Simon Fernandes time and piracy was an offence punishable by hanging, but in practice Fernandes was engaged in exactly the sort of behaviour to which Queen Elizabeth I of England was inclined to turn a blind eye. However, the Portuguese ambassador Francisco Giraldi vigorously protested Fernandes's activities to the Queen's ministers, after the alleged murder of seven Portuguese sailors, and in 1577 the 39-year-old Fernandes was arrested in Cardiff and taken to London to face trial. However, far from being hanged for his crimes, Fernandes was released, apparently with the connivance of Queen Elizabeth's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, who appears to have
Roy Francis (Royal Navy officer) later sold the WHR to finance the construction of the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway, which runs between Wells-next-the-Sea and Walsingham, Norfolk and opened in 1982. Francis died in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on 27 January 2015 at the age of 92. He left a wife, Marie, two children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His funeral was held on 13 February at St. Peter's Church, Forncett St Peter, Norfolk. attended by about 200 people. Francis lived in nearby Forncett St Mary. Roy Francis (Royal Navy officer) Lieutenant-Commander Roy Wallace Francis (2 July 1922 – 27 January 2015) was