3 lesser-known Gunpowder Plot conspirators
Most people have heard of Guy Fawkes, the most famous participant in the Gunpowder Plot. But Fawkes didn’t work alone.
Image: Robert Catesby | Public Domain
Gunpowder Siege dramatically reimagines the most infamous rebellion plot in British history, shattering the myths to reveal the largely forgotten, gripping truth behind the Gunpowder Plot. Prepare to see the story you thought you knew - blown wide open. The show starts Monday, 4th November on Sky HISTORY.
Most people still remember the fifth of November as the famous rhyme teaches us. On that day in 1605, the Gunpowder Plot – a scheme to blow up the House of Lords – was uncovered. The life of King James I of England was saved along with the lives of many others, and 5th November has been celebrated since then as Bonfire Night.
But Guy Fawkes, the man caught with the barrels of gunpowder under the Palace of Westminster, was not the only one responsible. 13 conspirators took part, including three men who are less well known but no less influential than Fawkes.
1. Robert Catesby
The man who ought to be spoken of first when we discuss the Gunpowder Plot is Robert Catesby. He formed its plan, and he brought its participants together through his charisma and good friendships with them.
Like the other conspirators, Catesby was a devout Catholic who hoped to install a Catholic monarch in place of James I, a Protestant. Born around 1572 in Warwickshire, he was only 32 when his plot failed – younger than Fawkes or the other men on this list.
Despite his Catholic upbringing, Catesby married a Protestant woman, Catherine Leigh, in his early 20s. But when he was just 26, Catherine died. In his grief, Robert looked to his old faith for answers. Soon, his anguish turned into rage at the way Catholics were treated in England.
In 1601, Catesby took part in a failed uprising against the Protestant ruling class. He was caught, wounded, imprisoned and forced to sell his marital home.
Now Catesby had nothing to lose. And, when James I broke his promise of religious tolerance towards Catholics, Catesby decided he had to act.
After the Gunpowder Plot was revealed, Catesby fled north, attempted to incite a rebellion, and failed. He was killed by his pursuers at Holbeche House in Staffordshire on 8th November.
2. Thomas Percy
British history buffs will recognize the surname Percy as belonging to a family that was powerful and influential from the 11th to 17th centuries. Long before the Stuart era, they played a part in the Wars of the Roses. But beginning in the 16th century, they were continually involved in actions that aimed to overturn the Protestant monarchy and return England to Catholicism.
In fact, the ninth earl of Northumberland was imprisoned for 15 years in the Tower of London on suspicion of being involved in the Gunpowder Plot. But he was not one of the 13 conspirators. Thomas Percy, his cousin, was.
Thomas Percy’s power and wealth were an asset to the Catesby’s group. He is most remembered now as the man who leased the cellar under the House of Lords that held the barrels of gunpowder. He was also a bodyguard of King James, thanks to the influence of his cousin.
On a personal level, Percy was described as having a reckless, aggressive, and wild temperament. He even killed a man during a fight in 1596, when he was 36 years old.
Interestingly, Percy was not raised Catholic. He converted as an adult – which some said improved his behaviour.
At the start of the new century, Percy and Catesby became friends. Reportedly, in 1604 the two men were discussing the oppression of Catholics when Percy said that, in his younger days, he would have killed the king with his bare hands. Catesby’s reply changed everything: ‘We always talk, but we never do anything.’
In this moment, Percy became a key member of the plot to kill the king.
Percy was one of the men who accompanied Catesby to Holbeche House, where he also died. It is said that the very same musket shot mortally wounded both Percy and Catesby.
3. Thomas Wintour
Like Catesby, Thomas Wintour had origins in the Midlands. He was born in 1571 into a prominent Catholic family – in which Robert Catesby was his cousin. Another conspirator, Robert Wintour, was his brother.
When Wintour was just 15, his uncle was hanged, drawn and quartered for working as an incognito Catholic priest. The death tore Wintour’s family apart and turned a quiet boy into a brooding and angry young man.
Wintour joined the army but became disillusioned, dropped out, and started joining radical Catholic circles. He was one of the first people to become part of Catesby’s plans, and he was instrumental in recruiting a gunpowder expert called Guy Fawkes.
From the outset, Wintour was deeply worried that the plan would fail. He tried and failed to solicit help from Spain. In the days leading up to the plot, he urged Catesby to abort the mission entirely after they found out their secret might have been given away. Of course, Catesby did not.
Wintour survived the siege at Holbeche House where Percy and Catesby died. Before being tortured and killed, he wrote a full confession that is now our best source for the details of what really happened during the Gunpowder Plot.
