Samuel Herbert Dougal, a notorious womanising convicted forger, was a soldier who used his medal-winning administrative skills to ill effect. He married three times, and the first two wives died in suspicious circumstances. Dougal spent little time before replacing them in other relationships where he sired numerous illegitimate children in addition to his legitimate progeny. Dougal's downfall came soon after a servant of his sought an affiliation order for the child she had borne him. The scrutiny from the court process revealed that the woman he had been living with was not in fact married to him. Indeed, she had not been seen by her own relatives for four years despite her funds and share holdings having been cashed in over the same period. The discovery of this woman's murdered corpse on their property precipitated the murder trial that ended in Dougal's conviction as a murderer and his hanging for his crime soon after.

Ware is a town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is close to the county town of Hertford. In 2011 the parish had a population of 18,799.