The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Gunpowder plot ‘wanted’ poster found in Aberdeen
400-year-old document describes Guy Fawkes’ colleague
It is one of the most famous – or infamous – chapters in British history: the assassination attempt on the British monarch and parliament by Guy Fawkes and his colleagues in 1605.
And now, a wanted poster for a notorious figure in the scheme, which it describes as “one of the most horrible treasons that ever was contrived”, has been unearthed in Aberdeen City Council’s archives.
Thomas Percy, a driving force behind the Gunpowder Plot, was among the men who originally convened at the Duck and Drake Inn in the Strand in London in May 1604.
It was there the cabal hatched their plan to kill King James 1 of England and VI of Scotland.
He and his fellow conspirators – Robert Catesby, Thomas Wintour, John Wright and Fawkes – swore an oath of secrecy on a prayer book and subsequently moved forward with their machinations which so nearly succeeded. But their plot was foiled on November 5, when Fawkes was arrested while guarding explosives beneath the House of Lords.
To celebrate the fact the monarch had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London and an annual day of thanksgiving for the plot’s failure has been held for more than 400 years.
Aberdeen’s Lord Provost, Barney Crockett, asked the local authority recently whether they might have any documents relating to the incident.
And he said yesterday he was thrilled by the discovery of an original document, dated November 5 1605, urging the King’s “Officers and loving Subjects” to search for Percy. The proclamation describes Percy as “a tall man with a great broad beard, a good face, the colour of his beard and head mingled with white haires, but the head more white than the beard.”
Mr Crockett said: “It’s fascinating to think we have an original document which was issued on the very day of the Gunpowder Plot.
“The description of Thomas Percy as a tall man with a broad beard, long footed and small legged, suggests that if you had seen him, you would definitely have remembered him.”
Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire archivist, Phil Astley, was equally fascinated by the finding, which he said provided a tangible link to the early 17th century.
He added: “This is one of my favourite documents, because it dates back so far and yet it still has a connection to our lives today, especially in the next few days. This would have been sent to all corners of the land and the description of Percy is as good a photofit as the authorities could manage at the time.
“It is bound into a big volume called a Proclamation Register, which carries all sorts of notices.
“Once it had been sent to somewhere such as Aberdeen, the intention would have been for the poster to be put up in a prominent place so that the public could see it.”