Meet Lady Killigrew, the Aristocratic Pirate

aristocratic family around possibly a few years prior. The exact date is lost to the ages, as is often the case. She was the daughter of Philip Wolverston of Wolverston Hall in Suffolk. Now, if you go looking, this is different from the school and events space called Wolverstone Hall in Suffolk that has two ohs and ins and an E that wasn't built until the seventeen seventies, Just to avoid any confusion since that is a more well known place.

But back to Mary. So, her father, Philip was a wealthy man who practiced piracy, earning himself the nickname the Gentleman Pirate. This was a term for wealthy landowner turned pirates. But don't get confused with Stave Bonnet, who we've talked about a little bit before, who was famously known as the Gentleman Pirate, again a couple hundred years later in

the eighteenth century. So we know about Mary's father, but then we have a pretty good gap between Mary's childhood and when we picked her story back up in her adulthood. We know she was married to a man named Henry Nivet, who she was widowed. We know that she then married Sir John Killigrew the fourth and depending on the record you look at, the couple had at least one son and possibly as many as five children. There was actually one source that I saw that had them with ten children.

This is really where Mary's story begins in Cornwall with the Killer groups. So we have talked at great length this season about how it can be really difficult to narrow down the details of a person's life when you're looking back nearly five hundred years. The National Endowment for the Humanities has this great quote about basically what we have all learned about pirates so far this season, and that is a lot of what is known about pirates is not true, and a lot of what is true

is not known. Mary gets caught right up in that there is information about her. She's not a complete blank slate, but the story of her life is often confused or blurred with another woman named Elizabeth. So who is this Elizabeth? One of two things going on here. One theory is that Mary began using the name Elizabeth in the later years of her life, which, sure, maybe that doesn't always

make sense when you read her history. To confuse things even more, there was also an Elizabeth killer Group, the wife of John Godolphin and daughter of John Killer Group, but these people lived at the beginning of the sixteenth century, not during the same time as Mary. The primary explanation here is that she's been confused with her mother in law, who is another Elizabeth, and sometimes their stories, or at least parts of their stories, are told as if these

women were actually the same person. All of this means a few things for us in regard to Mary's story. Although there is some uncertainty about what the women's roles were in the family piracy business, and there are definitely some inaccuracies about Mary's life, it is certain that Mary kind of had piracy flowing through her veins. So Mary is a really interesting lady, and we'll set our scene for Lady Killigrew right now. You may know the opera

The Pirates at Penzance in Cornwall. There's real piracy there and has been for centuries. Mostly it was smuggling though, and that was especially profitable. The coast of Cornwall in southwest England is rocky, with many coves, inlets and other secluded in sheltered spots for ships to hide in, which is perfect for those who want to practice viracy. Because

of that, this area was notorious for pirate activity. The Carters, which was another long standing Cornish family, ran a smuggling operation and carried on their affairs out of three small coves Bessie's Cove, Piskeys Cove and Port Leah known today as Prussia Cove. Coves are of course attractive to pirates because they are challenging to access, so the Carters built their houses above those coves, and each of those houses were connected to the coves below through secret underground passageways,

which sounds pretty cool. Mary married into the Killigrew family, who were also long established in Cornwall, and a family who were also successful pirates. The Kiligrews were wealthy and well connected. John his mother Elizabeth, was a relative of the statesman William Cecil. William Cecil, first Baron Burghley, was the chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth the First and whom she considered her most important minister. For forty years. He

was Lord, High Treasurer and twice Secretary of State. So we're gonna take a quick break for a word from our sponsor, and when we return we'll be talking about when, why and how the Killigrew family became so very powerful. Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about how Mary's husband, John was a pirate who became the county's pirate commissioner YEP. In the fifteen forties, Pendennis Castle was commissioned by King Henry the Eighth to be built on our we Nack estate,

which had long belonged to the Killigrew family. They were the second owners technically. In the late fort century, Simon Killigrew married Jane Darwina, the daughter and sole heiress of Robert Arenak, and the Killigrew family gained the property through that marriage. They lived there for about sixteen generations while they became really the most powerful family in Cornwall. But as our story takes place in the fift hundreds, it was still pretty early on in that occupancy, but they

still had a very solid power base. Mary's father in law, John Killigrew the Third, was appointed by the King as the first governor of Pan Dennis Castle. After his death, it was then Queen Elizabeth First who appointed his son, Sir John Killigrew the Fourth as second governor. A governor in this instance likely would have been a military officer who commanded the fortifications at the castle and at sea.

