Thomas Bates (1567 – 30 January 1606) was a member of the group of provincial
English Catholics who planned the failed
Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sough ...
of 1605.
Bates was born at
Lapworth
Lapworth is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, which had a population of 2,100 according to the 2001 census; this had fallen to 1,828 at the 2011 Census. It lies six miles (10 km) south of Solihull and ten miles (16&nbs ...
in Warwickshire, and became a retainer to
Robert Catesby
Robert Catesby (c. 1572 – 8 November 1605) was the leader of a group of English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Born in Warwickshire, Catesby was educated in Oxford. His family were prominent recusant Catholics, and ...
, who from 1604 planned to kill King
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
by blowing up the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
with gunpowder, and inciting a popular revolt during which a Catholic monarch would be restored to the English throne. Bates was invited to join the conspiracy after he accidentally became aware of it. As he rode with Catesby to prepare for the group's planned uprising on 5 November 1605,
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...
was found guarding the gunpowder stored under the House of Lords and arrested. Bates subsequently accompanied Catesby and his small group of fugitives to
Holbeche House
Holbeche House (also, in some texts, Holbeach or Holbeache) is a mansion located approximately north of Kingswinford, now in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley but historically in Staffordshire.Aikin, L. p.244 Some members of the Gunpowder P ...
in Staffordshire, but left shortly before his master was killed there by government forces on 8 November. He was subsequently captured and taken to London.
Bates was the only member of the group to implicate the
Jesuits in the conspiracy, but may have done so only to alleviate his punishment. He retracted his statement when it became clear he was to be executed. Three days after his trial on 27 January 1606, he was
hanged, drawn and quartered.
Biography
Servant
Bates was born at
Lapworth
Lapworth is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, which had a population of 2,100 according to the 2001 census; this had fallen to 1,828 at the 2011 Census. It lies six miles (10 km) south of Solihull and ten miles (16&nbs ...
in Warwickshire, and was married to Martha Bates. He was employed as a retainer to Sir
Robert Catesby
Robert Catesby (c. 1572 – 8 November 1605) was the leader of a group of English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Born in Warwickshire, Catesby was educated in Oxford. His family were prominent recusant Catholics, and ...
's family, and with his wife lived in a cottage on the Catesby family estate.
He was allowed his own servant, as well as his own armour. Bates was considered a loyal and devoted servant to Catesby.
Bates was the seventh man to be enlisted into what became known as the
Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sough ...
,
a scheme devised early in 1604 by Catesby to kill
King James I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
by blowing up the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
with gunpowder, and inciting a popular revolt during which a Catholic monarch would be restored to the English throne. Bates's involvement in the plot began when he became suspicious of Catesby's movements. In December 1604 he was invited to his master's lodgings at
Puddle Wharf in London, and questioned there by
Thomas Wintour
Robert Wintour (1568 – 30 January 1606) and Thomas Wintour (1571 or 1572 – 31 January 1606), also spelt Winter, were members of the Gunpowder Plot, a failed conspiracy to assassinate King James I. Brothers, they were related to other consp ...
and Catesby, who had noted his suspicion. Bates told them that he thought that they "intended some dangerous matter about the Parliament House, because he had been sent to get a lodging near unto that place." At that point the two men let Bates in on the secret.
In the same month it was announced that because of the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pe ...
, the re-opening of Parliament would not be in February, but rather in October. During this delay the conspirators may have dug a tunnel beneath Parliament, although no evidence for its existence has ever been found. The plotters ultimately stored their gunpowder in the
undercroft
An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open ...
directly beneath the House of Lords. In July 1605 the opening of Parliament was again delayed, this time until Tuesday 5 November. Catesby had funded most of the plot, but by August 1605 he was running out of money. During a secret meeting at
Bath in August, at which he, Percy and Thomas Wintour were present, the plotters decided that "the company being yet but few" he was to be allowed to "call in whom he thought best". Bates was uncomfortable with the idea, and was the only member of the conspiracy to object. He was over-ruled however, and Catesby soon enlisted
Ambrose Rookwood
Ambrose Rookwood (c. 1578 – 31 January 1606) was a member of the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I with a Catholic sovereign. Rookwood was born into a wealthy family of Catholic recusants, and edu ...
