
ELIZABETH I - PRIVY COUNCIL & WALSINGHAM Document signed by eight members of Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council, Richmond, 9 November 1578
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ELIZABETH I - PRIVY COUNCIL & WALSINGHAM
Footnotes
'THE SENDING OF DIVERS PACKETTES OF LETTERS': WALSINGHAM APPROVES PAYMENT FOR HIS AGENTS IN SCOTLAND.
The strategic position of the town of Berwick was critical to the success of the English presence in the Border regions. Here the Privy Council orders payment for carrying "divers packettes of letters" to and from the Queen's agents in Scotland, Walsingham's 'intelligencers' and part of a spy network that stretched across Europe.
Walsingham's friend Robert Constable replaced Sir William Drury (see lot 55) as Marshall of Berwick in 1575, and at once experienced problems with receiving payments from London both for himself and the garrison. A year later he requested to be relieved of his office but stayed after the Queen resolved to send a new treasurer to the town. Suffering from ill health and injuries sustained in a riding accident, he again sought to resign his post because of the expense involved and was finally released in 1578. Indeed, Lord Burghley commented that Constable had been 'beggared' as a result of his time spent at Berwick (historyofparliament website).