Name John Killigrew | ||
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Sir John Killigrew (died 1584) of Arwenack, near Penryn, Cornwall, was the 2nd Governor of Pendennis Castle, (1568–1584) appointed by Queen Elizabeth I, as stated on his father's brass in St Budock's Church. He was MP for Lostwithiel in 1563 and twice for the family's pocket borough of Penryn, in 1571 and 1572. Although appointed a commissioner to enquire into piracy, he was himself a notorious pirate and smuggler.
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Origins
He was the eldest son and heir of John Killigrew (died 1567) of Arwenack, the first Governor of Pendennis Castle appointed by King Henry VIII, by his wife Elizabeth Trewennard, second daughter of James Trewennard of Trewennard, in the parish of St Erth, Cornwall.
Career
Together with his father he opposed the Catholic Queen Mary (1553–1558) and her Spanish husband, and used his fleet of ships to keep the Protestant exiles in France abreast of political developments and attacked Spanish shipping in the Channel. In 1556 he was imprisoned by Mary with his father in the Fleet, but released after three weeks. On the succession of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) he was restored to royal favour. He became notorious for engaging in cattle theft, "evil usage in keeping of a castle" and as a Justice of the peace for abuses in arranging the quarter sessions. Having been appointed a Commissioner to inquire into piracy, he himself was heavily engaged in that activity and traded with smugglers and pirates who frequented the waters around Arwenack. He was the subject of an official investigation in 1565. In January 1582 both he and his wife Mary Wolverston were suspected of involvement in a notorious act of piracy concerning a Spanish ship which had sheltered from a storm in an anchorage opposite Arwenack. It was said that he and his wife had acted together to overpower or murder the crew and steal the cargo of cloth, before ordering the ship to be disposed of in Ireland.
Marriage and children
He married Mary Wolverston, a daughter of Philip Wolverston (often described as a "gentleman pirate") of Wolverston Hall in Suffolk, and widow of Henry Knyvett. Their children included:
Death and burial
He died in 1584 and was buried in St Budock's Church, near Arwenack, where there is a mural monument to him, erected by his son, showing effigies of him and his wife facing each other kneeling in prayer.
In fiction
In the historical novel The Grove of Eagles by Winston Graham, Sir John's formidable widow Mary Wolverston ("old Lady Killigrew") is arguably the dominant character. In her bitter old age she regards the Killigrews with contempt, but acknowledges that her husband was "the best of a poor lot". Additionally, he appears in the novel "The Sea Hawk" by Raphael Sabatini.