Pembroke's Meyrick and Deveraux executions at Tower of London

His expedition to the Azores, in the mid-Atlantic, had left England vulnerable and a third attempt to invade England in 1597 by the Spanish, with another Armada, was defeated largely due to a huge storm. But even worse, was Devereux’s failure in Ireland.

Given a huge force of over 16,000 men, Devereux was, in 1599, expected to defeat the Irish chieftain Hugh O’Neill in the north of Ireland. Instead, Devereux led his men into the south of the country, consistently avoided O’Neil in battle and concluded a truce disadvantageous to Elizabeth.

Added to this, Devereux left Ireland despite Elizabeth forbidding this without her permission, and worst of all, arriving in London, he burst into her bedchamber before she had been dressed and had wig and makeup applied. Elizabeth by now referred to him as an ‘unruly beast’. By the end of 1599, Devereux had been interrogated at length, committed to house arrest and had all of his lucrative income from the import duty on sweet wine removed.

In mid-1600, he was again arrested, interrogated, required to hear the evidence against him on his knees and was deprived of all public offices. Following this, he began to fortify his London town house on the Strand, Essex House, and Meyrick returned to Pembrokeshire to gather followers.

On 8 February 1601, Devereux, Meyrick and about 400 supporters left Essex House in what has become known as The Essex Rebellion. There is a possibility that the aim was to depose Elizabeth in favour of James of Scotland. The problem for Devereux was that Robert Cecil, son and successor to William Cecil into whose care as a youngster Devereux had been committed as a ward, already knew all there was to know of Devereux’s plans, and on Ludgate Hill, at St Paul’s Cathedral, barely a mile from Essex House, a much greater force, under Sir John Leveson was waiting for him and blocking his path. After a clash of arms, Devereux and his force retreated to Essex House, where Meyrick organised a repelling action against the government forces.

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In a short time and with Essex House surrounded, there was no option other than to surrender. In the quickly arranged treason trial, Devereux was charged with ‘conspiring and imagining to depose and slay the queen and to subvert the Government…..’ He was, unsurprisingly found guilty, and was the last man to be beheaded at the Tower of London on 25.2.1601.

A plot to hold Elizabeth as a hostage until Devereux’s release, a few days before the execution, was discovered and those involved were also executed. The execution of Meyrick followed on 13 March. Lettice Knollys’ third husband, Christopher Blount having ardently supported Devereux in the rebellion, and been wounded in the process, was executed on the same day as Gelly Meyrick.

One of the many criticisms levelled at Robert Devereaux/Earl of Essex is that during his trial he accused his sister Penelope Devereaux (1563-1607) of being complicit in the plot to launch the rebellion. These accusations were mercifully ignored by Queen Elizabeth, and several generations later a descendant of Penelope’s, Lady Elizabeth Rich (? – 1725), married Francis Edwardes of Sealyham, another of this county’s great estates and families.

A younger brother of Gelly Meyrick, Francis, (knighted in 1599, died 1660), also involved in the Rebellion, was spared and settled in Monkton. From him and two other brothers, came generations of Meyricks, many of whom achieved some standing and recognition, and resulted in the Bush Estate which brought, in time, significant opportunities for what became Pembroke Dock.

At some point in the future, I will return to the Meyrick family to relate their somewhat tamer, but fascinating legal battles to erect quays along the foreshore of Pembroke Dock.