Hereward the Wake

Hereward the Wake (c. 1035 – 1072), soldier, probably b. Lincolnshire, England.

After the Battle of Hastings, King William I sent out his armies to subdue all England. In Cambridgeshire they were defied by a group of rebels led by Hereward the Wake.

After defeating a force of Normans, Hereward's men destroyed the city of Peterborough.

In 1070-71, they held the Isle of Ely against the Normans but were at length defeated.

Somehow Hereward escaped and no one knows what happened to him afterwards.

Charles Kingsley made up a famous adventure story about him called Hereward the Wake.

See Hebe Weenolsen The last Englishman