Hungerford Arcade has many regular worldwide visitors. On this particular day, an American customer, William R Hungerford came into the Arcade with his lovely wife and said that they have been waiting to come here for a very long time and were very excited to have finally arrived.
William R. Hungerford with manager, Rita at Hungerford Arcade, Hungerford, Berkshire, England
William is from Kansas, USA and can trace his family back to the 11th century when the first of the Hungerford’s, William and Thomas having lived in Hungerford, England emigrated to the USA and built the town of Hungerford in Texas.
Sir Thomas Hungerford of Rowden (died 1469), the eldest son of Robert Hungerford, 3rd Baron Hungerford, lived chiefly at Rowden, near Chippenham, Wiltshire. After giving some support to Edward IV and the Yorkists, he joined in Warwick’s conspiracy to restore Henry VI in 1469, was attainted, and was executed at Salisbury, Wiltshire. He was buried in the chapel of Farleigh Castle.
Thomas Cromwell was captured and condemned to death without trial for treason and other crimes. Following him to the scaffold was Sir Walter Hungerford. Both were beheaded on 28th July 1540.
Sir Thomas and Lady Joan Hungerford are buried in Westminster Abbey.
This is a very brief history of the highly influential Hungerford family, but you can find out a lot more about them on line. When I first went in to research the Hungerfords, I was overwhelmed by what I found historically. Unfortunately, it would take more time than I have to follow them through history, although I will certainly do this when time permits.
Having said that, the Hungerfords are thriving in the USA and are very influential. Thank you William for coming to the Arcade and sharing your ancestors with us. Rita
