Lady Katherine Ferrers

Lady Katherine Fanshaw (née Ferrers) (4 May, 1634 - c.13 June, 1660) was, according to popular legend, the "Wicked Lady", a highwaywoman who terrorised Nomansland common in the English county of Hertfordshire in the 17th century before bleeding to death from wounds sustained during a robbery.

The legend

The legend is fairly well summarised on a number of internet sites, such as [http://www.hemelonline.com/local_history/highwaymen.html this one] , often told with an emphasis on hauntings by Katherine's ghost. According to the legend, the well-bred Katherine was forced into a marriage at a young age, and her husband, who was often away at war or imprisoned, had sold off most of the family estates. Katherine came into highway robbery with her accomplice (and, some say, lover), Ralph Chaplin, but was shot during a robbery and later died of the wounds. The story holds that she now haunts Nomansland common and/or the ancestral family home at Markyate. Children growing up in this area the have always sung a rhyme "In the Cell there be a well, by the well there be a tree, under the tree the treasure be".

Historical evidence

There is little dispute that the "Wicked Lady" did exist. Apart from robbery, a catalogue of mayhem which occurred during the period is also attributed to this well-bred woman turned to a life of crime; burning houses, slaughtering livestock, even killing a policeman (although policemen as they are understood today, did not arrive in England until two centuries later). Much of the supposed activity might be blamed on bands of brigands and the unrest relating to the war that raged about, but it is suggested that the mayhem and the robberies ceased with the death of the highwaywoman. [As suggested in this [http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/nostalgia/casebook/display.var.46459.0.katherine_ferrers_the_wicked_lady.php Article] , although the article does not cite primary sources for this contention]

However, although the local legend has assumed a level of authority with the passage of time, there is actually very little evidence to suggest that Katherine Ferrers was in fact the notorious highwaywoman. An article written by John Barber [ [http://www.johnbarber.com/wickedlady.html] in 2002 argues that it is improbable. However, much of the life and death of Katherine Ferrers remains shrouded in mystery, and no other credible candidate has ever been put forward as the "Wicked Lady". [ It has been half-heartedly suggested that Katherine's mother, Katherine Walter (in some accounts, spelled "Catherine"), might have been the highwaywoman, but the dates do not appear to tally. Katherine Walter married the uncle of her daughter's husband, and thus both women came to use the name Katherine Fanshaw. Another name that has been suggested is that of Anne Fanshaw, sister-in-law to Katherine Ferrers.]

What is known about Katherine Ferrers is that she was born into a wealthy family, the Ferrers, that by the time she was six years old, both her father and her grandfather had died (in that order), and that she was the sole heir to the fortune. Her mother, Catherine, died just two years later, in 1642, after marrying Simon Fanshaw. When the younger Katherine was not quite fourteen years old, Simon Fanshaw arranged for her to marry his nephew, Thomas Fanshaw (who was sixteen at the time). The Fanshaws were also a very wealthy family, and their estates covered much the same geographical region as the Ferrers. Both families being loyal to the crown and Protestant, a union seemed fitting, despite the inference of a young girl being forced to marry by her stepfather in order to secure greater claim to her inheritance.

Was she the "Wicked Lady"?

Support for Katherine being the "Wicked Lady" is largely circumstantial. Katherine did live during the English Civil War, and being from a Royalist family and marrying into another Royalist family, times were desperate, and throughout her short life Katherine would have watched both families' fortunes, and numerous young members of the families, slowly being lost. During that era many young gentlemen, and more than a few well bred ladies, [See for example James MacLaine, George Lyons, Richard Ferguson, Tom King, Claude Duval, John Nevison, William Plunkett, John Rann, etc. Of course, many of these may not have actually been gentlemen, and may be a romanticised portrayal (see generally: Representations of highwaymen in popular culture).] took to highway robbery as a means of preserving their dwindling estates, so it is certainly not a leap of fantasy to suggest that Katherine Ferrers may have put on a mask and ridden out at night as an armed robber.

Similarly, the circumstances of Katherine's early death (the precise date of her death is not known, only her burial) have fuelled speculation. According to the legend of the Wicked Lady, the highwaywoman was shot and wounded, and died near her home in Markyate, but her servants recovered her body and she was carried home to be buried. The actual cause of Katherine's death is not recorded (which, some speculate, one would expect if she had been shot during the course of highway robbery), and the most obvious other cause, childbirth, would appear to be ruled out as she is not recorded to have given birth to any children. It is frequently implied that as she had not become pregnant during the 12 years of her marriage to Thomas Fanshaw, either he or she must have been infertile (although he was also frequently away from home fighting). [Some have suggested that she did die in childbirth, as a Register from Ayot St Lawrence, close to Ware, records the burial on 22 November 1660 of a "Mrs Marie Fanshawe [sic] , daughter of Sir Thomas Fanshaw" (the name of Katherine's husband). However, it is difficult to see how a daughter could marry at the age of 5 months, and at the time of the entry, Katherine's husband had not been knighted. No other Sir Thomas Fanshaw (of Fanshawe) is known to have lived nearby, and at the very least, the entry appears to show how unreliable Parish records were. But it is difficult to accept as evidence that Katherine gave birth to a child.]

