Saturday, 15 July 1553 – The turning point?

“Very early the next day Jerningham, accompanied by Tyrrell and Glemham, rode up to inspect the ships thus brought to the haven by a lucky tide and wind, as they say. When they had reached the haven he ordered Sir Richard Brooke, the squadron’s commander, a diligent man and skilled in seamanship, to be called to him, and took him to Framlingham castle to bring news of this happy and unexpected arrival to the queen”.

(Wingfield, The Vita Mariae Angliae Reginae, 1554)

No sooner had Edward VI died then the captains of several royal ships were given their orders to guard the east coast on behalf of Queen Jane. It was their understanding that Jane was Edward’s rightful successor so like dutiful subjects they carried out the commands. Unfortunately they received no pay for their men and as a consequence war had broken out onboard. Now, on the morning of the 15th, Sir Henry Jerningham and his men paid these ships a visit. The previous evening Jerningham had been told that several royal fleets were stationed in Orwell haven, having docked there owing to poor weather. They took a small boat and sailed to the ships and demanded that the crews called for Mary. Do you wish for the loyalty of our captains, asked the crew? ‘Yea’ was the obvious response from Jerningham. “Ye shall have theym or els we shall throwe theym to the bottom of the sea” they promised. The captains, none too fond of the notion of being plonked unceremoniously into the water, suddenly decided that they liked the sound of a ‘Queen Mary’. The overall commander, Richard Brooke, was subsequently ordered to go to Framlingham and offer the ships to Mary. Once the duke had hoped to trap Mary by providing her with no viable route out of England. Now he no longer controlled both land and sea.


In London, confusion was rife. The Imperial ambassadors reported that ‘there was trouble coming’ and ‘good men’ are ‘disgusted’ by the situation, including some members of the Privy Council. Sir Edmund Peckham, the Treasurer of the Mint had fled the city to pay homage to Mary. Lord Windsor and Sir Edward Hastings had also abandoned Jane, even though Hastings was the brother of the earl of Huntington who was then heading an army in Jane’s honour. Apparently Hastings fled to Mary after having a private conversation with his brother who revealed to him the duke’s plans to assassinate Mary. Once provided with the information he needed, he met with Peckham and the pair agreed they would desert the duke and Hastings and tell Mary of their plans. So much for brotherly love. Now men were starting to remember past grievances, however real or perceived, between themselves and Northumberland. He was a tyrant; he was a traitor. They had supported him out of fear though they had always been for Mary. They were disturbed by his ambition which, they argued, was far more significant than their own. Their only concern was for, as the earl of Arundel would argue, 'the public weal and the freedom of this Kingdom' not for the advancement of themselves and their family.



The duke, unaware of the changing attitude and such betrayal, entered Cambridge in the afternoon of the 15th. Despite the devastating loss of royal ships he still had an impressive force. So notable was the army that one contemporary in London heard that he had ‘great guns’ and ‘gunstones a great number’. Desertions by this point were small in number and the duke had taken artillery from the Tower. He was also expecting more men and would station his army in Cambridge for three days whilst his son, Robert, was in nearby King’s Lynn. Despite having a significant army it seems that Mary’s supporters were encouraging, even devising, rumours that she possessed huge forces – larger than she actually had. How influential these rumours were in persuading individuals give up on Jane and go to Framlingham offering their loyalty to Mary is debatable. Though clearly many were becoming uneasy by reports of her success and prepared to switch sides.


Mary’s standing in Norfolk and Suffolk was excellent and now Northamptonshire was showing signs of distaste for Jane’s accession. Sir Robert Tyrwhitt had raised troops for the duke there but Sir Thomas Tresham, described as ‘notable for his courage and his decent’, decided to defy his orders. At Northampton he proclaimed Mary queen and was aided by the citizens. Her position in Oxfordshire was also improving. John de Vere, sixteenth earl of Oxford came over to her cause. The story of his conversion is intriguing for, according to Wingfield’s account, the earl was won over by his servants. He had some days previously imprisoned a lawyer named Clement Tusser because the man proclaimed Mary queen and denounced Jane. The earl’s servants were ‘fully convinced that it was their duty to urge the earl to espouse and embrace Mary’s cause with all his might’. Still he had his doubts, which were enhanced when several of the duke’s allies arrived at his home to convince him to stay committed. In the end his servants adopted some zealous methods. They ‘crowded into the ample space of the castle hall and sent up deafening shouts that they recognised no other queen but Mary’. And if he would not change his mind they would ‘throw off their liveries’, thus renounce him as a master, and set out for Framlingham. We are told that the earl was ‘moved’ by such words; most likely he felt absolute horror over this defiance to his authority. The incident indicates that Mary not only held the devotion of her own servants but, remarkably, the loyalty of others.


