Is This Man A Gunpowder Plot Competition Winner?

This week two talented young people had a very special day out at the Houses of Parliament. They were the winners of the Gunpowder Plot competition.

The comp was launched along with the Gunpowder, Treason and Plot website to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the plot in November 2005, by The History of Parliament Trust*.

This man wasn't one of the winners, but a wicked plotter called Catesby, foiled at the last minute when his plan was discovered.

More than a thousand of you sent in entries, giving the judges, (including your Show Me ed.) a very, very difficult job to do.

If you were under eleven you were asked to design a wanted poster for the Gunpowder plotters. Over elevens were asked to write a newspaper reporting on the plot and its discovery.

We were amazed at how many entries there were - almost 1300 in all - and at how absolutely, totally fabulous they all were.

The posters were a mixture of serious, funny, exciting and downright scary pictures. As for the newspapers… let's just say that many of you could teach the national newspapers a thing or two.

We had to choose a winner though, and in the end the top prizes went to Jack Cottrell, aged 13 and Elisheva Shafritz, aged 10. Well done you two.

Jack, Elisheva and a few lucky family members went to Parliament for a prize-giving ceremony this week.

Here they are on the House of Parliament terrace. Jack's on the right, Elisheva is wearing the blue skirt.

© 24 Hour Museum.

Jack's newspaper had all of us in stitches.

He combined humour with a strong historical background in 'Ye Olde Herald'.

Not only did Jack write a news story about the Gunpowder Plot, he included all sorts of extras.

There were interviews, a religious problems page, property pages, beauty tips, cookery, sudoku, adverts and even a sports page... his personal favourite.

Here's Jack's front page. Clear and exciting, it tempts you to read on...

Elisheva's poster, up at the top of our story, was beautifully painted and just a little bit quirky, which caught the judges' eyes.

She painted Robert Catesby, leader of the plotters. Catesby has a rather nasty expression on the poster don't you think? We loved the real feather Elisheva used on his hat too.

Here's Elisheva in the Acts Room of the Parliamentary Archives, which is where parchment scrolls of all the Acts of Parliament are kept, dating back to the 15th century.

The group was given a full tour of the Houses of Parliament, visited the Speaker's private house for the award ceremony and even went behind the scenes at the Parliamentary Archives, where all of the Gunpowder Plot documents are kept.

Everyone had a fantastic day.

Here's Jack with Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst MP (left) and Sir Patrick Cormack MP (right).

We're hoping to make Jack's paper available as a download on Show Me soon, so look out for that, it makes a very good read.

Don't miss our Gunpowder Plot Gallery where you can see some more of our favourite entries.

*The History of Parliament Trust is a group of historians whose job it is to research and write about the history of Members of Parliament through the hundreds of years since Parliament began.

Competition entries © the winners and The History of Parliament Trust.