Which sailor's widow carried his embalmed head around in a red velvet bag after his death?

Sir Walter Raleigh was an English landed gentleman and explorer. He was cousin to Sir Richard Grenville and younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England. Raleigh was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era.

Raleigh was beheaded in the Old Palace Yard at the Palace of Westminster on 29 October 1618. His head was embalmed and presented to his wife. His body was to be buried in the local church in Beddington, Surrey, the home of Lady Raleigh, but was finally laid to rest in St. Margaret's, Westminster, where his tomb may still be visited today. "The Lords", she wrote, "have given me his dead body, though they have denied me his life. God hold me in my wits." It has been said that Lady Raleigh kept her husband's head in a red velvet bag until her death. After Raleigh's wife's death 29 years later, his head was returned to his tomb and interred at St. Margaret's Church.