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Alkin, Elizabeth [nicknamed Parliament Joan] (c. 1600–1655?), nurse and spy
Maureen Bell
Alkin, Elizabeth [nicknamed Parliament Joan] (c. 1600–1655
Article
André, John (1750–1780), army officer and spy
Richard Garnett
revised by Troy O. Bickham
André, John (1750–1780), army officer and spy, was born in London on 2 May 1750, the eldest son of Anthony André (1717–1769), a Genevese merchant settled in the city, and Marie Louise Girardot (1721?–1813). He had at least one brother and sister. He was educated at home and possibly at ...
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André, John (1750–1780)
Maker: John Keyse Sherwin
In
John André (1750–1780) by John Keyse Sherwin, 1781 (after self-portrait, 1780) © National Portrait Gallery, London
Article
Armorer, Sir Nicholas (c. 1620–1686), royalist army officer, conspirator, and courtier
Geoffrey Smith
Armorer, Sir Nicholas (c. 1620–1686), royalist army officer, conspirator, and courtier, was born at Belford, Northumberland, a younger son of Thomas Armorer (d. 1642), of Belford, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Robert Clavering of Callaly in the same county. Like his brother ...
Article
Bacon, Anthony (1558–1601), spy
Alan Stewart
Bacon, Anthony (1558–1601), spy, was the fourth of five sons of Sir Nicholas Bacon (1510–1579), administrator, of Gorhambury, Hertfordshire, and the first with his second wife, Anne, née Cooke (c.1528–1610) [see Bacon, Anne], daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of ...
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Baillie [Bailly], Charles (c. 1541–1625), conspirator and informer
Peter Holmes
Baillie [Bailly], Charles (c. 1541–1625), conspirator and informer, was probably born in the Low Countries of Scottish descent. He was a good linguist, and from about 1564 found employment in the household of Mary, queen of Scots. By 1571 he was in the service of ...
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Bampfield, Joseph (1622–1685), army officer and spy
Alan Marshall
Bampfield, Joseph (1622–1685), army officer and spy, was probably born in Devon, one of a family long established in the west country, but his parentage and early life are obscure. There is no validity for the earl of Clarendon's later statement that he was an Irishman, although he may have been educated at ...
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Bancroft, Edward (1744–1821)
Maker: Nathan Branwhite
Edward Bancroft (1744–1821) by Nathan Branwhite, pubd 1801 (after Samuel Medley, 1800) [Institutors of the Medical Society of London; standing, far left] © Copyright The British Museum
Article
Bancroft, Edward (1744–1821), chemist and spy
Anthony S. Travis
Bancroft, Edward (1744–1821), chemist and spy, was born at Westfield, Massachusetts, on 9 January 1744. His tutor was Silas Deane, later a member of the American congress. After a brief apprenticeship to a physician in Connecticut, Bancroft went to sea at the age of eighteen. In 1763 he was in ...
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Bazna, Elyesa [alias Cicero] (b. 1903), spy
Robin Denniston
Bazna, Elyesa [alias Cicero] (b. 1903), spy, was born at Pristina near Belgrade, the son of Albanian parents. He later said that his father, Hafiz Yazan Bazna, was a mullah, and that both his grandfather and one of his uncles were among ...
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Beach, Thomas Billis [alias Henri Le Caron] (1841–1894), spy
K. R. M. Short
Beach, Thomas Billis [alias Henri Le Caron] (1841–1894), spy, was born on 26 September 1841 at Colchester, Essex, the second son of the family of thirteen children of John Joseph Billis Beach (d. 1888/9), a Methodist cooper, and his wife, Maria Beach, ...
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![Cover Beach, Thomas Billis [Henri Le Caron] (1841–1894)](/cover/searchableMedia/odnb-9780198614128-e-1009118-graphic-1-thumbnail.jpg)
Beach, Thomas Billis [Henri Le Caron] (1841–1894)
Maker: Sydney Prior Hall
In
Thomas Billis Beach [Henri Le Caron] (1841–1894) by Sydney Prior Hall, pubd 1889 [giving evidence before the Parnell commission] © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Bedloe, William (1650–1680)
Maker: Robert White
In
William Bedloe (1650–1680) by Robert White, pubd 1681 © National Portrait Gallery, London
Article
Bedloe, William (1650–1680), informer and adventurer
Alan Marshall
Bedloe, William (1650–1680), informer and adventurer, was the second son of Isaac Bedloe (d. 1656). William Bedloe was born in Chepstow on 20 May 1650 and spent his early life both there and in Bristol. Much of his early life was deliberately clouded in obscurity. His own published account of his parentage and ancestry remains dubious. He claimed that his father had been a gentleman soldier who had served the king in the civil wars and whose own father was ...
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Bizzarri [Bizari], Pietro (b. 1525, d. in or after 1586), historian and spy
Kenneth R. Bartlett
Bizzarri [Bizari], Pietro (b. 1525, d. in or after 1586), historian and spy, was born probably in Sassoferrato Castello (Marche), Italy, the son of Antonio Bizzarri, a soldier who died in 1528. He must also have lived in Perugia, hence his common description as ...
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Blood, Thomas (1617/18–1680), adventurer and spy
Alan Marshall
Blood, Thomas (1617/18–1680), adventurer and spy, was born at Sarney, co. Meath. His early life is obscure, but it was later claimed that his father (who was possibly Neptune Blood) was a blacksmith and ironworker, 'serious, honest and of no inferior credit...
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Blood, Thomas (1617/18–1680)
Maker: unknown artist
In
Thomas Blood (1617/1818–1680) by unknown artist The Pepys Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge
