Nicholas Skeres

Nicholas Skeres (March 1563 – c.1601), was a con-man and government informant. Nicholas Skeres came from a wealthy family, as his father was a member of The Guild of Merchant TaylorsHe worked as a servant for Thomas Walsingham.  He was a government provocateur and a part of discovering the Babington Plot, working as a spy with Francis WalsinghamSkeres was involved in cases of fraud throughout his life working with Ingram Frizer at one point.  He was eventually put in  Bridewell prison, for all of the crimes that he had committed. On May 30, 1593, Skeres and Robert Poley witnessed Ingram Frizer stab Christopher Marlowe at Eleanor Bull’s House over a dispute on the bill. This would lead to Marlowe’s death.  

Author: Casey Douglass (Stonehill College)

Editor: Michael Herlihy

 

Skeres, Nicholas