,
Anne Dormer, sister of
Jane Dormer
Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (6 January 1538 – 13 January 1612) was an English lady-in-waiting to Mary I who, after the Queen's death, married Gómez Suárez de Figueroa y Córdoba, 1st Duke of Feria and went to live in Spain, where she woul ...
, and elder daughter of
Sir William Dormer by his first wife, Mary Sidney, daughter of
Sir William Sidney
Sir William Sidney (1482?–1554) was an English courtier under Henry VIII and Edward VI.
Life
He was eldest son of Nicholas Sidney, by Anne, sister of William Brandon (standard-bearer), Sir William Brandon. In 1511 he accompanied Thomas Darcy, ...
,
[Ashton states that Hungerford's second wife was the ''daughter'' of ]Jane Dormer
Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (6 January 1538 – 13 January 1612) was an English lady-in-waiting to Mary I who, after the Queen's death, married Gómez Suárez de Figueroa y Córdoba, 1st Duke of Feria and went to live in Spain, where she woul ...
. by whom he had a son and three daughters:
*Edmund Hungerford, who died in December 1585 without issue.
*Susan Hungerford, who married firstly
Michael Ernley of
Bishops Cannings
Bishops Cannings is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, England, north-east of Devizes. The parish includes the village of Coate (not to be confused with Coate, Swindon) and the hamlets of Bourton, Horton and Little Ho ...
, Wiltshire, secondly John Moring, and thirdly Sir Carew Reynolds.
*Lucy Hungerford, who married firstly Sir John St. John of
Lydiard Tregoze
Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, in the south-west of England. It has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze and in many other ways.
The parish includes the small ...
, by whom she had a daughter, Barbara St John, who married
Sir Edward Villiers and was the mother of
William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison
William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison (1614 – 23 September 1643) was an Irish peer and Royalist soldier who was fatally wounded during the First English Civil War in 1643.
Personal details
William Villiers was born in 1614, eldest son ...
and the grandmother of
Barbara Villiers
Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine (née Barbara Villiers, – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of Eng ...
. Barbara St John married secondly
Sir Anthony Hungerford, of Black Bourton.
*Jane Hungerford, who married Sir John Carne of
Ewenny
Ewenny ( cy, Ewenni) is a village and community (parish) on the River Ewenny in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
Over the years the village has grown into the neighbouring village of Corntown to such an extent that there is no longer a clear boundar ...
, Glamorganshire.
Hungerford also had mistress, Margery Bright, by whom he had two sons and a daughter born during his lifetime, as well as a posthumous son. Hungerford married Margery Bright after making his will, having heard rumours that his wife was dead.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
;Attribution
* Endnotes:
**Dugdale's ''Baronage'';
**Burke's ''Extinct Peerage'';
**Hoare's ''Hungerfordiana or, Memoirs of the Family of Hungerford'', 1823;
**Jackson's ''Guide to Farleigh-Hungerford, 1853, and Sheriffs of Wiltshire'';
**Burnet's ''Hist. of Reformation'', i. 566–7;
**Hall's ''Society in the Elizabethan Age'';
**;
**Brewer and Gairdner's ''Letters and Papers of Henry VIII'';
**''Antiquary'', ii. 233.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hungerford, Walter
1590s deaths
16th-century English people
English knights
Walter
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
High Sheriffs of Wiltshire
Year of birth unknown
Knights Bachelor