Gervase Helwys
Encyclopedia
Sir Gervase Helwys also known as Jervis Yelwys, was a Lieutenant of the Tower of London
found guilty of complicity in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury
and hanged in 1615. The scandal provoked much public and literary conjecture and irreparably tarnished King James I
's court with an image of corruption and depravity. There are variations in the spelling of Helwys: Helwis, Helwiss, Helewyse, Helwysse, Yelwys, Ellowis, Elwys, Elwis, Elvis, Elwes, and Elwaies.
, Nottinghamshire
, the first child of parents John Helwys (1535 — 1600) and Mary Blagden of Thames Ditton
. His cousin, Thomas Helwys
(1575 — 1616), one of the joint founders, with John Smyth, of the Baptist
denomination, was thrown into Newgate Prison
by the king for libel, where he died in 1616. As a student Helwys studied law at Middle Temple
after completing his studies at New Inn, at the University of Oxford
. His uncle, Geoffrey Helwys, a successful merchant, and Alderman and Sheriff of London, was also a member of the Inn. Soon after, he married Mary Brooke, daughter of Thomas Brooke of Norfolk
.
On 7 May 1603, Helwys was knighted by King James I. Some nine years later, on 6 May 1612, he was appointed by the same king as Lord Lieutenant of The Tower
of London after being recommended to the post by Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton
. As was common practice at the time, Helwys had to pay for the title, in this instance £2,000; £1,400 going to Northampton and £300 to Sir Thomas Monson, Master of the Armory in the Tower and a friend of Helwys'. Whilst there, Helwys had been involved on 10 March 1614 in the “examination” of prisoner Edmond Peacham, a rector of Hinton St. George
who had been charged with having written a libel against the king, at the request of the king's Attorney general
, Sir Francis Bacon.
, the Earl of Salisbury
, died in 1612, the king had the notion of governing in person as his own chief Minister of State, with his young Scottish
favorite, Robert Carr
carrying out many of Salisbury's former duties. But James's inability to attend closely to official business exposed the government to factionalism.
The Howard party, consisting of Henry Howard; Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk
; his son-in-law William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury
; Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham
, and Sir Thomas Lake
, soon took control of much of the government and its patronage. Even the powerful Carr, hardly experienced for the responsibilities thrust upon him and often dependent on his intimate friend Overbury for assistance with government papers, fell into the Howard camp. He had done this after beginning an affair with the married Frances Howard, Countess of Essex
, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, whom James assisted in securing an annulment of her marriage in order to free her to marry Carr. Seeing as Overbury distrusted the Howards and still had Carr's ear, he tried to prevent the marriage. In order to remove him from court, the Howard faction manipulated Overbury into seeming to be disrespectful to the queen
. Then it was no small feat to persuade the king to offer Overbury an assignment as ambassador to the court of Tsar Michael of Russia
, with the Howards being fully aware that his refusal would be seen as tantamount to treason. The plan worked and Overbury declined, sensing the urgency to remain in England and at his friend's side. On 22 April 1613, Overbury was placed in the Tower at the king's “request”, eventually dying there five months later on 15 September “of natural causes.”
In July of 1615, after rumors began circulating at court, it subsequently emerged that Overbury had in fact been poisoned the discovery of the crime being revealed by a boy in the employment of one of the apothecaries responsible. Investigations were made and proofs were abundantly forthcoming. At a dinner in Whitehall
with the king's new Secretary of State, Sir Ralph Winwood
, Helwys admitted that he suspected there might have been some foul play. He immediately became suspect after correspondence surfaced between himself and Northampton concerning Overbury's conduct and health. In his letters to Helwys Northampton wrote with contempt of Overbury and expressed a desire that his own name should not be mentioned in connection with his imprisonment. Northampton also introduced one of the royal physicians, John Craig
, to Helwys to report on the prisoner's health. Helwys also made the mistake of corresponding with Howard, the chief suspect in Overbury's poisoning. When the matter was judicially investigated, Helwys felt his political enemies trying to credit him with a direct hand in the murder. On 1 October 1615, he was arrested and forced to exchange his lodgings for a cell at the Tower.
