John Killigrew (died 1605)

He was threatened with arrest and with being outlawed, but escaped punishment, due to the influence of his uncle Sir Henry Killigrew, a noted diplomat who enjoyed the full confidence of Queen Elizabeth I.

He may also have benefited from his close family tie to Sir Francis Godolphin, probably the dominant political figure in Cornwall at the time, who had married his aunt Margaret Killigrew.

[1] In 1598, after he had spent a decade defying authority, the Government finally lost patience, and after hearing him in his own defence, deprived him of the Governorship of Pendennis, which had been semi-hereditary in the Killigrew family for generations, and his office of Vice-Admiral of Cornwall.

His last years were a dreary journey in and out of a debtors' prison: he was preserved from utter ruin only by the remnant of his wife's fortune (and this eventually ran out) and the generosity of his uncle Sir Henry.

[10] Yet he cannot have lacked some good qualities, judging by the willingness of his friends and relatives, to the end of his life, to lend him money, stand surety for his debts, and plead on his behalf with the Crown.