Gunpowder Plot – Robert Keyes

The November wind will soon moan through the rafters, and the candle at my elbow flickers low. Shadows lean and shift across the room, as if listening. Nights such as these bring back the names of men now half-forgotten, yet once central to a scheme that shook England.

Robert Keyes was one such figure. Born into a Catholic family, he married into kinship with the recusant Digbys. Described as sombre, secretive, and fiercely loyal, he had neither the rank of Percy nor the brilliance of Catesby, yet he was trusted with one of the most critical tasks.

Keyes became guardian of the gunpowder itself. When the conspirators secured the undercroft beneath the House of Lords, it was Keyes who watched over the barrels, ensuring their concealment through the anxious months before Parliament was to open. His was not the voice of strategy, but of duty, a man who obeyed and endured.

After the discovery of Guido Fawkes in the cellar, Keyes fled with the others. His escape was short-lived. Captured, tried, and condemned, he met his death at Westminster in January 1606 with a composure that surprised even his enemies.

The past is never silent.