(widow of a fashionable London doctor), and a disreputable apothecary named James Franklin, in Guildhall, London
for complicity in the murder of Overbury. The hearings were presided over by Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench
, and Sir Francis Bacon. It was ruled that "poisons" had been “administered” in the form of “jellies” and “tarts” by Weston, Turner and Franklin at the direction of Frances Howard.
When Howard and Carr were tried she admitted a part in the murder, but her husband did not. Fearing what Carr might say about him in court, James repeatedly sent messages to the Tower pleading with him to admit his guilt in return for a pardon. “It is easy to be seen that he would threaten me with laying an aspersion upon me of being, in some sort, accessory to his crime.” Carr refused and the couple were found guilty and sentenced to death. The king commuted their sentence to life imprisonment and they were eventually pardoned along with Monson.
The only evidence against Helwys was that of Franklin, who asserted that the Lieutenant had been in league with Frances Howard. Through letters to Howard that were not read at the hearings, it was clear that Helwys initially had no idea that Overbury was being poisoned. He confessed later that he had entertained suspicions of this after discovering earlier attempts to poison Overbury on the part of the gaoler Weston, who had been placed in that position at the suggestion of Northampton. Considering the powerful people protecting Weston, and assuming him, indeed, to be no less than their agent, Helwys had hesitated to interfere in what seemed to him to be a matter of state. He had, however, done his utmost surreptitiously to save Overbury. It was plain both from Weston's statements and from Helwys' own, that the Lieutenant had done his very best to defeat the Turner-Essex-Northampton plot to poison his prisoner, throwing away the “rosalgar” and later “draughts”, as well as substituting food for Overbury from his own kitchen for that “sent in” by Turner. He had made Weston recognize the “hideousness” of what he had done and made him promise to desist from further attempts upon the prisoner's life. Although Helwys maintained that he kept a close watch on Overbury after this event, he nevertheless suspected that the “thing was done” the moment his vigilance had been relaxed.
On 18 November, - Helwys, Weston, Turner and Franklin - were found guilty as “accessories before the fact done” and, lacking powerful connections, were sentenced to death. On the day of his execution on the following Monday, 20 November at Tower Hill
, Helwys gave an impassioned speech to the crowd in attendance protesting his innocence:
He did, however, beg God's forgiveness for both his guilt in the crime and for being “much addicted" to gambling. Helwys left behind him eight children with his wife Mary: William, Thomas, Nathaniel Gervase John, Elizabeth Bridget, Maria, Jane, Anna and Francesca.
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
found guilty of complicity in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury
Thomas Overbury
Sir Thomas Overbury was an English poet and essayist, and the victim of one of the most sensational crimes in English history...
and hanged in 1615. The scandal provoked much public and literary conjecture and irreparably tarnished King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
's court with an image of corruption and depravity. There are variations in the spelling of Helwys: Helwis, Helwiss, Helewyse, Helwysse, Yelwys, Ellowis, Elwys, Elwis, Elvis, Elwes, and Elwaies.
Background
Gervase Helwys was born on 1 September 1561 in SaundbySaundby
Saundby is a village in Nottinghamshire, England two miles west of Gainsborough and lies within the civil parish of Beckingham cum Saundby. The parish is bordered on one side by the River Trent. The village Church of St Martin was extensively restored in 1885....
, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, the first child of parents John Helwys (1535 — 1600) and Mary Blagden of Thames Ditton
Thames Ditton
Thames Ditton is a village in Surrey, England, bordering Greater London. It is situated 12.2 miles south-west of Charing Cross between the towns of Kingston upon Thames, Surbiton, Esher and East Molesey...
. His cousin, Thomas Helwys
Thomas Helwys
Thomas Helwys , an Englishman, was one of the joint founders, with John Smyth, of the Baptist denomination.In the early seventeenth century, Helwys was principal formulator of that distinctively Baptist request: that the church and the state be kept separate in matters of law, so that individuals...
(1575 — 1616), one of the joint founders, with John Smyth, of the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
denomination, was thrown into Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
by the king for libel, where he died in 1616. As a student Helwys studied law at Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
after completing his studies at New Inn, at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. His uncle, Geoffrey Helwys, a successful merchant, and Alderman and Sheriff of London, was also a member of the Inn. Soon after, he married Mary Brooke, daughter of Thomas Brooke of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
.
