Editing Hungerford (section)

== History ==
[[File:Hungerford, Kennet and Avon Canal - geograph.org.uk - 6289.jpg|thumb|Narrowboat on the [[Kennet and Avon Canal]]]]
[[File:Hungerford Common - geograph.org.uk - 6294.jpg|thumb|Hungerford Common]]
[[File:Johnofgaunt.jpg|thumb|upright|[[John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster|John of Gaunt]]]]

Hungerford is derived from an [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]] name meaning "[[Ford (crossing)|ford]] leading to poor land".<ref>{{cite book|last=Mills|first=A.D.|title=Dictionary of English Place-Names|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1991|isbn= 0-19-869156-4}}</ref> The town's symbol is the [[estoile]] and crescent moon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk/index.php/10-themes/272-crescent-and-star|title=Crescent and Star|publisher=Hungerford Virtual Museum|access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref> The place is not described in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 because four ancient manors each owned some property within Hungerford, a possession located at the extreme western edge of the royal manor of Kintbury,<ref name=HVMmh>[https://www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk/?view=article&id=716:manorial-history&catid=10:themes Manorial History]. Hungerford Virtual Museum. Accessed 5 April 2023.</ref> in the ancient [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] of [[List of hundreds of England|Kintbury]].<ref>[https://opendomesday.org/hundred/kintbury/ Open Domesday: Hundred of Kintbury]. Accessed 5 April 2023.</ref> The manor of Standen Hussey, described as Standen in Wiltshire in Domesday,<ref>[https://opendomesday.org/place/SU3053/standen/ Open Domesday: Standen (Land of Arnulf of Hesdin)]. Accessed 5 April 2023.</ref> was later in Hungerford parish.<ref name=BHOkh>[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol16/pp3-7 Kinwardstone Hundred]. British History Online. Accessed 5 April 2023.</ref> The land was granted to [[Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester]]. When he died in 1118, he passed his English estates, including Hungerford, to his son Robert and his heirs who encouraged the town's growth over the next 70 years.<ref name=HVMmh/>

By 1241, Hungerford called itself a [[borough]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title='Parishes: Hungerford', in A History of the County of Berkshire|volume=4|first1=William |last1=Page |first2= P. H. |last2=Ditchfield |location=London|year= 1924|pages=183–200|publisher=British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp183-200 |access-date= 26 December 2020}}</ref> In the late 14th century, [[John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster|John of Gaunt]] was [[lord of the manor]] and he granted the people the lucrative fishing rights on the River Kennet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/advice/propertymarket/3337926/Live-like-common-people.html|title=Live Like Common People|publisher=The Telegraph|date=22 December 2004|access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref> The family of [[Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford]] originated in the town (c. 1450), although after three generations the title passed to [[Thomas Hungerford of Rowden|Baroness Hungerford]] who married Sir [[Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings|Edward Hastings]] who became a Baron,<ref>{{Cite book |title = Testamenta Vetusta|last = Nicolas|first = Nicholas Harris|location = London|publisher = Nicholas and Son|year = 1826|volume = II|pages= 372, 431}}</ref> and the family seat moved to [[Heytesbury]], [[Wiltshire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/115|title=Heytesbury|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=24 March 2017}}</ref> In the 16th century, the parish of Hungerford was included in the formation of the hundred of Kintbury Eagle.<ref>[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp156-157 Kintbury Eagle hundred]. British History Online. Accessed 5 April 2023.</ref>

During the [[English Civil War|Civil War]], the [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex|Earl of Essex]] and his army spent the night here in June 1644. In October of the same year, the [[Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester|Earl of Manchester]]’s cavalry were quartered in the town. Then, in the November, [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]’s forces arrived in Hungerford on their way to [[Abingdon, Oxfordshire|Abingdon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk/index.php/links/9-events/21-1642-51-civil-war|title=1642-51 Civil War|publisher=Hungerford Virtual Museum|access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref> During the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688, [[William III of England|William of Orange]] was offered [[the Crown]] of [[England]] while staying at the Bear Inn in Hungerford.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/reading_broadst.html|title=The Battle of Broad Street|publisher=Berkshire History|access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref> The Hungerford land south of the river Kennet was for centuries, until a widespread growth in cultivation in the area in the 18th century, in [[Savernake Forest]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pennypost.org.uk/2020/05/a-brief-history-of-hungerford-park/|title=A Brief History of Hungerford Park|publisher=Penny Post|access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref>

===1987 Massacre===
{{main|Hungerford massacre}}
The Hungerford massacre occurred on 19 August 1987. A 27-year-old [[unemployment in the United Kingdom|unemployed]] local labourer, Michael Robert Ryan, armed with three weapons, a [[Type 56 assault rifle]], a [[Beretta]] [[pistol]] and an [[M1 carbine]], shot and killed 16 people in and around the town – including his mother – and wounded 15 others, then [[suicide in the United Kingdom|killed himself]] in a local school after being surrounded by armed police. All his victims were shot in the town or in nearby [[Savernake Forest]].<ref>''Mass Murderers'' {{ISBN|0-7835-0004-1}} p. 169</ref>

[[Home Secretary]] [[Douglas Hurd]] commissioned a report on the massacre from the Chief Constable of [[Thames Valley Police]], Colin Smith. The massacre was one of three significant firearms atrocities in the [[United Kingdom]] after the invention of rapid fire weapons such as the one involved, the other two being the [[Dunblane massacre]] and the [[Cumbria shootings]]. It led to the passing of the [[Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988]], which banned the ownership of [[semi-automatic rifle|semi-automatic]] centre-fire [[rifles]], and restricted the use of shotguns with a [[magazine (firearms)|magazine]] capacity of more than two rounds. The Hungerford Report confirmed that Ryan's collection of weapons was legally licensed.<ref>[http://members.aol.com/gunbancon/Frames/Hungerford.html The Hungerford Report – Shooting Incidents At Hungerford On 19 August 1987, Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police Colin Smith to Home Secretary Douglas Hurd]. Retrieved 24 August 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050122075928/http://members.aol.com/gunbancon/Frames/Hungerford.html |date=22 January 2005 }}</ref>