MYSTERY of Lord (the shrewed) SHREWSBURY Jailor of Marie Queen of Scots/ MQS for about 15 years He showed compassion for Queen Elizabeths prisoner, but was he also secretly a MQS supporter? In the (English) Scottish Series of QE1 there are entries in the first decade of the imprisonment of MQS under Shrewsbury whom QE1 calls her cousin that are cryptic. Shrewsbury is a strong unquestioned Protestant, yet he allows access of many great English Lords to his prisoner MQS. Also oddly despite Shrewsburys great wealth and many guards on his charge, MQS is able to maintain contact with Scotland, France and Spain even though QE1 repeatedly orders MQS to be on lockdown and deprived of all outside contact. Shrewsbury dutifully writes regularly to Cecil and later to Walsingham, when it appears QE1 has put MQS directly under Wally instead of Cecil. Shrewsbury sends them reports about this letter arriving and that persons activities but never anything of revealing import. QE1 on the other hand repeatedly sends warnings to Shrewsbury to be stricter with MQS, to remove her servants, to prevent any contact between MQS and Shrewsburys servants. Shrewsbury dutifully writes back to QE1 yes Madame. But the same laxity recurs under his charge. It sometimes even appears that Shrewsbury does not want even MQS to know of his support? sympathy? towards her. He certainly does not want her to escape - it would mean his ruin, even death. But is Shrewsbury playing QE1? One significant clue is ANDREW HAMILTON - clearly a Scots name of renown. Shrewsbury assigns this Scotsman to be the TUTOR of his male children. Hamilton is later revealed to be an agent for MQS. Lets look in on the documents. 1569 - April 28 at Wingfield - Lord Shrewsbury to Lord Scrope: Requests him NOT to HINDER the bearer, Andrew Hamilton, whom the Queen of Scots has presently dispatched to Scotland. So Shrewsbury has just protected an envoy of MQS to Scotland, a person he then assigns to tutor his male Heirs. Later it is revealed that Shrewsbury even supported Hamilton to go on a mission to France for MQS. 1574 - June 6 at Sheffield - Shrewsbury to Walsingham: (p.916) Details particulars of one Hamilton whom he employed to educate his young children, in whose behalf he made suit to the Queen of Scots and who has since gone to France and returned. June 12 - Walsingham brings Hamilton in for interrogation. June 20 - Killigrew interrogates a John Steward in Edinburgh about Hamilton. July 12 - at Sheffield - Shrewsbury to Wally (p.917) Hopes Hamilton proves honest he has been a good Tutor. July 19 - Shrewsbury to Wally: Regarding the unspeakable villainies to deface his honor. So we know Hamilton has been in Shrewsburys employ since at least 1569, given protection to travel back and forth to Scotland and even to France under Shrewsbury. Yet Hamilton is clearly working for MQS. The RESULT of this INVESTIGATION? Entry #40 p.917: The French Ambassador was charged by QE1-England as attempting to help MQS gain favor with English Lords. And that a John Douglas confessed he was involved in a project with France to gain Liberty for MQS. Meaning QE1-Wally-Cecil were unable to find anything they could pin on MQS or Shrewsbury. In 1575 it is also discovered, by sharp eyed, though perhaps not so sharp since it took him, Cecil and Qe1 at least 5 years to figure out what was going on at Shrewsburys - that oodles of Shrewsburys servants seem to be working for MQS. Then --> 1575 - 16 January, they arrest Henry COCKYN. And it was insider named COCKYN that finally tipped Wally off that an enormous amount of Shrewsburys English servants seem to be working for MQS. Examples of arrests based on Cockyns confession: * MORGAN - who though suspected & called in for arrest somehow manages to escape from Shrewsbury to travel to France and continue to work for MQS there. * Goodyeare * Richard Lowther * Francis Bertie * D. Good * D. Atteslowe * Nevill Sands * John Jackson * Watkins Davys * John Nasmyth Also involved in that they have communique with Shrewsburys household though not clear if they are within it or not: * Cuthbert Reid - travels between England & Scotland * Dick Baines * Archie Beton * Dick Baynes * Glover * John the musician who plays the bass violin Wally - Leicester make decision made to punish Nasmyth for giving letters to MQS. March 1575 (p.919) All the English culprits descend on poor Cockyn - QE1, Wally, Cecil, Mildmay. Bromley writes a confession for Cockyn and is told QE1 wants to be his friend. Qe1 says there is more to be squeezed out of Cockyn. The English official records state Cockyn wrote the confession but a note in the records states no this is an official forgery - the confession was written by Bromley. Supposedly the Bromley-Cockyn confession states that MQS agent the Bishop Ross-Lesley and Spain want to rescue young King James - he would be about 6 years old. And that MQS wrote a letter to Dr. James Goode and her apothecary Humphrey Wymes. April 1575 More interrogations. No one is looking at Shrewsbury. May 1575 Hamilton, Dr. Goode and several others are placed in prison. The charge seems to be for communicating with MQS. Shrewsbury states he is shocked. (Recalls to mind the scene in Casablanca where the French police chief says he is shocked to Humphrey Bogart.) The English culprits now putting the screws on the dead Duke of Norfolks brother Henry Howard. More interrogations. It appears this is all about LETTERS being delivered to MQS and QE1 wants MQS cut off from all of the outside world. It ends there. What happened to all the people sent to the Tower prison? Focus seems to be removed from Shrewsbury. Bishop Ross escapes to France by October 1575 on his way to see the Pope as an exile. And another turn of events - by November 1575 Margaret Douglas/ Lady Lennox wants to be friends with MQS.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 17:56:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015