Who were the other Gunpowder plotters?

Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot. It’s the infamous date when Guy Fawkes was caught planning to destroy the Houses of Parliament with barrels of explosive in 1605.

But Guy Fawkes didn’t act alone. The Gunpowder Plot involved 13 people working together in an attempt to kill the king and his government. Who were the other 12?

Robert Catesby

The instigator of the Plot was Robert Catesby. He was a charismatic soul who attracted many loyal friends. He also had a strong Catholic faith.

There were tensions between Catholics and Protestants in England at this time, and England was at war with Spain.

Check out this Bitesize guide to the context of the Gunpowder Plot.

In 1603 Catesby tried but failed to persuade the Catholic King of Spain to invade England. He devised the Gunpowder Plot in 1604, recruiting the rest of the Plotters along the way. The objective was to destroy the Houses of Parliament during its opening by King James I, who was Protestant, using barrels of gunpowder in a cellar directly below the House of Lords. The plan was to install James's daughter, Elizabeth, as Queen immediately afterwards.

When the plot was unearthed and foiled, Catesby and some of the Plotters fled London to Holbeche House in Staffordshire.

The house was surrounded by 200 of the Sheriff of Worcestershire’s men on 8 November and he died in the shoot-out that followed.

Thomas Percy

A member of an aristocratic family, Thomas Percy had been involved in talks with King James on Catholicism in England. He was frustrated by the lack of leniency shown to the Catholic church and, as a friend of Catesby, became part of the Gunpowder Plot in May 1604.

He was married to Martha Wright, sister to two fellow Plotters Christopher and John Wright. He became a royal bodyguard and let Guy Fawkes act as his servant, giving them both access to roam around Parliament.

It was easy for the authorities to link Percy to the plot as he rented the basement beneath the House of Lords where Guy Fawkes was discovered. The Plotters had stored gunpowder in the basement.

He was killed in the shoot-out at Holbeche House.

Thomas Bates

The loyal servant of Catesby, Bates looks to have been involved in the plot from late 1604. He helped dig the tunnel towards the House of Lords from Thomas Percy’s house which was to have been used in the original plan. Once a cellar was rented directly below the House of Lords, the tunnel was not necessary.

He fled with his master after the plan was foiled but was not involved in the stand-off at Holbeche House.

His capture was swift and he was executed in St Paul’s Churchyard on 30 January.

Francis Tresham

Francis Tresham was a cousin of Catesby. He was imprisoned for his role in a rebellion by the Earl of Essex against the Queen’s advisor in 1601.

The main reason the Gunpowder Plot failed was a letter sent to Tresham’s brother-in-law, the MP Lord Monteagle, warning him not to attend Parliament on 5 November.

It has never been conclusively proved who sent the letter but strong suspicion surrounds Francis Tresham, who was only brought into the plan in October 1605. His fellow conspirators were concerned about his trustworthiness and perhaps they had good reason. Tresham found the idea of blowing up the House repugnant and wanted it stopped, although he denied writing the warning letter.

Guy Fawkes himself named Tresham as a fellow plotter and the latter was sent to the Tower of London where he died of natural causes a few weeks later on 23 December.

John and Christopher Wright

John Wright was the first person approached by his close friend Catesby about the plot.

He and his brother Christopher (also known as Kit) attended the same school as Guy Fawkes in York.

They were already viewed as dangerous Catholics by the authorities and had been arrested for suspicion of conspiracy in 1596 and imprisoned for their role in the Essex Rebellion in 1601.

Christopher was embroiled in the plot later but was killed along with his brother John in the shooting at Holbeche House.

Thomas and Robert Winter

The Winters (also known as Wintour) were from a devout Catholic family and cousins of Catesby and Tresham. Thomas Winter was one of the first to be drawn into Catesby’s plot, along with John Wright.

In 1602, Thomas had worked on the plan, with Lord Monteagle, to try to win Spanish support for Catholics in England.

Thomas brought Guy Fawkes into the conspiracy after the pair met in Flanders, where Fawkes was fighting for the Spanish army.

He also found out from one of Lord Monteagle’s servants that their plan had been discovered and tried to stop it going ahead. Although caught up in the flight to Holbeche House, he was not killed. The information Thomas gave under interrogation implicated all the other conspirators except his brother Robert. Thomas stood trial early in 1606. He was executed on 31 January that same year.

Robert, the elder Winter brother, became involved in the Plot in January 1605 and managed to stay on the run from the authorities until January 1606.

Despite this, he was executed a day before his brother, on 30 January, alongside Sir Digby, John Grant and Thomas Bates.

Robert Keyes

Robert Keyes was a distant cousin of fellow Plotters the Winters and the Wrights.

An unusual member in that he came from a Protestant background, he was involved with the plan early on, in October 1604. His task was keeping the gunpowder and all equipment associated with it safe from discovery. It was stored, for a while at least, in the home of Thomas Percy.

When he was about to be executed on 31 January 1606 for his role in the foiled plot, he said that the plan had already been justified.

John Grant

Brother-in-law to the Winters (he was married to their sister Dorothy), Warwickshire-born Grant owned a large house called Norbrook near Stratford-on-Avon, which was an ideal strategic stronghold.

Believed to have bought weaponry throughout 1605, Grant was captured in the assault on Holbeche House. He was later tried in London and executed on 30 January 1606.

Ambrose Rookwood

A plan to destroy Parliament needs money behind it. Ambrose Rookwood inherited his father’s estates in 1600, which meant he had plenty of cash. He was also sympathetic to the Catholic cause.

Rookwood came into the plan two months before it was unsuccessfully executed. He was captured at Holbeche and tried in London on 27 January. He, too, was executed in Old Palace Yard, on 31 January 1606.

Sir Everard Digby

Another latecomer to the plot, Sir Everard Digby was a wealthy Catholic who joined the conspirators on October 1605. He was initially asked to plan an uprising in the Midlands.

After his capture, he wrote many letters to his family from prison. These were published 10 years later.

He pleaded guilty at his trial, which meant he was allowed to make a speech about the treatment of Catholics in England.

He was executed on 30 January 1606.

This article was first published in November 2019 and last updated in October 2024