,
Francis Tresham
Francis Tresham ( 1567 – 23 December 1605), eldest son of
Thomas Tresham and Muriel Throckmorton, was a member of the group of English provincial Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King Jame ...
and
Everard Digby
Sir Everard Digby (c. 1578 – 30 January 1606) was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Although he was raised in a Protestant household, and married a Protestant, Digby and his w ...
.
Failure
The last details of the plot were finalised in October.
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...
would light the fuse and then escape across the Thames, while simultaneously a revolt in the Midlands would help to ensure the capture of Princess Elizabeth.
Late on Monday 4 November, Bates set out with Catesby and John Wright for the planned revolt. The following day while at
Dunstable
Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...
re-shoeing Catesby's horse, they were met by Rookwood, who delivered the devastating news that Fawkes had been discovered guarding the gunpowder and arrested. As those conspirators still in London fled the city, the group soon integrated
Christopher Wright and
Thomas Percy. They rode toward
Dunchurch
Dunchurch is a large village and civil parish on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, approximately southwest of central Rugby. The civil parish which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, had a population of 4,12 ...
, on horses sent from Everard Digby by prearrangement. They met
Robert Wintour (brother to Thomas) at Ashby St Ledgers, and Digby at
Dunchurch
Dunchurch is a large village and civil parish on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, approximately southwest of central Rugby. The civil parish which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, had a population of 4,12 ...
. On 6 November they stole horses from
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-an ...
, and collected stored weapons from Norbrook, near
Stratford-upon-Avon. As they continued toward Huddington, and as the government issued a proclamation for the fugitives' arrest (Catesby's servant was listed as Robert Ashfield, probably a mistake for Bates), Catesby ordered Bates to deliver a letter to Father Garnet at
Coughton Court
Coughton Court () is an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
The house has a long crenellated façade directly facing the main road, at the cen ...
, asking for his support. Bates's news proved momentous for the Jesuits; he overheard Tesimond exclaim "we are all utterly undone". Garnet's reply to Catesby begged them to stop their "wicked actions", and to listen to the pope's teachings.
Capture
By the time the fugitives and their supporters arrived at
Holbeche House
Holbeche House (also, in some texts, Holbeach or Holbeache) is a mansion located approximately north of Kingswinford, now in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley but historically in Staffordshire.Aikin, L. p.244 Some members of the Gunpowder P ...
on the border of
Staffordshire, they were exhausted. Drenched from the rain, they spread out some of the now-soaked gunpowder in front of the fire, to dry out. A spark from the fire landed on the powder and the resultant flames engulfed Catesby, Rookwood, Grant, and another man. At some point between then and the arrival of the
Sheriff of Worcester
This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire.
The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the ...
and his men, Bates left the house, possibly with his son and Digby. If he was with the latter, he was captured later the same day and taken to London. Catesby was killed early that day along with Percy,
John Wright and his brother Christopher.
Imprisonment and execution
While imprisoned, on 4 December Bates claimed that Father
Oswald Tesimond knew of the plot. In the opinion of author
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (' Pakenham; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and p ...
however, Bates's evidence is suspect; he was of a lower class than his co-conspirators, and could therefore reasonably have assumed he was at more risk of being tortured than the others.
Perhaps trying to curry favour with his interrogators, he was the only conspirator to implicate the Jesuits. He later retracted his confession when it became clear that he was to be executed.
Bates was charged with
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
, and tried at
Westminster Hall
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...
on Monday 27 January 1606, alongside seven of his fellow conspirators. He arrived at the hall separately from the others; prisons operated on a class-based system and so he was kept at the
Gatehouse Prison
Gatehouse Prison was a prison in Westminster, built in 1370 as the gatehouse of Westminster Abbey. It was first used as a prison by the Abbot, a powerful churchman who held considerable power over the precincts and sanctuary. It was one of the pri ...
, rather than the Tower. Only Digby pleaded guilty. On the morning of 30 January 1606 therefore, Bates was tied to a wattled hurdle and dragged by horse along the street, from the Gatehouse Prison to the western end of St Paul's Churchyard. There he was present as first Digby, then Robert Wintour, and then Grant, were
hanged, drawn and quartered. Bates was the last to ascend the scaffold that day, and met a similarly gruesome end. The following day the four remaining conspirators were executed in the same manner.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Thomas
1606 deaths
Executed Gunpowder Plotters
Roman Catholic activists
1567 births
16th-century English people
16th-century Roman Catholics
17th-century Roman Catholics
English Roman Catholics
Executed people from Warwickshire
People executed by Stuart England by hanging, drawing and quartering