Thomas Phelippes
Encyclopedia
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
gatherer. He served mainly under Sir Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
, in the time of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, deciphering the codes of those plotting against her. He is most remembered for his adding of a postscript to the "bloody letter" sent by Mary, Queen of Scots, to Anthony Babington
Anthony Babington
Anthony Babington was convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots...
regarding the Babington plot. This scene is recreated in the 2006 TV miniseries The Virgin Queen
The Virgin Queen
The Virgin Queen can refer to:* Elizabeth I of England* The Virgin Queen , starring Bette Davis* The Virgin Queen , 2005, BBC...
, starring Anne-Marie Duff
Anne-Marie Duff
Anne-Marie Duff is an English actress best known for playing Fiona Gallagher in Shameless, and Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen.-Early life:...
as Elizabeth I, and Vincent Franklin
Vincent Franklin
Vincent Franklin is an English actor best known for his roles in comedy television programmes. Recent roles included PR guru Stewart Pearson in The Thick of It and blunt manager Nick Jowitt in Twenty Twelve. He has appeared in a number of feature films including Vera Drake and the 2006 films...
as Phelippes. According to historian Neville Williams in his Elizabeth: Queen of England, on page 272, Chapter Ten, The Daughter of Debate, the notes were smuggled to Mary via empty barrels from a brewer in Burton
Burton
- Canada :* Burton, British Columbia* Burton, New Brunswick* Burton, Ontario* Burtons, Nova Scotia* Burton, Durham Region, Ontario* Burton, Parry Sound District, Ontario* Burton, Prince Edward Island* Lac-Burton, Quebec* Burton Lake, Saskatchewan- England :...
who supplied her house at Chartley. Phelippes was kept busy with a backlog of correspondence requested by Her Majesty whose letters contained day to day matters as well as those of a more sensitive type. Walshingham had to wait a whole seven months before he got what he wanted. This postscript asked Babington for the names of the plotters involved in the planned assassination of Queen Elizabeth I, and hence Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
was able to prove Mary's direct involvement in the plot, and have her executed.
Further reading
- The codebreakers, the comprehensive history of secret communication from ancient times to the internet (revised and updated 1996) - David Kahn ISBN 0-684-83130-9
- Cryptology and statecraft in the Dutch Republic - Karl de Leeuw ISBN 90-5776-039-8
- Spies & spymasters, a concise history of intelligence - Jock Haswell ISBN 0-500-01178-8