Sir Francis Walsingham (1530?-1590), English statesman, born in Chiselhurst (now part of Greater London), and educated at the University of Cambridge. He was a member of the first and second parliaments of Queen Elizabeth I and a strong supporter of Elizabeth's leading minister, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. In 1570 he was appointed ambassador to France, and in 1573 he became one of the queen's principal secretaries of state. Walsingham created an effective intelligence system by employing agents in foreign courts. The most notable plot he discovered was the plan to assassinate Elizabeth, initiated by the English conspirator Anthony Babington and authorized by Mary, Queen of Scots. The evidence by Walsingham led to the execution of Mary in 1587.