In these appointments from the queen, shipping in Carrick Rhodes Harbor along the south coast fell under Sir John the Fourth's control and family connections made it really easy for John and his family to pray on the ships that came within his reach along the county's coastline. So John was unchallenged in his jurisdiction. An unchallenged pirate. It's great, I'm the pirate, cop and the pirates. This is going to work out. Just five. I'm investigating myself, not guilty.

So um Mary Tudor reigned as Queen of England between Henry the eighth and Elizabeth the First. Both John the Third and John the Fourth opposed her policies. After ignoring what they didn't like, they were arrested while using their own ships to attack Spanish vessels in the English Channel. Everyone knows you don't practice piracy that close to home. They were both put in Fleet Prison in June of fifteen fifty six to quote be kept their apart in

close prison. They were released after three weeks. It wasn't until Queen Elizabeth the First reigned that John we're talking about, the younger John, that is, was back in favor with the monarchy and he was commissioned by her as essentially a local magistrate. NAT put John on the path to becoming an even greater influential figure in Cornwall. Influential, yes, perhaps also notorious. John also had duties as the piracy

commissioner I know right. He used his position to maintain his relationships with other pirates and to trade with them, and so he could use his influence over smugglers who frequented his coastline. John's trafficking with these pirates was absolutely not a secret. It was just kept quiet through bribery.

Authorities had known of his operations since fifteen fifty two, and despite the corrupt dealings in their favor, in fifteen sixty five commissioners were appointed to conduct a formal investigation. But these were the Killigrews, and they were very powerful. In fact, the family was powerful enough to evade all of the allegation against him. It wasn't until a decade later the officials resumed their interests and wrote to him.

It appears they wrote to him repeatedly, actually about certain events they were concerned about, and that included his imprisoning a French merchant and his seizure of four ships. Only once, in January fifteen sixty nine can we find a record of commendation of John's behavior anywhere, and that was after he and Sir Arthur Champernon had seized Spanish silver from

a vessel and conveyed it to the Crown. By the time Elizabeth the First Rain began in fifteen fifty eight, piracy was already in its golden age, with thousands of pirates sailing the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans in the name of the Crown. Explorers or adventurers or privateers or pirates or whatever you want to call them. It was even the Royal Navy who was involved. They were all pretty much indistinguishable from each other as they plundered their way

around the world. Some were commissioned and paid for their services, but others weren't, and that was really the only difference. The British Empire had a particular interest in looting from their enemy, the Spanish, who were busy looting from what they called the New World today that refers to the Western hemisphere in particular the America's and it was just

new to them. All this piracy took place with the Queen's approval, or at least she turned a blind eye to it, and she did fund many commissions, so it's hard to argue that she didn't know what was going on. Elizabethan authorities generally encouraged piracy because they saw it as a form of economic warfare against the country's enemies, and yes, at this time it was mainly Spain, but it was

certainly not only Spain. Growing more powerful, the Kilogrews rebuilt Arwa Knack House around fifteen sixty seven to seventy one Ish. It was now fortified as a stronghold, and they used it to store merchandise that they had stolen in raids from ships and coastline attacks before they could fence it. The house was described as quote the finest and most costly house in the country. While the Killergrew family didn't always go out on raids themselves, they definitely ran a

tight operation. They owned and outfitted their own ships. They assessed their own stolen goods, they took their share, gave their crews their share, and gave a percent to the crown. Very careful with the books, they also bribed authorities, probably a line item. They had allocated suns formably and pretty

much had all of Cornwall in their pockets. There is a version of the Killer Grew story that suggests Mary and John would entertain guests such as naval and other ship captains, as well as other aristocratic families, as a way to learn where to find their hidden treasures. The Killer Grews were known for taking care of their cruise. It was not uncommon for them to invite their men

at family meals in their home. They settled disputes, they offered protection for their crews, and one example we came across of their bound liz bribery was if one of their ships was followed by authorities. They were instructed to sail into the harbor to the Killogrew's family home, where Joan would then row out and I'm gonna air quote this word, convince the officials into looking the other way. Oh,

