Christopher Rokeby

[4] In November 1552 Edward VI appointed Christopher Rokeby as Marshal of Berwick as a replacement for Thomas Gower.

[8] On 2 July, Rokeby made contact with an English diplomat in Edinburgh, Henry Killigrew, who had been sent to congratulate Mary on the birth of her son.

[10] Sir Robert Melville, the Scottish ambassador in London, had guessed that Rokeby was an imposter and Cecil's agent.

His companions, Thomas Wright and John Turner, were released, but Rokeby was imprisoned at Spynie Palace for 20 months.

However, her trust was restored by the reports of Sir Robert Melville and she invited Cecil to attend and assist at the baptism of her son.

According to his younger brother Anthony Rokeby, after the murder of Lord Darnley, his captors coerced him to agree to assassinate Bothwell.

In July 1567, when Mary was captive at Lochleven, the English diplomat Nicholas Throckmorton advised Anthony Rokeby to go to Stirling Castle and discuss the matter with William Maitland of Lethington and the associated lords.

Throckmorton felt that Elizabeth I would not condone such a plan, especially as the wider conspiracy involved the murder of the elderly Patrick Hepburn, Bishop of Moray.