Skeleton Closet

Skeleton Closet
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Family Stories They Never Told Us

William Squier (1560 to 1592), Gwendolyn's 11th Great Grandfather.  Apparently an English nobleman who managed to become a member of Queen Elizabeth I court. He is also known to have been a part of the company on the last voyage of Sir Frances Drake.  From here it is not clear what happened but he ended up a prisoner of the Spanish and was eventually brought before the Inquisition.  He somehow managed to be among the exchanged prisoners and, because of this, he was considered a very clever fellow at court.

However, his cleverness was more reputation than real, for he got mixed up with a rebellious group that wished to murder Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Sussex. See the movie "Elizabeth" to get an idea of what was going on at this time.  It is said that William Squier tried to poison the Queen and the Earl with some substance that could be absorbed through the skin.  The plot failed miserably and the "clever one" got his head chopped off.