The Parker Family and the Gunpowder Plot, 1605.

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, was a failed attempt by a group of Catholics to assassinate King James I, a Protestant. The plan was to blow up Parliament, however, the plot was exposed and the trial and executions of Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators followed. This notorious chapter in English history is marked by the annual tradition of Bonfire Night on 5th November.

William Parker, 13th Baron Morley and 4th Baron Monteagle, was the great-grandson of Henry Parker, brother to Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford. William is most well-known for helping to uncover the plot against the King. The Parker family had always been Catholics, from Jane Boleyn’s time onwards and were associated with Catholic families during the reign of Elizabeth I. However, William Parker promised to be faithful to King James I and the state religion.

His brother-in-law was plotter Francis Tresham. Francis Tresham, is believed to have written an anonymous letter to William which exposed the Gunpowder Plot to the authorities. In the letter, there was a warning to stay away from Parliament. The letter was then given to Robert Cecil and this led to the discovery of Guy Fawkes under the House of Lords on the night of 4th November. The plot was a failure and Fawkes revealed the names of his co-conspirators under torture.

The plotters faced the full horror of the traitor’s death in January 1606. William Parker on the other hand lived until 1622, when he died on 1st July at Great Hallingbury, Essex, which was also Jane Boleyn’s childhood home.

Sources – The National Trust and “Jane Boleyn: The Infamous Lady Rochford” – Julia Fox, 2007.

Image - "William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle and 13th Baron Morley by John de Critz" by John de Critz the Elder, Berger Collection.