Sir Edward Stafford (1552 – 5 February 1605) was an English Member of Parliament, courtier, and diplomat to France during the time of Queen Elizabeth I.
[1] The English counterspy Francis Walsingham was deeply suspicious but was unable to prove anything and could not act as long as Stafford was protected by Lord Burghley.
McDermott concludes, "The evidence of Stafford's treachery, though substantial, remains circumstantial, and the precise degree of his culpability is difficult to establish".
[2] Leimon and Parker are convinced of his guilt and add, " Equally damning is the misinformation about the nonexistence and false destinations of the Armada Stafford forwarded to England".
In March 1585, Stafford obtained a cipher key, thought to be used in the correspondence of the Duke of Guise, the Archbishop of Glasgow, and Mary, Queen of Scots, which he forwarded to Francis Walsingham.
He took 3,000 crowns from Henry I, Duke of Guise, in return for access to diplomatic correspondence, and became linked with Charles Arundell, a leader of the English Roman Catholics living in Paris.
[2] After the defeat of the Armada, Stafford eventually stopped giving intelligence to Mendoza – either because he no longer had a financial incentive so to do (as Elizabeth had cancelled his debts) or because Walsingham's death in 1590 removed a personal motive.