Florence Hensey

As a result he entered the French service as a spy, and in return for a salary of a hundred guineas a year supplied information as to the movements and equipment of the English fleet.

Hensey wrote his reports in lemon juice between the lines of innocuous-looking letters sent to France through intermediaries, including his brother Joseph who was chaplain to the Spanish ambassador at the Hague.

A postman, who had observed his frequent foreign correspondence, called the attention of his superiors to the matter, and evidence was obtained which led to his arrest, on 21 August 1757, as he came from the chapel of the Spanish ambassador in Soho Square.

The evidence of guilt was overpowering; further letters were found at Hensey's lodgings in Arundel Street, Strand, in a bureau of which he alone had the key, and were conclusively shown to be in his handwriting.

On 14 June Hensey was condemned to death as a traitor; but on 12 July, the day appointed for his execution, he received a respite for a fortnight, and this period was afterwards extended, until on 7 September 1759 he was released on bail in order to plead his pardon next term.