John Grant (Gunpowder Plot) - Plot

Plot

English Catholics hoped that the years of persecution they had suffered during Elizabeth's reign would end when James I came to the throne, as his attitude appeared moderate, even tolerant towards Catholics. In Robert Catesby's view however, James had reneged on his promises, and he quickly lost patience with the new dynasty. He therefore planned to kill James by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder, and inciting a popular revolt during which a Catholic monarch would be restored to the throne.

Catesby enlisted the help of six fellow Catholics, and by 25 March 1605 he had recruited three others: Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, and Grant. Grant had received a letter from Catesby inviting him to a meeting that took place in Oxford at the Catherine Wheel inn, where he and Robert Wintour swore an oath after which they were told of the plan. Grant's role in the uprising centred on his house at Norbrook, ideally located in the English Midlands close to Warwick and Stratford, and to Catesby's childhood home at Lapworth (then owned by John Wright). In summer 1605 Grant likely stored weapons and ammunition at Norbrook, but he was also to take charge of the provision of rare war horses from the nearby Warwick Castle.

Concern over the plague had delayed Parliament's opening from February, to October 1605, and the government later claimed that by December 1604 the plotters were busily digging a tunnel beneath Parliament. No evidence exists to substantiate this claim, and no trace of a tunnel was ever found, but perhaps because of the change of dates Grant seems not to have been involved in the endeavour, which was stopped when the tenancy to the undercroft beneath the House of Lords became available. By 20 July the explosives were in position, but the opening of Parliament was again prorogued, this time until 5 November 1605. As Catesby added three more to the conspiracy, the last few details were worked out; Fawkes was to light the fuse that would set off the explosion, and then escape to the continent, while the others would incite the Midlands uprising, and capture James's daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Thus, as the plot moved closer to fruition, on Monday 4 November Grant and a friend were to be found in Dunchurch at the Red Lion inn, with the newly-recruited Everard Digby and his "hunting party". The group attended a Mass the next morning, before moving on.