Bevis Bulmer

Sir Bevis Bulmer (1536–1615) was an English mining engineer during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. He has been called "one of the great speculators of that era". Many of the events in his career were recorded by Stephen Atkinson in The Discoveries and Historie of the Gold Mynes in Scotland, compiled in part from a lost manuscript by Bulmer entitled Bulmer's Skill. Family According to Tyson, Bevis Bulmer's "origins are shrouded in mystery". However, according to other sources, Bevis Bulmer, born in 1536, was the son of Sir John Bulmer, eldest son and heir of Sir William Bulmer (d. 1531). His mother was Margaret Stafford, said to have been an illegitimate daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. His parents were said to have been drawn into the rebellion of Robert Aske, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, through the influence of their nephew, Sir Francis Bigod. They were executed with others in early 1537 for their involvement, in consequence of which their lands escheated to the Crown, although some were granted at a later date to Sir George Bowes (1527–1580). The circumstances of their trial and execution were recorded by the author of Wriothesley's Chronicle: