A History of the Post in England From the Romans to the Stuarts by Beale P. O.;

Author:Beale, P. O.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

Royal couriers abroad

The introduction by the Tudors of ambassadors and representatives abroad required a more regular courier service to supplement the use of the heralds and pursuivants who still took the most important personal letters to sovereigns and nobles. During the Tudor period appointments were made in 18 places as far away as Constantinople and Russia, the most important being at the Courts of the Emperor and the King of France.60 Costs could be considerable as when William Thomas brought letters from the Emperor’s Court in June 1553 the expense was £13 6s. 8d.61 At the same time agents were paid to provide news for the Council. The volumes of State Papers Domestic and Foreign reveal the vast correspondence that took place. Always short of money, the Council communicated with its ambassadors and agents through couriers but also used any means judged to be reliable. For their part the ambassadors usually employed their personal servants to take letters to England.

Four men frequently mentioned in state papers who worked for Queen Elizabeth and the Council were Francisco Thomaso, Francis Picher, John Wells and John Spritewell, the Dover post.62 Like the royal messengers in England they could be called upon for various duties, buying a jewel for the queen, escorting prisoners, purchasing books, or making a confidential report. Selecting the right person for more complex duties would depend upon the nature of the task. At times of crisis abroad, when a confidential assessment was needed, a skilled, well-educated man would be required. A letter from the queen in 1559 to Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, ambassador to the French Court, concerning conveying the Earl of Arran to England, began:

There needeth small writing where there is so good a messenger, and therefore I do make to you but a brief memorial of words rather than of matters.63

This was deleted and instead she wrote ‘the bearer will show you the state of things in Scotland’. Even then Cecil decided the letter needed to be ciphered. The role of courier on such occasions was so delicate and important that it is not surprising that some of them rose to high appointments. Sir Edward Stafford, who became ambassador to the French Court in 1583, had been employed as a courier on important business in his younger days.

John Wells was educated at Cambridge and was a servant of the Cecils. In the 1570s he travelled to France and Spain from where he sent reports on the political scene. When the Duke of Anjou came to woo Elizabeth, Wells had to find 100 horses and 17 carts to be ready for the duke’s arrival at Dover. In 1589 he was imprisoned at Rouen and accused of being a spy. His ransom was put at 500 crowns with a further 200 to the gaoler. Attempts were made to exchange him for four papist priests held in England and eventually he was exchanged for the nephew of the Bishop of Ross. He had been imprisoned for a year and 14 weeks, threatened with torture, the galleys and the rack.

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