Sir Francis Walsingham (1532-1590), English statesman and spymaster. Walsingham was born near Chiselhurst, Kent into an aristocratic family. He studied at King's College Cambridge and studied law at Gray's Inn, London. A devoted Protestant, he fled to Padua during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary but returned her sister Elizabeth I was crowned. Walssingham served as a member of parliament from 1559. As secretary of state, Walsingham created a network of secret agents across Europe and counter-espionage agents within England itself. He engaged many cryptographers to work on creating and breaking codes, notably Thomas Phelippes. He actively encouraged explorers such as Frobisher and laid much of the groundwork for the civil service. This engraving