On 7 May 1603, Helwys was knighted by King James I. Some nine years later, on 6 May 1612, he was appointed by the same king as Lord Lieutenant of The Tower
Constable of the Tower
The Constable of the Tower is the most senior appointment at the Tower of London. In the middle ages a constable was the person in charge of a castle when the owner - the king or a nobleman - was not in residence...
of London after being recommended to the post by Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton was a significant English aristocrat and courtier. He was suspect as a crypto-Catholic throughout his life, and went through periods of royal disfavour, in which his reputation suffered greatly. He was distinguished for learning, artistic culture and his...
. As was common practice at the time, Helwys had to pay for the title, in this instance £2,000; £1,400 going to Northampton and £300 to Sir Thomas Monson, Master of the Armory in the Tower and a friend of Helwys'. Whilst there, Helwys had been involved on 10 March 1614 in the “examination” of prisoner Edmond Peacham, a rector of Hinton St. George
Hinton St George
Hinton St George is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated outside of Crewkerne, south west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 404....
who had been charged with having written a libel against the king, at the request of the king's Attorney general
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
, Sir Francis Bacon.
The Overbury Affair
When his Secretary of StateSecretary of State (England)
In the Kingdom of England, the title of Secretary of State came into being near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I , the usual title before that having been King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary....
, the Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
, died in 1612, the king had the notion of governing in person as his own chief Minister of State, with his young Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
favorite, Robert Carr
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, , was a politician, and favourite of King James I of England.-Background:Robert Kerr was born in Wrington, Somerset, England the younger son of Sir Thomas Kerr of Ferniehurst, Scotland by his second wife, Janet, sister of Walter Scott of Buccleuch...
carrying out many of Salisbury's former duties. But James's inability to attend closely to official business exposed the government to factionalism.
The Howard party, consisting of Henry Howard; Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk
Admiral Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, KG, PC was a son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk by his second wife Margaret Audley, Duchess of Norfolk, the daughter and heiress of the 1st Baron Audley of Walden....
; his son-in-law William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury
William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury
Sir William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, KG, PC was an English nobleman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James...
; Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham , known as Howard of Effingham, was an English statesman and Lord High Admiral under Elizabeth I and James I...
, and Sir Thomas Lake
Thomas Lake
Sir Thomas Lake was Secretary of State to James I of England. He was a Member of Parliament in 1604, 1614, 1625 and 1626....
, soon took control of much of the government and its patronage. Even the powerful Carr, hardly experienced for the responsibilities thrust upon him and often dependent on his intimate friend Overbury for assistance with government papers, fell into the Howard camp. He had done this after beginning an affair with the married Frances Howard, Countess of Essex
Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset
Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset was an English noblewoman who was the central figure in a famous scandal and murder during the reign of King James I...
, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, whom James assisted in securing an annulment of her marriage in order to free her to marry Carr. Seeing as Overbury distrusted the Howards and still had Carr's ear, he tried to prevent the marriage. In order to remove him from court, the Howard faction manipulated Overbury into seeming to be disrespectful to the queen
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...
. Then it was no small feat to persuade the king to offer Overbury an assignment as ambassador to the court of Tsar Michael of Russia
Michael of Russia
Mikhail I Fyodorovich Romanov Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was the first Russian Tsar of the house of Romanov. He was the son of Feodor Nikitich Romanov and Xenia...
, with the Howards being fully aware that his refusal would be seen as tantamount to treason. The plan worked and Overbury declined, sensing the urgency to remain in England and at his friend's side. On 22 April 1613, Overbury was placed in the Tower at the king's “request”, eventually dying there five months later on 15 September “of natural causes.”
In July of 1615, after rumors began circulating at court, it subsequently emerged that Overbury had in fact been poisoned the discovery of the crime being revealed by a boy in the employment of one of the apothecaries responsible. Investigations were made and proofs were abundantly forthcoming. At a dinner in Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
with the king's new Secretary of State, Sir Ralph Winwood
Ralph Winwood
Sir Ralph Winwood was an English diplomat and politician.-Life:He was born at Aynhoe in Northamptonshire and educated at St John's College, Oxford....
