Francis Walsingham Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( 1532 – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Walsingham attended Cambridge University and travelled in continental Europe before embarking on a career in law at the age of twenty. A committed Protestant, during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I of England he joined other expatriates in exile in Switzerland and northern Italy until Mary's death and the accession of her Protestant half-sister, Elizabeth. Walsingham rose
Francis Harvey (MP for Colchester) the widow of Thomas Darcy of Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex. He had one daughter. Francis Harvey (MP for Colchester) Francis Harvey was an English politician. He was born in 1534, the second son of John Harvey of Ickworth, Suffolk by Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Pope of Mildenhall, Suffolk. In 1571 and 1584–1587, he was the Member of Parliament for Colchester, Essex as the nominee of Sir Francis Walsingham. In 1589, he was elected MP for Knaresborough and in 1593 MP for Chippenham. He married, firstly, Mary, daughter and coheiress of Thomas Neville of Holt, Leicestershire and the widow of Sir John