Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Our Aberdeen: Wanted poster starts fireworks in Aberdeen archives ​

This wanted poster from
This wanted poster from

One of the most charismatic documents held in the Charter Room at the Town House is surely this printed ‘wanted’ poster, dated the “fifth day of November 1605”.

Dispatched from the Palace of Westminster, it seeks the whereabouts of Thomas Percy, one of Guy Fawkes’s co-conspirators in the infamous Gunpowder Plot.

On that day, many such posters would have been sent out from London to all four corners of the kingdom. This particular one was addressed to the Town Council of Aberdeen where it was retained with the records of the burgh and survives to this day in the archive as a tangible connection to this turbulent episode in the nation’s history.

This wanted poster from 1605 was retained with the records of the burgh

In the first line of the document, Thomas Percy is described as a “Gentleman Pensioner to His Majesty”. This meant that he was part of an elite group of personnel drawn mainly from the nobility who acted as bodyguards to the King. The trust originally placed in him therefore made his treason all the more shocking.

When Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding the stash of gunpower at Westminster, he initially gave his name as John Johnson who was a servant of Thomas Percy. Consequently, it was Percy who was initially the ‘most wanted’ of the conspirators, with his name appearing on the arrest warrant.

The description of Percy on the wanted poster is both vivid and amusing: “The said Percy is a tall man, with a great broad beard, a good face, the colour of his beard and head mingled with white hairs, but the head more white than the beard, he stoupeth somewhat in the shoulders, well coloured in the face, long footed and small legged”.

Forewarned of the discovery of Guy Fawkes, Percy fled London to the Midlands to meet with the leader of the Gunpowder Plot, Robert Catesby, along with their co-conspirators. During a siege at Holbeche House in Staffordshire, both Percy and Catesby were shot and subsequently buried close by. Their bodies were later exhumed and transported to London where their heads were displayed outside parliament as a warning to others.

Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums:
  • Aberdeen Art Gallery
  • Aberdeen Maritime Museum (open 7 days, admission free)
  • The Tolbooth Museum (open 7 days, admission free)
  • Aberdeen Treasure Hub Museum Centre

For visiting information go to www.aagm.co.uk

Keep up to date with all the latest news from Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums by signing up to our e-newsletter at www.aagm.co.uk/mailinglist

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @AbdnArtMuseums

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.