, Helwys admitted that he suspected there might have been some foul play. He immediately became suspect after correspondence surfaced between himself and Northampton concerning Overbury's conduct and health. In his letters to Helwys Northampton wrote with contempt of Overbury and expressed a desire that his own name should not be mentioned in connection with his imprisonment. Northampton also introduced one of the royal physicians, John Craig
John Craig (physician)
John Craig M.D. was a Scottish physician, known also as an astronomer. He was physician to James VI of Scotland, and accompanied him to England. He also corresponded with Tycho Brahe, and associated with John Napier.-Physician:...
, to Helwys to report on the prisoner's health. Helwys also made the mistake of corresponding with Howard, the chief suspect in Overbury's poisoning. When the matter was judicially investigated, Helwys felt his political enemies trying to credit him with a direct hand in the murder. On 1 October 1615, he was arrested and forced to exchange his lodgings for a cell at the Tower.
Trial and execution
In 1615, Helwys was put on trial, along with Monson, Richard Weston (the gaoler and ex-servant of Howard and Carr's), Mrs Anne TurnerMrs Anne Turner
Mrs Anne Turner , aka Mistress Anne Turner or Mrs. Anne Turner, was the widow of a respectable London doctor who was hanged at Tyburn for her role in the famous 1613 poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury referenced in the plays A New Trick to Cheat the Devil, The Widow, The World Tossed at Tennis and...
(widow of a fashionable London doctor), and a disreputable apothecary named James Franklin, in Guildhall, London
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
for complicity in the murder of Overbury. The hearings were presided over by Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
, and Sir Francis Bacon. It was ruled that "poisons" had been “administered” in the form of “jellies” and “tarts” by Weston, Turner and Franklin at the direction of Frances Howard.
When Howard and Carr were tried she admitted a part in the murder, but her husband did not. Fearing what Carr might say about him in court, James repeatedly sent messages to the Tower pleading with him to admit his guilt in return for a pardon. “It is easy to be seen that he would threaten me with laying an aspersion upon me of being, in some sort, accessory to his crime.” Carr refused and the couple were found guilty and sentenced to death. The king commuted their sentence to life imprisonment and they were eventually pardoned along with Monson.
The only evidence against Helwys was that of Franklin, who asserted that the Lieutenant had been in league with Frances Howard. Through letters to Howard that were not read at the hearings, it was clear that Helwys initially had no idea that Overbury was being poisoned. He confessed later that he had entertained suspicions of this after discovering earlier attempts to poison Overbury on the part of the gaoler Weston, who had been placed in that position at the suggestion of Northampton. Considering the powerful people protecting Weston, and assuming him, indeed, to be no less than their agent, Helwys had hesitated to interfere in what seemed to him to be a matter of state. He had, however, done his utmost surreptitiously to save Overbury. It was plain both from Weston's statements and from Helwys' own, that the Lieutenant had done his very best to defeat the Turner-Essex-Northampton plot to poison his prisoner, throwing away the “rosalgar” and later “draughts”, as well as substituting food for Overbury from his own kitchen for that “sent in” by Turner. He had made Weston recognize the “hideousness” of what he had done and made him promise to desist from further attempts upon the prisoner's life. Although Helwys maintained that he kept a close watch on Overbury after this event, he nevertheless suspected that the “thing was done” the moment his vigilance had been relaxed.
On 18 November, - Helwys, Weston, Turner and Franklin - were found guilty as “accessories before the fact done” and, lacking powerful connections, were sentenced to death. On the day of his execution on the following Monday, 20 November at Tower Hill
Tower Hill
Tower Hill is an elevated spot northwest of the Tower of London, just outside the limits of the City of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Formerly it was part of the Tower Liberty under the direct administrative control of Tower...
, Helwys gave an impassioned speech to the crowd in attendance protesting his innocence:
I was so far from thinking myself foul in the fact, that until these two Gentlemen, (Doctor Felton and Doctor Whiting, the physicians for my soul) told me how deeply I had imbrued my hands in the blood of (Overbury) making me, by God’s law, as guilty in the concealing (of it) as if I had been a personal actor in it. Till then... I held myself ignorant of the deed, and my conscience so clear, that I did never ask God forgiveness...
He did, however, beg God's forgiveness for both his guilt in the crime and for being “much addicted" to gambling. Helwys left behind him eight children with his wife Mary: William, Thomas, Nathaniel Gervase John, Elizabeth Bridget, Maria, Jane, Anna and Francesca.