(Image - Portrait of Edward Hastings, Baron Hastings of Loughborough by unknown artist, c.1540-43. NPG, London)

Friday, 14 July 1553 – Intrigues in an Ipswich inn

“...he [Henry Jerningham] had learnt in conversation that a squadron of five ships of the late King Edward VI, laden with soldiers and weaponry, had been forced into the safety of Orwell haven by bad weather and was lying there, by some extraordinary chance, or rather, by a gale sent from heaven. The crews were in a state of great disturbance and had most courageously mutinied against their officers because of the disowning of Princess Mary; the officers were staying in this haven against their will because of the unrest among the men.”

(Wingfield, The Vita Mariae Angliae Reginae, 1554)

In a small tavern in Ipswich, at the dead of night, a group of men sat with drinks discussing current events. Henry Jerningham had been fighting passionately for Mary from day one and had been trying to secure support for her in the south-east. He had his eyes set on a particular prize. Since the death of Edward VI several royal ships was stationed around the east coast prepared to prevent attempts made by Mary to flee. Jane and her allies were still ‘strong on land and sea’, as the Imperial ambassadors put it, but what a glorious victory it would be for Mary if she won the royal fleets. But this was a difficult task. If the captains and sailors of these ships were for Jane what could Jerningham do to convince them?


Drinking with his men in this inn, Jerningham began a conversation with the owner, a Welsh man named Philip Williams. Described by Robert Wingfield as possessing ‘complete and remarkable bravery’, Williams was utterly sympathetic for Mary. But he had a greater gift than sympathy for her. Williams told Jerningham that amongst his guests was a sailor from one of the ships. The sailor told Jerningham that five ships ‘laden with soldiers and weaponry’ had been forced to station nearby in Orwell haven (another, the Greyhound, sought refuge at Lowestoft). As per usual the English summer was proving to be troublesome and the storms had forced the ships to seek shelter. Not only were they nearby and liable for a visit by Jerningham and his men but it was reported that the crew onboard were rather discontent. The rejection of Mary had not gone down well and a mutiny had occurred.


Jerningham, we are told, was not easily convinced by this news at first. After all it was too good to be true. We can’t blame him for his scepticism. For despite Wingfield’s account of the affair, namely his claims that the sailors felt sympathy for Mary and that is why they rebelled, the crew probably were more incensed about not being paid. Queen Jane or Queen Mary, it didn’t matter as long as they would receive their wages and quickly. The sailor went away leaving Jerningham to talk it over with Williams. By the morning Jerningham made up his mind and decided to credit the sailor’s words. His decision to advance – his luck in picking that tavern and at that time – would lead to a decisive point in this whole affair. Ironically on the same date, the Imperial ambassadors were writing to Charles V, telling him that Mary would likely be caught by the duke in four days time ‘unless she had sufficient force to resist’, something they thought unlikely. ‘We therefore believe she is weak’, they told Charles, and will be ruined unless you assist her.


Meanwhile Lord Wentworth had decided to back Mary after she sent two servants his way with a letter that she hoped would convince him. The earl of Sussex, whose son had been kidnapped by Sir John Huddleston, was now at Framlingham. His captured son also backed Mary and had been awarded a friendly reception upon his arrival some days back. The 14th to the 16th marked the most arrivals at Framlingham; clearly news that the duke was advancing into Cambridgeshire and other peers operating elsewhere with large forces, did not curtail the loyalty of certain supporters. The gain of Wentworth meant Mary’s hold over Suffolk was significant; she now had the lord lieutenant and the sheriff of the county (Sir Thomas Cornwallis). Many years later John Foxe claimed Mary had promised the men of Suffolk (many of whom were favourable to reform) that she would not alter the religious policies of her brother’s reign if they supported her. How truthful is this? It has been supported by some historians, including Anna Whitelock and Diarmaid MacCulloch who argue that Mary was making a pragmatic statement. If true it is an indication that Mary was fully able to be deceptive and was rather shrewd in knowing what it took to gain support. She knew that Jane’s supporters were using her Catholicism against her; now she rendered their words ineffective. Before her accession, Mary had many associates who favoured reform. Not only did she rely upon these connections for favours, whether for herself or her servants (as was mostly the case), but she regarded certain of these individuals as genuine confidants. Such was the case with Anne, Lady Bacon and Anne Seymour, duchess of Somerset. In short, despite her faith which the duke and his allies attempted to publicise and use against her, Mary was known to engage in diverse networks. Later writers like Foxe may have looked upon her promises as obviously untrue but by this time she had cultivated for herself a reputation that made such things appear possible. And simultaneously she was able to receive support from Catholics in large numbers with many believing the restoration of the ‘true religion’ would certainly come about with her accession. So the theory of Mary being the most Catholic of Catholics supported only by Catholics in July 1553 is but partly true. The story of her victory was one of connections and deceptions; of support not always based along religious lines. And, as the case of Jerningham in the Ipswich inn shows, it is a story that contains a generous amount of sheer luck.



(Image - River Otwell. Photo taken from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barrycross56/3130802652/in/set-72157611554114194/)