GUY
FAWKES - OLD PETERITE - 1570 - 1606
CURRICULUM VITAE
BORN:Stonegate, York, about April
13th, 1570.
BAPTISED: 16th April 1570 in St
Michael-le-Belfry. PARENTS: Edward (Clerk in Minster Offices) &
Edith née Blake. Two sisters Anne & Elizabeth, who lived and
married in Scotton.
FAMILY: Lived with well-to-do and
respected grandmother, Ellen Harrington. Fawkes family well-known,
ancestors Lord Mayors and Sheriffs. Grandmother would seem to
dislike Edith Fawkes, judging from grudging references and bequests
in will. (Guy only received a whistle and a gold coin in her will.)
Guy’s father died 1578. Mother remarried in 1587, a catholic,
Dionis Bainbridge connected with the Pulleyns and the Percy family.
They lived at Scotton between Knaresborough and Ripley.
EDUCATION: ‘Ye free schole in ye
Horsefair’. This was at the corner of Gillygate and Lord Mayor's
Walk, No details of Guy’s schooldays exist, but here he received
Roman Catholic influences, Previous Head Master of St Peter's, John
Fletcher, had been imprisoned for 20 years as a Catholic recusant.
Guy’s Head Master - John Pulleyn, outwardly conforming, seems to
have influenced the boys greatly in two ways - drama and
Catholicism, though later he denounced a disguised
priest.
CHARACTER: Brave, powerful, tall,
auburn beard, brown hair, pale blue/grey eyes. "A man of great
piety, of exemplary temperance, mild and cheerful demeanour, enemy
of disputes, a faithful friend". THE
GUNPOWDER PLOT
THE ARREST:The arrest of Guy Fawkes
is probably one of the best known incidents of the Gunpower Plot.
It will perhaps surprise many people to discover that he was not
the leader of the conspiracy. This was Robert Catesby, a young
Roman Catholic gentleman who, tired of the many broken promises of
James I to grant religious toleration, decided on desperate action.
Eventually there were thirteen plotters - three of whom - Guy
Fawkes and the brothers John and Christopher Wright were
schoolfellows at St Peter's School here in York.Guy Fawkes,
described by those who knew him well as a courteous, gallant and
pious man, was known to have been a brave and resolute soldier,
with a special knowledge of the use of gunpowder. Having failed in
their earlier attempt to dig a tunnel under the House of Lords the
plotters were lucky to be able to rent a cellar directly below the
chamber, and in this they stored thirty-six barrels of gunpowder
(purchased from official government supplies!) which they covered
with iron bars, coal and firewood. It was Guy Fawkes who was to
remain in the cellar and light the fuse at the appropriate
moment.Towards midnight of November 4/5th 1605 a search party,
warned by an anonymous letter to Lord Mounteagle, a Catholic
relative of one of the plotters, discovered and, after a violent
struggle, arrested Guy Fawkes.
THE INTERROGATION: Guy, claiming to
be a servant called John Johnson, was immediately taken before the
King - who claimed to be taken by surprise (although he just
happened to have a list of questions ready to put to the prisoner).
Guy freely admitted that he had intended to fire the gunpowder and
blow the Scots back over the border. He did not, at that stage, add
that the explosion would have killed not only the King and the
Queen, but also the Prince of Wales, the two Archbishops, many
other bishops, nobles and scores of members of parliament. Gaining
no further information the King ordered the prisoner to be removed
to the Tower of London and lodged in the infamous cell known as
"Little Ease". This was so small that it was impossible to stand,
sit or lie down properly.
THE TORTURE: The King ordered that if
the prisoner refused to give any information the "gentler" tortures
were to be used on him. Later the government claimed that Guy was
so cowardly that he freely gave all the information on first seeing
the instruments of torture, and that no torture was therefore
necessary. The truth of this statement can be judged by the
signature of Guy Fawkes before and after his interrogation. It is
also worth noting that over two months after he was arrested this
tall, powerfully built man had to be helped up the few rungs of the
ladder to his execution. Despite what must have been excruciating
pain Guy held out for three days, hoping perhaps to give his
comrades time to escape abroad. Little did he realise that the
government already had a complete list of the plotters, some of
whom had already been killed or wounded in the fight at Holbeche
House, and the rest were soon rounded up and brought to trial,
except for Francis Tresham who died, somewhat conveniently for the
government, whilst in the Tower. Was he perhaps the double
agent?The result of the trial was in no doubt. All the prisoners,
having "confessed", were hanged, drawn and quartered - some in
front of St Paul’s, the rest in front of Westminster Hall, Guy
Fawkes, the best known plotter, being the last to suffer. Many
questions remain unanswered, but it seems obvious that the
government knew far more about the plot than they ever admitted and
indeed may well have encouraged it - in order to make a dramatic
"discovery" which would be most useful propaganda. If this
possibility is correct, then it certainly was most successful - the
anti-catholic feeling was to remain and increase in strength, and
the position of those Roman Catholics who remained loyal to their
faith was made more difficult.
HISTORY LESSON OVER ......
(CLUE STRUCTURE EDITED
27/10/2004)
STUDY THE FOLLOWING NOTES + HINTS
STRUCTURE CAREFULLY TO AID FINDING
GUNPOWDER: Co-ordinates N54 01 670 W001 30
251
Will take you to good place to start ...
(perhaps)
Make a note of number of apparent GUY FAWKES
remains at this site ... ?=X
Then a short distance away at N54 01 871 W001
30 184 a view of Guy Fawkes family house and a clue in the "Friends
burial ground"
(PLEASE DO NOT GO FURTHER THAN THE GRAVEYARD
IT IS A PRIVATE DRIVE)
Note: The number of letters row 1 on George's
joined Epitaph=Y
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PLOT: N54 02 ***=61 x Y -(2 x X) W001 28
***=( 33 x Y -(2 x X)
A short drive away and then down a Public
Bridlepath,the cache is located .....
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TREASON: BUT BEWARE TREASON: IS A FOOT OR
MORE TO THE NORTH ... LOL
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