Who headed the late-night search party that arrested Guy Fawkes?

Thomas Knyvet headed the late-night search party that arrested Guy Fawkes. Knyvet was a government official and gentleman who helped investigate the suspicious activity beneath the House of Lords on 4 November 1605.

The first search found Fawkes near a large pile of firewood, but he claimed to be a servant working for Thomas Percy. Percy’s name was significant because he was already known to authorities as a Catholic agitator. King James I ordered a more thorough inspection later that night.

Knyvet returned with a search party and found Fawkes dressed for travel, carrying a lantern, slow matches and touchwood. Hidden beneath the firewood and coal were 36 barrels of gunpowder. Fawkes initially gave the false name John Johnson, but his arrest exposed the plot’s immediate danger.

A common mix-up is confusing Knyvet with Robert Catesby, the plot’s principal organiser, or Thomas Percy, whose name drew suspicion. Fawkes was the man caught with the explosives, but Knyvet led the arresting search.