But it must be remembered that the key events did take place at a time and in a place where a bloody civil war was raging. Accordingly, Parish records, never the most reliable of documents from that era, are even more liable to be incomplete during a time of conflict.

However, those who seek to exonerate Katherine Ferrers of banditry using the historical record have also encountered difficulty.

It is suggested that the Wicked Lady was supposed to be preying upon travellers on the common from a base in Markyate and that this is where the Wicked Lady returned after being shot. But it appears the family property at Markyate had already been sold, and historical records support this contention. [See the article by John Barber] However, Markyate is not especially close to Nomansland common, and the alternative mooted, a hideout in Gustard Wood (just north of Wheathampstead), seems much more likely from a purely geographical standpoint. Whilst this certainly indicates an inconsistency with the parts of the legend, it is hardly proof of innocence.

Similarly, it is pointed out that the alleged accomplice of the Wicked Lady, Ralph Chaplin, was actually caught on Finchley Common (over 20 miles from Nomansland common, an unrealistic distance to cover twice in one night on 17th century roads and leave any time for robbery), and was hanged. However, whilst demonstrating that the alleged accomplice of the Wicked Lady seems unlikely (or perhaps, it is unlikely he was still her accomplice when he was finally caught) given the location of his last, unsuccessful, attempt at robbery, that discovery sheds little light on who the Wicked Lady really was (accomplice or no accomplice).

It has also been suggested on behalf of Katherine Ferrers that the nomer, "Wicked" came to be applied to her by misnomer, either by confusing her with the (unrelated) "Wicked" Lord Ferrers who was hanged in 1688 for being Catholic. [John Barber's article refers to the Lord Ferrers who was hanged for his religion, but searches of the lineage of both Earl Ferrers and Baron Ferrers do not appear to indicate anyone of that title dying in 1688.] [Katherine Ferrers was in fact Protestant, and in the last year before her death her husband was actually imprisoned for being implicated in a Presbyterian rebellion in the north of England] Another possible misnomer is attributed to Earl Ferrers who was hanged at Tyburn in 1760 for the murder of a manservant. He too came to be known afterwards as 'Wicked Lord Ferrers'. It has also been suggested that the moniker "Wicked" could have been applied to Katherine solely because she allowed the family estates to fall into ruin, although as it was her husband who either sold off (or had sequestered) most of the family assets, and as a wife in 17th century England she would be powerless to stop him, that is probably an uncharitable view.

Both sides have tried to argue that the manner of Katherine's burial suggests that either she was, [The Watford Observer, in an article, postulated that out of shame was not interred in the Ferrers family tomb] or was not, [In choosing Ware, rather at the Fanshaw family vault in Dronfield, as her final resting place and being buried there by the family Katherine was said to have been "given the same respect as other members of the family", including at a later time her husband Thomas, and this would be inconsistent with having led a life of crime and mayhem] the infamous highwaywoman.

The problem with the arguments marshalled against Katherine being the Wicked Lady is that they assume that an absence of evidence proving Katherine to be the highwaywoman proves her innocence. Whilst that might be true in a court of law, in interpreting vague and limited historical evidence, the absence of positive proof is not the same as proof of a negative. The strongest argument in favour of the theory that Katherine Ferrers was the Wicked Lady is that for nearly 400 years she was believed to be so, and that even if the original evidence upon which those beliefs rested is now lost, it is probable that the origins of that belief had much more substantial foundations.

ummary

Stories of 17th century highwaymen and women have become shrouded in romance and legend such that fact is very difficult to pick from fiction after nearly four centuries. However, clearly some lady, who was presumably thought to be well bred, preyed upon travellers on Nomansland common. In all probability, it will never be known whether the legends are true.

References

* [http://www.johnbarber.com/wickedlady.html John Barber's article]

* [http://www.hemelonline.com/local_history/highwaymen.html The Legend of the "Wicked Lady"]

* [http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/data/answers/answers-2001/ans-0021-wickedlady.htm Marian Gilchrist's article]

* [http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/nostalgia/casebook/display.var.46459.0.katherine_ferrers_the_wicked_lady.php "Watford Observer" article]

* [http://www.earlymodernweb.org.uk/emn/index.php/archives/2004/10/from-the-dnb-an-upper-class-highwaywoman/ Early Modern Notes]

Footnotes