Anthony Babington

This portrait may be a representation of Antony Babington, who played an important role in the downfall of Mary Queen of Scots. There is some doubt about this, however, because the links between the known owners of the portrait and the family of Antony Babington are not particularly strong.

Antony Babington was born in Dethick, Derbyshire, in 1561. His family was staunchly Catholic, and Anthony served as a page to Mary Queen of Scots during the latter’s imprisonment at various places in and near Derbyshire.

He became devoted to Queen Mary and was therefore very willing to become involved in schemes to free her and place her on the throne of England in place of Queen Elizabeth.

In 1586 Babington became the leader of a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, but he did not appreciate that his every move was being watched by spies in the pay of Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s secretary of state.

Walsingham’s chief aim was to implicate Mary in the plotting, and it was the interception of letters between Babington and Mary that were her eventual undoing. At least, that is the official version – whether the letters were genuine or forgeries is another question altogether.

Whatever Mary’s measure of guilt, Babington’s was beyond doubt. He tried to escape justice but was pursued and captured, later suffering the traitor’s punishment of being hanged, drawn and quartered.

© John Welford

The death of Queen Elizabeth I

24^th March 1603 was the day on which Queen Elizabeth I died. It was therefore also the day on which the crowns of England and Scotland were united in the person of Elizabeth I’s successor.

Queen Elizabeth was only a few months short of 70 years old. She hated the idea of growing old and had done everything she could to pretend to herself that this was not happening. For example, she wore luxuriant tawny wigs to disguise the fact that the fiery red hair of her youth was now grey and thinning. She so hated to see herself as an old woman that she had all the mirrors removed from her palace at Richmond.

However, she knew that her time was running out and, during her final months, reconciled herself to the idea of dying. For days on end she refused to go to bed, being instead propped up on cushions while she meditated in silence.

On 23^rd March she announced: “I wish not to live any longer but desire to die”, and at three o’clock the next morning that is what she did. Her coronation ring was so tightly fixed to her finger that the digit had to be cut off before the ring could be released.

On the death of the last of the Tudors the crown passed to the son of her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, whom Elizabeth had had executed in 1587. James Stuart had been King James VI of Scotland since 1567 (when only one year old) and he now added the title of King James I of England and Ireland. The effective creation of the United Kingdom has lasted to the present day, although whether it will continue for much longer is a contentious point.

© John Welford