In the Shadow of the Noose · Mad Earl Ferrers · The Last English Nobleman Hanged for Murder

IT WAS THE trial of the century… an English aristocrat, haughty and proud, stood in the shadow of the noose – brought low by a terrible act of vengeance.

In the dock was Earl Ferrers; a violent, eccentric but hugely-rich landowner, with vast estates, a noble pedigree, and an eye for the ladies.The charge: murder.

Ferrers had had a troubled marriage to his wife, the beautiful Countess Mary. He kept a mistress, by whom he fathered four children, and was a rabble-rousing drunk, much given to violence and cruelty when under the influence of alcohol.

Mary finally left him, after succeeding in a scandalous suit of separation at the church court in London.

The Earl believed – wrongly – that a servant called John Johnson had helped his wife to escape his clutches amd had held a simmering grudge against Johnson ever since.

On January 18, 1760, this well of resentment overflowed.

He lured the unfortunate man to the study in his grand Hall under a pretext… and then locked the door, forced the terrified man to his knees and shot him.

Now he was on trial for his life…