The Throckmorton ( Throgmorton) Plot of 1583

        And the Invasion Landing at Ferring that Never  Quite Happened 

                                   

This topic does not quite meet the  usual 17th century remit of this blog, but the 1583 Throckmorton Plot, is a much neglected treason conspiracy, overshadowed by both the Babington Plot of 1586  and the notorious Gunpowder Plot of 1605. 

Sir Francis Throckmorton (1554-1584)  came from a Catholic gentry family. based at Coughton Court, Warwickshire.His father Sir John Throckmorton was a diplomat, and his uncle , Sir Nicholas Throckmorton was the English Ambassador to France and then Scotland. It is not clear whether Francis was raised as a Catholic or converted later. By 1579, he was one of a group of young wealthy gentry dedicated  to 'the commons support of Catholics' along with his brother Edward. Also connected to this group were Sir Antony Babington ( who would later lead his own conspiracy), Charles Arundell, and William Tresham.  HOGGE

Disillusioned with the increasing harsh restrictions imposed against Catholics, Francis and his brother Thomas visited English Catholic exiles in Paris: Francis  met representatives of Mary Queen of Scots  Charles Paget and Thomas Morgan,and agreed to being a courier. Most likely in delivering correspondence from England to the French embassy to be smuggled abroad. HARRISON Mary was imprisoned in England after being deposed from the throne of Scotland in 1567. and already a  figurehead for Catholics opposed to Queen Elizabeth I. In fact Mary had her own claim to the throne as a great granddaughter of Henry VII. Mary had also been previously married to the French heir apparent in 1558, and was Queen Consort of France for just over a year 1559-1560. leaving the country for Scotland when her husband died. 

Also in Paris, the brothers somehow became aware of the Henri Duke de Guise, head of the French Catholic League, and his plans to invade England, Mary was related to the de Guise family on her mother's side.It is also likely that Francis visited the Spanish court at Madrid. How complicit Mary was in the Throckmorton Plot has not been completely resolved. One biographer of Mary Queen of Scots, Roderick Graham, has maintained that she knew nothing about the matter even know her associates were involved to differing degrees. GRAHAM. 

A conspiracy was thus forged to connect several enemies of Elizabeth I. French Catholics under the Duke of Guise were to invade England. One army under the command of the Duke of Bavaria would leave from Spanish held Flanders and land in Lancashire, triggering a rebellion amongst local Catholics.The Duke de Guise would land another force in Sussex, and would make use of the Earl of Northumberland's house at Petworth  and Earl of Arundel's castle at Arundel. The whole enterprise being supported by finance from the Spanish Court.HARRISON Mary Queen of Scots was to be released from custody in England and Elizabeth deposed.  

But like so many plots of the time, there was a strong element of fantasy. Though many English Catholics were dismayed at the increasing erosion of their rights to be full members of society,the endless fines for not attending Anglican services and legal curbs on their ability to  practise their faith , there was no mass armed opposition to Elizabeth's regime after  the revolt of the Northern Earls of 1569. In fact if a foreign invasion landed, the English Catholics might have been more inclined to stay loyal rather than offer horses, supplies or even men to join a foreign rebellion leading to Elizabeth being deposed. 

 No evidence has emerged that either Spain or the Papacy actually advanced any money for the scheme. Moreover, Mary's son James was ruling Scotland as a Protestant king- James VI. James was aged 16 at the time, and in the virtual custody of a Protestant noble faction. ( He was to break free in  June 1583 ) Young James might not have been prepared to step aside for his mother to return to the Scottish throne  Spain might have soon clashed with a Catholic Anglo- French alliance. Finally, it is possible that Mary had already lost interest in working with the Duke de Guise. FRASER

On returning to England around 1582,  Francis Throckmorton began visiting the French embassy in London. The trouble was that Elizabeth's spymaster Sir  Francis Walsingham had the embassy watched day and night.  He also had at least one agent employed there. Lord Burleigh also appeared to have one of his intelligence gatherers, William Herle , watching Francis Throckmorton. ALFORD  An employee from the French Embassy, Laurent Feron visited Walsingham on official business without arousing suspicion, whilst also bringing him other documents to view. GUY Walsingham also had an agent called Henry Fagot, who was masquerading as an Italian house guest called Giordano Bruno present at the French Embassy. HUTCHINSON 

On 4th or 5th or 6th  November 1583 Francis Throckmorton's London property was raided, and he was caught in the middle of writing a letter to Mary Queen of Scots. He managed to destroy this communication during the fracas that followed, but unfortunately the authorities discovered Throckmorton's list of Catholic nobility who he supposed might be interested in taking part in a rebellion. And also a map highlighting suitable places on the English coast for an invasion. It appears that Throckmorton was also working on a proclamation supporting Mary Queen of Scots claim to the throne of England HUTCHINSON.

The Ferring connection. 

