Robert Pakington: London Merchant, MP, and the First Handgun Murder Victim
Robert Pakington, born around 1489 in Stanford-on-Teme, Worcestershire, is remembered today not only as a prominent London merchant and Member of Parliament but also as the first known victim of a handgun murder in the city of London. His assassination on the foggy morning of November 13, 1536, remains unsolved, though it sparked intense religious and political speculation. Later Protestant reformers hailed his death as martyrdom, transforming his legacy into a symbol of early Protestant resistance during a volatile period of English Reformation.
Early Life and Career
Pakington was a younger son of John Pakington and Elizabeth Washborne. In accordance with family tradition and mercantile ambition, he was apprenticed to the prestigious Mercers’ Company of London, one of the city’s great livery companies. By 1510, he had completed his apprenticeship and was involved in importing wares and exporting English cloth—a lucrative trade at the time.
His success and standing among his peers grew steadily. In 1523 and again in 1529, he was selected by the Mercers to help draft articles for presentation to Parliament. These proposals, especially those written in 1529, reflected strong anti-clerical sentiments—mirroring the rising discontent among merchants and reform-minded citizens over the excesses of the Catholic clergy.
By 1527–1528, Pakington was elected Warden of the Mercers’ Company, solidifying his influence in both commercial and civic life. His political career followed shortly thereafter, when he won a seat in Parliament via a by-election in October 1533. He was re-elected in 1536. During his tenure, chronicler Edward Hall noted that Pakington spoke out publicly against the greed and corruption of the clergy, aligning himself further with the growing reformist movement.
Religious Alignment and Cromwell’s Network
Pakington’s connections to Protestant circles deepened over time. He maintained correspondence with Stephen Vaughan, a known Protestant sympathizer and business agent for Thomas Cromwell—King Henry VIII’s chief minister and the architect of the English Reformation. Vaughan relied on Pakington for intelligence on trade and religious sentiment in the Low Countries, suggesting Pakington’s discreet but crucial role in reformist networks.
His will, drafted in November 1535, reveals further Protestant leanings. Notably, the funeral sermon at his memorial was delivered by Robert Barnes, a Lutheran preacher and close ally of Cromwell, reinforcing the impression that Pakington was deeply sympathetic to Protestant ideals.
Murder in the Mist
On the morning of November 13, 1536, as he crossed the street from his home in Cheapside to attend services at the Mercers’ Chapel across the road, Robert Pakington was shot and killed. A heavy mist blanketed the city, and while the sound of a firearm was widely heard, no one saw the assassin. The weapon used was a handgun—an extremely rare murder weapon at the time—making this incident likely the first recorded gun homicide in London’s history.
The killer was never identified. Despite a “great reward” offered for information, the investigation yielded no firm leads, though numerous theories emerged in the ensuing years.
Controversy and Martyrdom
The timing and nature of Pakington’s death ignited fierce speculation. Protestant reformers quickly claimed that he had been targeted for his outspoken opposition to the Catholic clergy. In 1545, Protestant polemicist John Bale blamed “conservative bishops” for orchestrating the assassination.
Chronicler Edward Hall echoed this in 1548, asserting that Pakington’s anti-clerical positions made him a victim of churchly vengeance. But it was John Foxe who gave the murder its most enduring place in Protestant lore. In his Acts and Monuments (also known as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs), Foxe suggested several possible clerical perpetrators over different editions of his work. In 1559, he accused Bishop John Stokesley of paying a priest to kill Pakington. In 1563, Foxe revised the story, claiming that John Incent, former Dean of St. Paul’s, had made a deathbed confession to arranging the murder. Then, in 1570, he floated yet another theory—that the murderer was a foreigner, an Italian hired for the deed.
These inconsistent claims did not go unchallenged. Nicholas Harpsfield, a Catholic apologist, publicly accused Foxe of spreading lies and tarnishing reputations for political purposes. Meanwhile, other chroniclers like Raphael Holinshed and Richard Grafton ignored or rejected Foxe’s accounts. Holinshed instead claimed that a felon, hanged at Banbury, had confessed to the murder on the gallows—another theory never verified.
Legacy and Wealth
Despite the mystery surrounding his death, Pakington’s social and economic status at the time of his murder is well documented. In the 1534 tax assessment, he was valued at 500 marks—a significant sum—and in 1535 alone, he had exported 250 cloths to Antwerp, one of Europe’s key trade centers.
His will contained over £300 in bequests, a sizable fortune by 16th-century standards. Upon his death, his children were taken into the guardianship of the City of London, a customary arrangement for orphans of prominent citizens. His son and heir, Thomas Pakington, was placed under the care of his maternal grandfather, Sir John Baldwin, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
Robert Pakington was buried at St. Pancras Church in Soper Lane. A monument was erected in his honor, but the church was later destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and never rebuilt.
Family and Descendants
Pakington married twice. His first wife, Agnes Baldwin, daughter of Sir John Baldwin, bore him five children:
- Sir Thomas Pakington, who married into the Kitson family and whose own son, Sir John Pakington, would become a court favorite of Queen Elizabeth I.
- John Pakington, of whom little is known.
- Elizabeth Pakington, who married John Lane and later Sir Richard Malory, Lord Mayor of London.
- Anne Pakington, wife of Richard Cupper.
- Margaret Pakington, who married Benedict Lee and later Thomas Scott.
Sometime between 1533 and his death in 1536, Pakington married Katherine Dallam, a wealthy widow with children from her first marriage to Richard Collier. After Pakington’s death, Katherine went on to marry Sir Michael Dormer, who became Lord Mayor of London in 1541.
Conclusion
Robert Pakington’s death marks a notable moment in Tudor history—not merely for its grim distinction as London’s first recorded gun murder, but for its intertwining with religious and political tensions of the English Reformation. Though his killer was never found, his death was immortalized by reformers seeking to cast their struggle in heroic terms. Whether Pakington was truly a martyr or an unfortunate casualty of urban crime may never be known. Still, his life and violent end continue to illuminate the dangers and fervor of a nation in religious transformation.
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Robert Pakington: London’s First Gun Murder Victim
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Robert Pakington was London’s first handgun murder victim in 1536. Reformers later hailed the MP as a Protestant martyr in a time of religious upheaval.