I'm sure we can work something. We're all gentlemen here. Mary, however, it's said, preferred to be a little more hands on with the family operation, and she was known to go out on raids during storms. She would send crews out to raid ships that were driven into the harbor. She would ultimately be accused of praying on shipping vessels that passed along the coastline. She was known to cut deals with smugglers and then fence the goods. Historian Nevill Williams

described Mary as a quote tough and unprincipled businesswoman. So we're going to jump into a break for a word from our sponsor, and next let's talk about how Mary gained that description of un principle old businesswoman. Welcome back to Criminalia. Okay, Now is when we get to the moment when Mary made a big mistake. So the Kiligrews continued their business for decades, but their pirate empire was brought down in two, when Mary decided she wanted the

wrong ship. Okay, so this is one of those where we have multiple versions. Here's one. A Hanseatic ship sailed into the harbor during bad weather and the crew was forced to anchor there to win ashore to the Killigrew estate to find shelter and over dinner, Mary told the men that their ship would be safe if they left it in the harbor, and she suggested that they could find a place to stay through the storm in a

nearby town named Penryn. There are some versions of this part of the story that suggests that the two men actually ended up staying in a guesthouse on the killer Grew land, but either way, they were not in for a good night. The Hanseatic League to take a moment to talk about who those men were. It's a part of German history. The League became a powerful network of

merchants cooperating for the promotion of their trade abroad. The allegiance included areas from the east of England to the heart of Russia, and at its peak, the League had the allegiance of nearly two hundred towns across northern Europe. So that night, Mary gathered a crew, and they rode out to the men's ship under the cloak of darkness. They covered their oars with cloth to muffle their noise and not draw attention to their activities. John may Or

may not have been part of this crew. Once on board, they overpowered any crew remaining on the ship and killed them, and they helped themselves to the booty that seized cargo is said to have been Holland cloth or unbleached linen fabric. The crew also stole the ship and in some versions of the story, they sailed it to Ireland and when

the two men returned the next morning everything was gone. So, of course, not only are there different versions of that first story, there is a second version of the story itself, and it goes like this. Mary and her pirate crew boarded and stole treasure from the Spanish ship, the Marie of San Sebastian, which had been anchored near the Kilagrew estate. We don't know many of the details about the raid actually,

but this turned out to be Mary's final heist. Authorities arrested the group and when the stolen goods from the ship were discovered in her home, receiving and fencing stolen goods were added to her charges. Mary, along with two members of her crew, were charged with the murder of a crewman on the Marie, and Mary was convicted and received a death sentence, so were the other two members

of that crew. An investigation conducted by Richard Grenville the Second and Edmund Tremaine disclosed that Mary had recently shown lengths of Holland cloth to her domestic work hers, and that one of her daughters had paid a debt with twenty yards of the unbleached linen. It's reported that John may have been summoned to appear in front of the Privy Council, although no details have survived all these years to tell us if he really was or if there

was any punishment. The Privy Council was a group of nineteen powerful noblemen appointed by Elizabeth First, and they advised the Queen on both domestic and foreign affairs, such as how to handle threats and when to go to war, relations with foreign ambassadors and the like. They did not control her, but it's reasonable someone could have been called in front of them were they accused of piracy and of a high standing. The executions were carried out on

the crew, but Mary wasn't executed. Here's where things become a little unclear and may explain why in the first version of this story she gets away more or less without incident. There are at least three versions of how Mary escaped the gallows. Some say her husband intervened on her behalf bribery, of course we know, seems to be one of his favorite things. Other reports suggest that it was Mary's son who broughted those who could secure her

release from prison and spare her the death sentence. She was facing no big stretch on either of these. The Killergrew family had been doing this for generations. It seems both would be totally plausible. Another version is that the men from the Hanseatic ship submitted a complaint to the Commission for Piracy in Cornwall. But guess who sat at the head of that commission at that time. That would have been Mary's son. Coincidentally, the commission couldn't figure out

exactly who committed the act of piracy. Gosh, I don't know this. There no clues, y'all. Unsatisfied, Those two men went higher and higher on the chain of command until their complaint reached Queen Elizabeth the First herself. Whether it was a Spanish ship or a Hansiatic ship. The event threatened either way to cause a diplomatic crisis. The monarchy encouraged piracy, but such brazen acts in English waters, as

