NEW FIND 12/1/12---Robert Beale (1541-1601) and Mary Queen of Scots--
Surprise--I was googling "Scotland--Beale" when by chance I found
Robert Beale who was an eyewitness to the execution of Mary Queen
of Scots. He had negotiated with Mary 1581-1584 while working as a diplomat
for Queen Elizabeth I.
"In November 1586 he was despatched with Lord Buckhurst to Fotheringay,
to notify the Queen of Scots of the fact that sentence of death had been passed
upon her. Early in the following year Beale carried the warrant to Fotheringay
and performed the ghastly duty of reading it aloud in the hall of the castle
by way of preliminary to the execution, of which he was an eyewitness, and wrote
an account."
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Beale,_Robert_(DNB00)
After my mother Frances Beale Randolph's death, I had inherited a small display case containing Greek/Roman items collected by my mother and by my now deceased brother. For some reason, mixed in this collection were two items from Mary Queen of Scots ( a bow from her shoe and her wax seal). See below:
1)- Bow from Mary Queen of Scots shoe--note cinquefoil design.
2)- note on back of bow that appears to be the handwriting of my great grandfather
Edward F Beale's mother--
2)- A wax seal belonging to Mary Queen of Scots (she used M R letters)---
WHY WERE THESE ITEMS IN MY MOTHER'S COLLECTION ? WERE THEY COLLECTED ORIGINALLY BY ROBERT BEALE (who was at Mary Queen of Scots' execution and handled correspondence while he negotiated with her prior her death) ?
I learned that descendants of Robert Beale (1541-1601) may have settled
in Ireland-- "The first known member of the family to come to Ireland
was Thomas Beale, in 1652. It has been claimed that he was a descendant of Robert
Beale (1541-1601) who was Clerk of the Council of Elizabeth I. Thomas Beale
first settled in the North before moving south to Mountmellick."
Later members of the Beale family sailed to Australia, landing in Melbourne
in 1852.
http://www.irishmidlandsancestry.com/content/laois/people/quaker_mountmellick.htm
I plan to try to contact these Ireland Beales now living in Australia to see
if we get a DNA match.
I previously researched the Beale family in Ireland and found some good links. See www.geobeale.com, go to end: P- VARIOUS SCENARIOS--item 10--IRELAND