Nicholas Skeres - Government Agent

Government Agent

It has been suggested that a man called "Skeggs", known to have been in the company of Sir Francis Walsingham's young relative Thomas Walsingham in France in 1581, was this Nicholas Skeres. Whether this is true or not, there is little doubt that he was involved in Sir Francis's disclosure of the 1586 Babington plot with Thomas Walsingham and Robert Poley. Here is how Charles Nicholl describes it. "(T)wo of Babington's 'crew' ... had been seen there: 'Dunn' and 'Skyeres'. Dunn is Henry Dunne, who was among those executed the following month. 'Skyeres'—a spelling he uses in his signature—is almost certainly Nicholas Skeres. It looks like he was there as a government plant. He was recognized by (Sir Francis) Walsingham's watchers, and was named without further comment in (the) report. His name does not figure among those later arrested. He quietly drops from the story, almost certainly because he was Walsingham's man all along."

In 1589 Skeres was also paid on a warrant signed by Sir Francis Walsingham for the carrying of confidential letters between the Earl of Essex (in Exeter) and the court.