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
Baron Walsingham Baron Walsingham Baron Walsingham, of Walsingham in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. This noble title was created in 1780 for Sir William de Grey on his retirement as Lord Chief Justice, who had previously served as Solicitor-General and as Attorney-General. His son, the second Baron, represented Wareham, Tamworth and Lostwithiel in the House of Commons and served as Joint Postmaster-General from 1787 to 1794; Lord Walsingham was also Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords for many years. His eldest son, the third Baron, was a Lieutenant-General in the Army, who