Ferring is a coastal village in the Arun District of West Sussex. About four miles from Worthing, eight miles from Arundel Castle. A Saxon settlement, the parish was granted a Norman Church. The coastline of course changes over centuries. A nearby village, Kingston, was swallowed up by the Sea by 1630. Now a shingle beach, with quite extensive low tides. 

In recent years the historian Stephen Alford has done some extensive work on the 'Watchers', those working for the Crown on keeping an eye on individuals travelling via the ports, and other coastal areas, between England and Europe. Ferring was being used by Catholics to enter and to leave England secretly, possibly by bribing the local 'watcher'. The Earl of Arundel's wife was active in organising this route. HARRISON & ALFORD  A Catholic exile, Lord  Charles Paget, travelled from Dieppe to Ferring to visit a contact in nearby Patching. Charles Paget 's brother Thomas Paget had liaised with Francis Throckmorton in London.  On 23rd November 1583 Thomas Paget, and an associate by the name of Charles Arundell fled England secretly via Ferring with some servants. ALFORD

Throckmorton confesses 

Once in custody, Francis Throckmorton  tried to make out that the map and list of Catholic gentry was really the work of a servant by the name of Rogers  but to no avail. He was  interrogated and racked by Thomas Norton, a 'lawyer turned printer, playwright and poet' HUTCHINSON .  The torture was paused, but then he was threatened was the rack again, Sir Francis confessed on the 19th November 1583, confirming the whole conspiracy, the fact that he had made contact with the Duke de Guise, with Mary Queen of Scots, and with the Spanish embassy, having delivered a list of Catholic gentry and coastal maps to the latter. He claimed not to have visited the Sussex coast on a scouting mission,as this was task delegated to other parties. ALFORD 

Sir Francis Throckmorton was tried at London Guildhall on 21st May 1584 and found guilty of treason. He was hung,drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 10th July of the same year. Lord Henry Howard was arrested but was released. Though Howard was treated with great suspicion by the authorities in the following years,he was later to become the Earl of Northampton under James VI/I . The Earls of Northumberland and Arundel, were in potential trouble due to their local connection with Ferring, and the Sussex coast. Northumberland admitted to meeting with Charles Paget during his recent visit to England, and was confined to the Tower. He was found dead there on the morning of 20th June 1584, seemingly having shot himself three times in the chest with his own pistol. 

The Throckmorton Plot was an intriguing enterprise, showing desperate measures employed by Elizabeth's enemies within her realm, and abroad. One of the many causes of both the eventual downfall of Mary Queen of Scots and increasing threat of foreign invasion. It is interesting to speculate how the village of Ferring might have been the landing place of a French Catholic invasion, and how the authorities with a comparatively small number of agents, informers, and spies saved the day.  

Picture Credit 

By anonymous - 'A Street Festival in Paris' c.1560  Paris Musées, Public Domain,

 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98003286

Books 

'The Watchers- A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth 1', Stephen ALFORD,Penguin Books, 2012.

'Mary Queen of Scots' Antonia FRASER, Weidenfeld  & Nicolson, 1969/ 2019 

'An Accidental Tragedy-The Life of Mary Queen of Scots', Roderick GRAHAM, Birlin Limited, 2008.

'The Life of Mary Queen of Scots-My Heart is my Own' John GUY,Fourth Estate, 2009 

'Elizabethan Rebellions- Conspiracy, Intrigue, and Treason', Helene HARRISON, Pen & Sword, 2023

'God's Secret Agents-Queen Elizabeth's Forbidden Priests & the Hatching of the Gunpowder Plot', Alice HOGGE, Harper Collins, 2005.

'Elizabeth's Spy Master-Francis Walsingham and the Secret War That Saved England' Robert HUTCHINSON, 

'Sussex The Garden by the Sea', (part of the 'King's England' series),Arthur MEE, Hodder & Stoughton, 1937 

'The Illustrated Tudor Dictionary' , Simon Sandys WINSCH , Pen & Sword, 2024

Related post from this blog 

Gunpowder Plot Scepticism         Was the Gunpowder Plot launched by the authorities or already infiltrated?

Third Wintour brother Part one    The fate of young John Wintour, the step-brother of Thomas & Robert                                                             Wintour, who were executed for their part in the Gunpowder Plot. 

Third Wintour brother Part two    As above. 

In quitim Novembris                   Poetry relating to the Gunpowder Treason

Other blogs by Michael Bully 

World War 2 Poetry            As the title suggests.

Bleak Chesney Wold          Dark 19th century history.

Any errors or schoolboy howlers in the above post are the responsibility of the blog post writer and should not be attributed to any source that has been cited. 

Thank you to all visitors to this blog from all around the world. Your interest is so appreciated. 

With all good wishes for 2026.

Michael Bully

Worthing, West Sussex, England. 

7th January 2026.