Sir Jerome Horsey (c. 1550 – 1626), of Great Kimble, Buckinghamshire, was an English explorer, diplomat and politician in the 16th and 17th centuries.
He spent much time in Russia over the course of seventeen years, first arriving in 1573 and leaving in 1591. He got to know well many leading people at the Russian Court. He first travelled to Moscow as an agent for the Russia Company, and later acted as an envoy of Tsar Ivan the Terrible to Queen Elizabeth and then from the English court under Queen Elizabeth to Ivan. After returning to England, Horsey served in the House of Commons, sitting on many committees including the Committee for Returns, Elections, and Privileges. Knighted in 1603, he wrote accounts of his time in Russia which have been published several times, and was the subject of two novels.
Family background
Horsey was the son of William Horsey, a merchant at Exeter, by Elinor Peryam. He was the grandson of Sir John Horsey II of Sherborne, Dorset and nephew of Sir Edward Horsey who was Captain of the Isle of Wight in the period leading up to the Spanish Armada. Horsey probably married three times: Elizabeth Hampden whom he married in January 1592, by whom he had 2 sons and 3 daughters. She died in 1607. Isabella Brocket whom he married about October 1609. Elizabeth North (uncertain - not mentioned in will)
At the court of Ivan IV
Horsey was apprenticed to the Russia Company in 1571, but the latter was prevented from trading in Russia for a period and his first experience was of trading with the Dutch. Initially he went to Russia in May 1573 on the resumption of trade and was an interpreter. On his way to Moscow he was given gold and jewels by the gentry and clergy of Kostroma for saving the town from the Tsar.
On arriving in Moscow he supposedly rescued Madelyn van Uxell from being sent to a brothel by the Tsar, an act which served him well later. The Russia Company asked Horsey to negotiate a new charter and to use his influence to get extra land for the English compound (which still stands on Varvarka Street in Zaryadye). Part of this land was set aside for his own house, where he entertained Russian noblemen and had personal servants.
He later boasted of saving a number of German prisoners taken when the colony was supposedly massacred. The merchants of Hamburg later gave him a damask tablecloth and napkins while those of Lübeck gave him a "great silver loving cup". He also befriended the 1200 Scots (and a few English) prisoners that were in Moscow. He arranged for them to get paid employment in the Russian Army and got permission for them to build a church.
During his time in Moscow, Horsey seems to have carried out private trading on behalf of members of the English Court, such as Leicester and Walsingham, which was against the rules of the Russia Company. This later caused a dispute with the company, but eventually the problem was resolved by his giving up the property he owned in Moscow, and it was found that they owed him money rather than the other way around.
At the court of Ivan's successors
Horsey seems to have spent considerable time at the Russian Court, being invited by Tsar Ivan into the Treasury and attending the coronation of his successor Tsar Theodore. The Russian Court was very divided. Jerome says that "my most implacable enemy" was Vasily Shchelkanov but Boris Godunov was a friend.
Another friend, whom he seems later to have wanted to marry, was Princess Maria Vladimirovna. Maria first became the wife of Magnus the Dane but after Magnus's death Horsey was asked by Boris to persuade her to return to Russia where she was imprisoned. However, the marriage with Maria was not allowed as he was a commoner, and she was placed in a nunnery.
In late November 1581 Horsey was asked by Ivan to take letters, hidden in a flask, to Queen Elizabeth. He had to travel overland as the sea was frozen. This journey was very difficult and included being arrested at the Danish island of Oesel, but the wife of the governor happened to be Madelyn van Uxel whom he had saved earlier. Horsey also had to pass through Pilten where he met Maria the Russian princess.
Second visit to Russia
On arrival in London, Horsey had several meetings with Queen Elizabeth, translating the papers he had carried into English. Horsey returned to Russia with nine ships loaded with cargo, partly supplied by adventurers outside the Russia Company.