Sir Everard Digby (c. 1578 – 30 January 1606) was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Although he was raised in a Protestant household and married a Protestant, Digby and his wife were converted to Catholicism by the Jesuit priest John Gerard. In the autumn of 1605, he was part of a Catholic pilgrimage to the shrine of St Winefride's Well in Holywell, Wales. About this time, he met Robert Catesby, who planned to blow up the House of Lords with gunpowder, killing James I. Catesby then planned to incite a popular revolt, through which a Catholic monarch would be placed upon the English throne.
The full extent of Digby's knowledge of and involvement in the plot is unknown, but at Catesby's behest, Digby rented Coughton Court and prepared a "hunting party", ready for the planned uprising. The plot failed, however, and Digby joined the conspirators as they took flight through the Midlands, failing to garner support along their way. Digby left the other fugitives at Holbeche House in Staffordshire, and was soon captured and taken to the Tower of London.
Digby was tried on 27 January 1606. Despite an eloquent defence, he was found guilty of high treason, and three days later was hanged, drawn and quartered.
The Digby family was of Leicestershire origin. Sir John Digby (d. 1269) served on two crusades, and, by 1418, Sir Everard "Greenleaf" Digby was Lord of Tilton and owner of the manor at Drystoke (Stoke Dry), and Rutland's Member of Parliament. Sir Everard lost his life (and his family much of their fortune) fighting in 1461 for Henry VI against Edward IV. The family had a more positive reversal of fortune in 1485 when Sir Everard's sons fought for the victorious Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
Everard Digby was the eldest son of Everard Digby, Esquire (who died in 1592) and his wife Maria (née Neale), daughter of Francis Neale of Keythorpe in Leicestershire. The conspirator was a cousin of Anne Vaux, who for years placed herself at considerable risk by sheltering Jesuit priests such as Henry Garnet. He was probably a near kinsman of the 16th-century scholar Everard Digby, but it is clear that the scholar, who died in 1605, was not his father, because as a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge (a celibate calling) he could not have been married at the time when the young Everard and some of his 13 siblings were born, nor was he "Esquire", as the father is named in his inquisition post mortem of 1592.
In 1596, while still a teenager, he married Mary Mulshaw (or Mushlo), a young heiress who brought with her Gayhurst House in Buckinghamshire. By all accounts their marriage was a happy one, and they had two sons; Kenelm Digby was born in 1603 at Gayhurst, and John in 1605. Unlike other English Catholics, Digby had little first-hand experience of England's recusancy laws. Following the death of his father he had been made a ward of Chancery and was raised in a Protestant household. His wife Mary was converted to Catholicism by the Jesuit priest John Gerard. When Digby fell seriously ill, Gerard used the occasion to convert him also, and the two subsequently became close friends, "calling eachother [sic] 'brother' when we wrote and spoke". Gerard was godfather to Digby's eldest son, Kenelm, and the Digbys also built a hidden chapel and sacristy at Gayhurst.
Digby frequented the court of Elizabeth I, and became informally associated with the Elizabethan gentlemen pensioners. His marriage had significantly expanded his holdings, however, and possibly for this reason he left court to manage his estates. He was apparently an unforgiving landlord, as his tenants in Tilton petitioned the Crown for redress when he failed to honour the expensive leases granted them by his father. He added to his property in Buckinghamshire by buying land in Great Missenden, and a month after the queen's death his social station was elevated when on 24 April 1603 he was knighted by James I at Belvoir Castle. Four days later he was present for Elizabeth's funeral in London.
In late August or early September 1605, Digby, his wife Mary, and their secret Jesuit chaplain Edward Oldcorne joined a pilgrimage organised by, amongst others, Henry Garnet and Anne Vaux. The party had set out from White Webbs at Enfield Chase, heading for the shrine of St Winefride's Well at Holywell, and had occasionally stopped along the way to collect more followers. As the thirty or so pilgrims returned from Holywell in mid-September, they stopped at Rushton Hall where Sir Thomas Tresham had recently died, and then continued on to Digby's seat at Gayhurst.
On 21 October Digby, his wife Mary, Garnet and Vaux were at Harrowden celebrating a delayed Feast of St Luke. While there he met Robert Catesby, who at some point asked him to swear an oath of secrecy before introducing him to what later became known as the Gunpowder Plot. English Catholics had hoped that the years of persecution they suffered during Elizabeth's reign would end when James I came to the throne, as his attitude appeared moderate, even tolerant towards Catholics. In Catesby's view, however, James had reneged on his promises, and he had quickly lost patience with the new Stuart Dynasty. He therefore planned to kill James by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder, and then inciting a popular revolt during which a Catholic monarch would be restored to the throne. Catesby had enlisted the aid of other Catholics, but had borne much of the scheme's financial cost and was running out of money. The group had therefore agreed to expand their numbers. To this end Catesby had recruited Ambrose Rookwood—a young and wealthy Catholic with a stable of fine horses—and a wealthy cousin, Francis Tresham.
The extent of Digby's knowledge of the plot is unknown, but in the opinion of author Alan Haynes, Digby was shocked by what he heard, and asked what would become of some of their Catholic friends. Catesby replied "Assure your selfe that such of the nobilitie as are worth the saving shalbe preserved and yet knowe not of the matter." None of their friends would be caught in the explosion. He asked if Catesby had spoken of the matter with Garnet, or any other Jesuits; although Catesby was in no doubt that the Jesuits disapproved of any such action, he lied and said that he would not act without their approbation. Catesby then named the other conspirators, and promised Digby that as soon as they reached Gayhurst he would demonstrate that their religion allowed such acts of regicide, thus dissuading the young lord from confessing to Garnet and discovering the Jesuit's opinion of the matter. Catesby told him to rent Coughton Court from the head of the Throckmorton family, so that he would "the better to be able to do good to the cause [kidnap Princess Elizabeth]". From there, he was to organise a hunting party (in reality a group of armed men on horseback) and be ready for some kind of military manoeuvre. Digby also provided monetary assistance; he promised £1,500 after fellow plotter Thomas Percy failed to pay the rent due for several properties in Westminster.
On 2 November at Gayhurst, while making preparations for his hunting party, Digby was visited by Gerard. Having noticed that the house was almost completely empty, the Jesuit asked him if there was "any matter in hand" and if Garnet knew of it. Keen not to implicate Gerard, despite being told less than two weeks earlier that the plot had Jesuit approval, Digby told him that there was nothing he knew of "or could tell him of". Although Gerard later used this conversation to defend himself against those who accused him of involvement in the plot, he lived to regret not being given the opportunity to dissuade Digby from his course.
Two days later Digby and his servants were ensconced at the Red Lion inn, in Dunchurch, where his hunt was to take place. He took with him several items of clothing, including "a white satin doublet cut with purple". Also present, but uninvolved, were his uncle, Sir Robert Digby, Humphrey Littleton and his nephew Stephen Littleton. They ate supper, before being joined by fellow conspirator John Grant and a friend. Also invited was the stepbrother of plotters Robert and Thomas Wintour, John Wintour. They attended a mass the next morning, conducted by a Father Hammond, before the party moved on.