Anne Vaux (c. 1562 – in or after 1637) was a wealthy

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

Background

Vaux was the third daughter of

William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

(1535–1595) and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of John Beaumont of Grace Dieu, Leicester. She and her sister Eleanor Brooksby supported Catholic priests by renting houses where priests could convene safely. Among these houses was Whitewebbs in

Enfield Chase Enfield Chase is an open space in the London Borough of Enfield, North London. Historically, the name applied to a large common occupying the western part of the ancient parish of Enfield, extending from Monken Hadley in the west to Bulls ...

, which was visited by several of the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...

ters. Vaux was particularly devoted to Father

Henry Garnet Henry Garnet (July 1555 – 3 May 1606), sometimes Henry Garnett, was an English Jesuit priest executed for high treason in the United Kingdom, high treason, based solely on having had advance knowledge of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and having ...

, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest who was later executed for his foreknowledge of the

. She was related to Francis Tresham, one of the plotters. Both Vaux and Tresham have been suspected of being the author of an anonymous letter to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, warning him to avoid

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

on 5 November 1605, the day that the

ters intended to blow it up. This letter, which Monteagle gave to

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612) was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart period, Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury ser ...

, was instrumental in foiling the plot. The identity of the letter's author has never been conclusively determined. The theory that it was written by Vaux is based largely on "perceived similarities" between her handwriting and that used in the letter. Vaux suspected the existence of the Gunpowder Plot, but she played no direct role in it. She was arrested shortly after the plot was discovered but was released on a bond put up by Lewis Pickering. After her release, she tried unsuccessfully to hide Garnet at the home of Thomas Abington at Hindlip,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. He was discovered and arrested by Thomas Bromley on 25 January and incarcerated in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. Vaux travelled to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

by 11 March. She attempted to communicate with Garnet through concealed messages on letters given to his gaoler. The messages were written in orange juice; historian Anstruther argues that their illegibility, noted by Garnet, indicates that Vaux was near-sighted and unaccustomed to writing. Recent researchers conclude that her use of punctuation is not unusual and the writing is difficult to read only because invisible ink is difficult to use.Nadine Akkerman & Pete Langman, ''Spycraft: Tricks and Tools of the Dangerous Trade'' (Yale, 2024), pp. 179–182. The messages were forwarded to Salisbury, and Vaux was arrested in March 1606. Under interrogation, she proclaimed herself innocent of treason but admitted to receiving conspirators at her houses; she was released in August. Vaux moved to her sister

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

's family estate in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, where she was convicted of

recusancy Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

in 1625, and after her sister's death moved to Stanley Grange,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. She founded a school for boys from Catholic noble families, which the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

authorities tried to shut down in 1635. She died in 1637 or later.

In popular culture

Anne Vaux was played by Helen Longworth in ''The Gunpowder Plot'' on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

Carolyn Pickles Carolyn Pickles (born 8 February 1952) is a British actress from Halifax, England, who has appeared in West End theatre and on British television. She is known for playing DCI Kim Reid in ''The Bill'' and Shelley Williams in ''Emmerdale''. ...

in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

miniseries ''Gunpowder Women'' and by Liv Tyler in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

series ''

Gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

''.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaux, Anne

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

Gunpowder Plot 1562 births 1630s deaths 16th-century English people 17th-century English people People from the Borough of Erewash Daughters of barons