Charles Stourton, 8th Baron Stourton

A Wiltshire resident, he was asked for help by Mary Tudor in the succession crisis of 1553, but hesitated in supporting her until her victory was clear.

The legal difficulties and family quarrels caused by his father's affair with Agnes Rice, and his decision to disinherit his children, may to some extent explain Charles's violent temper, although lawsuits over property were then an everyday part of life among the English landed classes.

Stourton had been most reluctant to plead to the indictment, until he was reminded by the judges that he faced the horrific penalty of peine forte et dure (being pressed to death under heavy stones) if he did not.

As not infrequently happened in that age, the feud degenerated into a private war, eventually requiring the intervention of Star Chamber.

On the pretext of arranging a meeting to pay them the money, Stourton ambushed the Hartgills at Kilmington church, kidnapped them and had them brought to his house, where after being imprisoned for a time they had their throats cut.