An original Warrant, signed by six members of the Privy Council, including the Earl of Leicester and Sir Francis Walsingham, addressed to the Lord Treasurer of England, authorising payments of £20 or £30 to “certaine gentlemen and Captaines of skill and experience in martyall affaires”, all named in this warrant, sent to assess the readiness of the forces in the maritime counties by ELIZABETH I. Privy Council Warrant, 26 December 1587

From the Court at Greenwich, 26 December 1587. 1 page 12 x 8 inches, browned, with the integral address leaf (soiled where folded for filing), preserved by being laid down on thin paper. With a separate typed transcript. Preparations to resist a Spanish invasion. In this document the expenses of the Queen’s officers in the “Marytime Counties” are “to be paied by way of prest such sommes of money as are sett downe here by us”. Signed by Elizabeth I’s Privy Councillors: Sir Christopher Hatton (1540-1591), Lord Chancellor; Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (1532-1588), the Queen’s favourite; William Brooke, 4th Lord Cobham, Warden of the Cinque Ports and Chamberlain of the Queen’s Household; Sir Francis Knollys (1511-1596), Treasurer of the Royal Household; Sir Francis Walsingham (1532-1590), Secretary of State; Sir John Wolley (d.1596), Latin Secretary and Member of Parliament.