The Wicked Lady?

Opinion is divided as to whether Katherine Ferrers deserved her name of the Wicked Lady, was she a notorious Highwaywoman as legend would have it or has the legend got it wrong?

The legend reads like a piece of romantic fiction. Katherine was born to the wealthy Ferrers family at Markyate Cell, a Tudor mansion built by Humphrey Bourchier on the site of St Trinity-in-the-Wood, a twelfth century priory. In 1640 her father, Sir Knighton, died leaving a six year old Katherine in the charge of her mother, Lady Katherine, and his sole heir. Lady Katherine soon remarried and they moved to Ware Park. This was during the time of the Civil War and Katherine’s husband, Sir Simon Fanshawe, a Royalist, was soon on the run. Lady Katherine and her daughter took refuge with Lady Bedell in Huntingdonshire where they remained until Katherine was married to Sir Simon’s son Thomas. Thomas was sixteen and Katherine was twelve and it was done so that Sir Simon could get his hands on her money. Though married they lived separately with Katherine remaining with her mother and Thomas returning to his family’s estate in Ireland.

A few years later her mother and Lady Bedell both died leaving Katherine alone. She was ignored by her husband’s family so she returned to Markyate Cell, her former home. At that time it was not unusual for the younger sons of good families to turn to highway robbery as a means of obtaining an income. It seems that Katherine, now alone, did the same but she ‘took to highway robbery for the sheer love of adventure and the exercise of manly attributes’. Dressed in buckskin breeches, a riding cloak, tri-cornered hat and mask she would hold up the coaches travelling the roads of Hertfordshire, returning to a concealed room built into the kitchen chimney. She had the reputation of being merciless shooting anyone who resisted. Katherine met up with Ralph Chaplin who was a farmer turned highwayman and some say it was he who introduced Katherine to a life of crime. Chaplin did not live long as he was shot dead during a robbery on Finchley Common. Katherine was distraught and is it said that her crimes became more violent including arson and murder. Houses in the area were set on fire, farm animals were slaughtered and the parish constable at Caddington was shot dead on his own doorstep.

Katherine met her end when she was still only in her mid twenties. Trying to rob a wagon on Nomansland Common she shot the driver but was then shot herself as she was unaware that the driver was giving a lift to two men in the back of his wagon. Mortally wounded Katherine fled back to Markyate Cell and died at the entrance to her secret room. Her black horse was found roaming the grounds and her highwayman gear identified her as the one who had been terrorising the area. She was buried in secret on 13th June 1660 at St Mary’s church, Ware. People believe that her ill-gotten treasure was buried somewhere on the grounds of Markyate Cell as given in a rhyme:

Such is the legend but what of reality? Katherine was born on 4th May 1634 during the time of the civil war. Her father died in April 1640 followed shortly by her grandfather Sir George Ferrers. As there was no other heir the courts appointed her as the sole heir to her grandfather’s estate when she was just six years old. Her mother died in 1642 after marrying Sir Simon Fanshawe in September of 1640. Katherine was made a ward of court for a payment of £1200 by Simon’s brother Richard Fanshawe and his wife Ann. Katherine was then sent to live with Lady Bedell in Huntingdonshire.

Both the Ferrers and the Fanshawes were rich landowners who declared for the King during the Civil war. In June 1570 Thomas Fanshawe purchased Ware Park from the widow of the Earl of Huntingdon. Thomas and Richard Fanshawe fought for the King and were imprisoned at various times. In 1643 the Sequestration Act was passed which allowed estates of known Royalists to be seized by Parliament, Ware Park was one such property.

The Royalist army was heavily dependant of contributions from loyal subjects as well as other, not so legal means, of raising cash. The Fanshawes contributed heavily to King Charles so when Katherine became of age a marriage between neighbouring families seemed a godsend. It seems that Simon arranged the marriage between his step-daughter Katherine, one month short of her fourteenth birthday, and his nephew Thomas, then sixteen. At that time both families were close to dying out due to lack of male heirs so young men were encouraged to marry young and have children.

They were married in April 1648 and went to live at Markyate. Shortly after the marriage the Ferrers family land was converted into cash. By then much of the Royalist property had been sequestered but Markyate Cell survived. In 1657 Markyate Cell was sold to Thomas Coppin but this was the time when Katherine was supposed to have been terrorising the countryside, if so where was she living? In 1661 Thomas had to dispose of property eventually selling War Park in 1669.

In 1658 George Booth started a Presbyterian uprising in the north and Thomas was implicated and imprisoned in 1659 being released in February 1660.

According to church records Thomas was living at Ware Park on the 12th July 1655 and as the Ferrers family home at Markyate Cell had been sold it is likely that Katherine was also living at Ware Park.

Katherine Ferrers was buried on 13th June 1660 at Ware. Ann Fanshawes memoirs state that the Fanshawe family vault was in the village church at Dronfield, Derbyshire but the family were buried at Ware. This being the case if Katherine was buried at Ware she was given the same consideration as other members of the Fanshawe family. How Katherine died is unknown. At the age of twenty six she was childless which would have caused great distress to the Fanshawes as there was no heir. When Katherine died so did the Ferrers family and within one year Thomas had disposed of most of her property. Much of the land had been given to the Ferrers family by Edward VI so the locals would have been angry at the disposal of the property, could this have earned her the nickname ‘wicked’.

Ralph Chaplin appears nowhere except in the legend. No record of him has been found anywhere in Hertfordshire. He was allegedly captured on Finchley Common in London and hanged on the spot, conveniently far away so as to avoid appearing in Hertfordshire records. During the years in the middle of the seventeenth century highway robbery was the pursuit of gentlemen, honourable thieves, well mannered. The Fanshawes were desperate to raise cash and tales of underhanded methods were attributed to them.

A ballad exists entitled ‘Maude of Allinghame’ which tells the story of the daughter of a wealthy family who is courted by numerous eligible bachelors but she rejects them all. She is said to have robbed one of them on his way home (a young lord who was later to become Mayor of Redbourn) is hunted down and shot but she still reaches home where she dies. This ballad is very close to the story of Katherine except Katherine was married. The tale is closer to Anne, the surviving daughter of Thomas Fanshawe senior and his first wife Ann who was the daughter of Sir Giles Alington. Another piece of history regards a different Ferrers family. In 1760 Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl of Ferrers, was hanged at Tyburn for murdering a servant. He was known afterwards as ‘Wicked Lord Ferrers’. Katherine retained the name of Lady Ferrers even when she was married so could it just be a slip of the tongue, Wicked Lord to Wicked Lady? Lord Ferrers was a Roman Catholic whilst Katherine's family were Protestant, could history have tarred her branch of the family with the same brush, the wicked Lady Ferrers?

There is no evidence to connect Katherine with highway robbery, she was just unfortunate to live at a time of great civil unrest when family fortunes were lost and families ruined.