Born Hugh Cook, he adopted the surname of Faringdon when he became a
monk, sometime before 1500. The use of this surname suggests that he came from
Faringdon, a town some northwest of Reading. However, it is also significant that he subsequently used the
arms of the Cook family of
Kent, suggesting that he had connections there. He is believed to have been educated within the abbey, and later served as the
sub-cellarer of the abbey. Hugh Faringdon was elected Abbot of Reading Abbey in 1520, upon the death of Abbot Thomas Worcester. As well as his spiritual duties, he also took up the civil duties expected at that time of a
mitred abbot, being appointed as
Justice of the Peace and to various governmental Commissions for
Berkshire from 1526 to 1538. When the king was hunting in the neighborhood, the abbot would take the opportunity of sending him presents of Kennet trout or hunting knives. Faringdon seems to have taken the king's side during the divorce controversy. While Henry was seeking authorities to support his views on matrimonial law, Faringdon sent him books he believed would serve that purpose. He sat in
Parliament from 1523 to 1539 and, in 1530, he signed, with other members of the
House of Lords, a letter to the
Pope pointing out the evils likely to result from delaying the divorce desired by the King; and, again in 1536, he signed the Articles of Faith drawn up in Convocation which virtually acknowledged the
supremacy of the Crown over the Church. On Sunday, 4 November 1537, he sang the requiem and dirge for Queen
Jane Seymour at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and was present at the burial on 12 November. As late as March 1538, he was in favour, being placed in the commission of the peace for Berkshire. As a mitred abbot, he was entitled to be tried by Parliament, but no scruples troubled the
chancellor,
Thomas Cromwell. His death sentence was therefore passed before his trial began. Along with John Rugg, a known associate, and
John Eynon, the
priest of
St Giles' Church in Reading, he was found guilty and
hanged, drawn and quartered before the inner Abbey
gatehouse on 14 November 1539. John Rugg had been charged with taking and concealing one of the Abbey's celebrated relics, being the purported hand of St. Anastasius. The monks of Reading, not under suspicion of complicity in the Abbot's alleged treason, were given pensions normally set upon monks and nuns at the dissolution of their monasteries. ==Legacy==