Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition Portuguese possessions and shipping, and conduct illicit trading. Sir Walter Raleigh had enjoyed several years of high esteem from Queen Elizabeth I, which stemmed in part from his previous exploits at sea which included the famous Capture of the Madre de Deus. Soon after, however, Raleigh suffered a short imprisonment for secretly marrying one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, Elizabeth Throckmorton, and bearing her a child. In a bid to restore his influence with the Queen, Raleigh, having promised a "gold-rich empire more lucrative than Peru", had set up an expedition under John Whiddon to find the fabled city of gold
Elizabeth Tyldesley Elizabeth Tyldesley Elizabeth Tyldesley (or Clare Mary Ann, OSC) (1585–1654) was a 17th-century abbess at the Poor Clare Convent at Gravelines. Elizabeth Tyldesley born in 1585, was the daughter of Thomas Tyldesley of Morleys Hall, Astley and Myerscough Hall and Elizabeth Anderton of Lostock, in Lancashire (now Greater Manchester). Her family were recusants and her mother arranged a pension for the Roman Catholic priest, Ambrose Barlow, so that he could secretly carry out priestly duties, offering Mass in the homes of Roman Catholics in the Leigh parish. Her grandfather, Edward Tyldesley, had left her a dowry of £500, but she