Francis Walsingham
Videos
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".
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)
Videos
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.
William Cecil, Lord Burghley, a Secretary of Queen Elizabeth