William Calcraft, the most notorious hangman of the 19th century, was born in Little Baddow. Charles Dickens, on witnessing many of Calcraft's public executions, remarked that Calcraft should refrain from drinking brandy and cracking jokes while on the scaffold. Calcraft often failed to calculate the right length of rope required for each job and sometimes had to pull on the legs of the victim to finish them off.
John Attwood, a 19th-century politician, was a former owner of Hylands House. He lost his Harwich seat in Parliament after it was discovered he had paid electors cash for their votes. One of his ploys was to offer free boat rides to voters of his opponents. The vessels would be 'accidentally' diverted out to sea and, with the wind and tide against them, they were not able to make it back until after the polling station had closed. Attwood spent most of his money on enlarging Hylands House, but after losing his seat and getting into debt, was forced to part with it.
Lord Chancellor Richard Rich was voted the worst Briton of the 16th century in a BBC poll. Rich, who lived at Leez Priory, near Felsted, was responsible for many acts of treachery and evil. Most infamously, he lied at the trial of Sir Thomas More, which resulted in More's execution.
In 1566, Agnes Waterhouse, of Hatfield Peverel, became the first person in England to be hanged following a trial for witchcraft. She stood trial at Chelmsford. It is said Agnes gave a friend a cake in return for a cat with supernatural powers which she used to bump off a neighbour.
Before becoming queen, Mary Tudor, better known as 'Bloody Mary', was 'imprisoned' at what is now New Hall School, once one of the Essex palaces of her father, Henry VIII. He sent her there while he attempted to end his marriage with her mother, Catherine of Aragon. The bitter Mary certainly took her wrath out on the people of Essex when she took to the throne. During her reign, some 300 Protestants were executed, 70 of whom hailed from Essex, more than any other county in England.
John Gates, a former owner of Beeleigh Abbey, near Maldon, was among the conspirators who attempted to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne. He paid the ultimate price for his decision to support the Protestant cause and was beheaded after being convicted of treason.
