Francis Walsingham
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Sir Francis Walsingham was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster".
Portrait attributed to John de Critz, c. 1585
Ruins of Scadbury Hall, seat of the Walsingham family, Chislehurst, Kent
Seventeenth-century engraving of Queen Elizabeth with William Cecil (left) and Francis Walsingham (right)
Famous portrait of Elizabeth I after the defeat of the Spanish Armada
Secretary of State (England)
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In the Kingdom of England, the title of Secretary of State came into being near the end of the reign of Elizabeth I, the usual title before that having been King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary.
Richard Foxe, King's Secretary 1485 to 1487
William Cecil, Lord Burghley, a Secretary of Queen Elizabeth