Mary's raid had been, couldn't be condoned. For the sake of plausible deniability, the crown preferred it's pirates conduct their business away from England. So what exactly happened here? How did Mary escape being killed and executed for her crimes? Who pardoned her exactly? We found that it was most often reported that it was Queen Elizabeth the First who intervened issuing that pardon. And while we don't know what really went down to spare her life, Mary did end

her piracy career. She died several years later, sometime after in Buddha Cornwall. And that is the life of Mary Polly. What's getting to the groggery? And see what you have today? Oh Maria? Good good stuff? Uh it is And it surprised me how much I liked it, And it got a thumbs up from my beloved who doesn't really drink a surpriser. So the thing that I kept thinking about, and of course this is because I am a stitcher

in my life was that unbleached linen. And there is actually a drink called a white linen, which is a gin cocktail. And so thinking about the unbleached linen called it to mind, and I thought it would be fun to do a dirty version, since a white linen conveys like a beautiful clear beverage to you. Right, So we're doing the unbleached one. We're swapping out some of the ingredients to make it. Instead of gin. What you're going to start with is one and a half ounces of

Reposada tequila. Have we used tequila before? I think once or twice, but not very often. It's not my spirit of chill ice. That's why it's a surprise. Yes, apparently we're starting out strong, like a good, a good middle grade tequila represtato. And then an ounce of lemon juice,

a half ounce of vanilla syrup. You can use simple, but I highly recommend vanilla, and i'll tell you why in a moment, a half ounce of Saint Germain liqueur so a little elder flower yumminess, and then in alignment with the white linen, three cucumber slices, and you're gonna put all of that in your cocktail shaker, shake it, shake and shake and shake it. You'll have ice in there, so you want everything to get cold and incorporated, and

then you will strain that. Sometimes you'll see a suggestion anytime there's a cucumber and a shaker to double strain it, or strain it with like a piece of cheese cloth or something involved. So none of the seeds slipped through, that's up to you. I don't mind them, but I also didn't have any come through, and I only strained ones and then top it with soda water, and so you get this kind of golden e yellowy drink and

it is complex to the palate, but delicious. And the reason why I was adamant that you use vanilla syrup here is that more than the simple syrup version, the vanilla syrup kind of cuts the legs out from under the tequila, so you don't get that bitiness at all. You just get kind of a really full, stacked set of flavors together. The tequila interacting with the Saint Germain and the vanilla syrup does something very interesting and it's

quite lovely. Even my non drinker husband was like, oh, that's nice, which I was like, that's like a five you and he was like, yeah, yeah, that is the Unbleached Linen. Now, if you want to do the mock tail, it's easy as pie. You're going to do the exact same thing. It's going to have a slightly different flavor profile, but instead of the tequila, you're gonna use ginger beer because you still want to get that golden la And then instead of the Saint Germain, uh, use a lavender syrup.

I like the idea of a floral but something that's not as soft as like a rose or a chrysanthemum syrup. You want the avander, and then it makes a whole slightly different, but you still get that whoa. There's a lot of flavors going on here, but they're playing very nicely together sensation, and that is a very refreshing drink. I'm almost a little late in the season for it, like that would be a great mid July luncheon kind of beverage. It's really nice. So that's the Unbleached Linen.

I'm going to tell you now, so far, of the ones we've done this season, this is my second favorite, is it. We'll see when we get to the the last episode if it stays there. But right now, that's where it's sitting, to my own shock, because it's tequila. It's tequila, and there I was. But the ginger, the ginger beer version is also very very nice. I hope that you try this, have a little unbleached linen of your own to enjoy, and we hope that we will also see you back here next week for more piracy

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