The story of
Maud Allan
Maud Allan (1873–1956) was a celebrated West End dancer in the early 20th century until she became entangled in one of the most sensational trials of the 1920s.
Series
Secretaries of State: State Papers Scotland Series I, Mary Queen of Scots
Catalogue reference: SP 53
What's it about?
SP 53
A special collection of documents (some transferred from SP 59) particularly concerning Mary, Queen of Scots from her flight from Scotland into England in 1568 until her execution in 1587. Thus the records span only part of Elizabeth I's...
Full description and record details
-
Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
-
SP 53
-
Title (The name of the record)
- Secretaries of State: State Papers Scotland Series I, Mary Queen of Scots
-
Date (When the record was created)
-
1568-1587
-
Description (What the record is about)
-
A special collection of documents (some transferred from SP 59) particularly concerning Mary, Queen of Scots from her flight from Scotland into England in 1568 until her execution in 1587. Thus the records span only part of Elizabeth I's reign.
The series contains correspondence between the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, their ministers and representatives, not least Mary's custodian's evidence of Mary's and her supporters' machinations, including her 'casket letters' to the Earl of Bothwell, her third husband, and, above all, the papers seized at Chartley Castle on the discovery of the Babington conspiracy in 1586 which were used, when deciphered, to implicate Mary and bring her to trial.
The series includes a collection of over 100 ciphers, most of them used in communication with Mary. and used to decipher calendared letters. Different ciphers were used by the Queen's correspondents. Some of these correspondents are identified, but some remain 'anonymous'.
-
Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
-
Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
-
Public Record(s)
-
Language (The language of the record)
-
English
-
Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
-
23 volume(s)
-
Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
-
- Topics
- Litigation
-
Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
-
At the time of the Babington plot against Elizabeth I in 1586, the cipher letters passed through government hands and were deciphered by Sir Francis Walsingham's factotum, Thomas Phelippes, but before his time deciphering was the work of John Somers, clerk of the signet.
-
Publication note(s) (A note of publications related to the record)
- Calendared briefly in the: Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland preserved in H.M. Public Record Office ed M J Thorpe 2 vols (Edinburgh 1858) Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland and Mary Queen of Scots 1547-1603 eds J Bain W K Boyd H W Meikle A I Cameron M S Guiseppi and J D Mackie 13 vols (Edinburgh 1898-1969). Please speak to staff at the Map and Large Document Room enquiry desk for the precise location. One of the more recent examples of extracts in full from this series isLetters of James VI and I ed G P V Akrigg (London 1984). Papers in the series relating to the Babington conspiracy were published inQueen Mary and the Babington Plot ed J H Pollen Scottish Historical Society 3rd series vol III (Edinburgh 1922). The allegation that the Babington plot papers were forged or tampered with is dismissed byConyers Read Mr Secretary Walsingham and the Policy of Queen Elizabeth (Oxford 1925).
-
Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C13595/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
208,922 records
Within the department: SP
Records assembled by the State Paper Office, including papers of the Secretaries...
You are currently looking at the series: SP 53
Secretaries of State: State Papers Scotland Series I, Mary Queen of Scots
You may be interested in
-
-
The story of
Radclyffe Hall
Radclyffe Hall (1880–1943) lived relatively openly as a lesbian in an era that condemned such relationships. Today she is an icon of LGBTQ+ literature.
Related records
Records that share similar topics with this record.