SALUSBURY, THOMAS (1561 - 1586), conspirator

Born 1561, elder son and heir of John Salusbury the younger and Katheryn of Berain. His year of birth is found in an englyn by William Cynwal, NLW MS 1553A . His brother (Sir) John was born in 1566 (englyn by William Cynwal in NLW MS 6495D , facing p. 1); in the same MS., englynion by various poets name five of his children.

He was admitted to Trinity College, Oxford, 29 January 1579/80 at the age of 16 (he is not the same as the Thomas Salusbury who is mentioned by Foster, Reg. of Adm. to Gray's Inn, under the year 1573; cf. also D.N.B.). After some time at Oxford, he joined the service of the earl of Leicester, his guardian and patron, and while in London appears to have become a Roman Catholic; about 1580 he joined a group of lively young courtiers who favoured the cause of Mary, queen of Scots.

Early in 1586 Salusbury and another Welshman, Edward Jones of Plas Cadwgan near Wrexham, came under the influence of Anthony Babington who was plotting to murder Elizabeth, release Mary, and set her on the throne. The plot was disclosed to the authorities and Babington was arrested at the end of August; Salusbury succeeded in escaping to Cheshire where, however, he, too, was arrested a few days later. He and the other conspirators were arraigned before a special court at Westminster, 13 September, and Salusbury was found guilty of intending to raise a rebellion in Denbighshire should Babington's plot be successful. In spite of his strenuous denial that he had any desire to murder Elizabeth, he was executed 21 September to the terror and great grief of his family and his other friends in Denbighshire.

Salusbury had married, at the age of 10, Margaret, daughter of Maurice Wynn of Gwydir, his mother's third husband. Lleweni passed to his brother, Sir John Salusbury (died 1612).

Author

• Emyr Gwynne Jones, (1911 - 1972)

Sources

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and the authorities mentioned therein
• Foster, Alumni Oxonienses: the members of the University of Oxford
• D. Mathew, The Celtic Peoples and Renaissance Europe. A study of the Celtic and Spanish influences on Elizabethan history (1933), 64-8
• A. H. Dodd, The English historical review, 1944, 354-5
• John Williams, Ancient and modern Denbigh a descriptive history of the castle, borough and liberties with sketches of the lives, character and exploits of the feudal lords (Denbigh 1856), 166-7

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: Thomas Salisbury

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q7793755

Published date: 1959

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