Catholic acquaintances, including Edward Colman, Catholic secretary of the Duke of York, the future James II. Peyton Gang In a letter to the Secretary of State, Sir Joseph Williamson, the Lieutenant of the Tower of London named Godfrey as a member of the so-called "Peyton Gang". Sir Robert Peyton was MP for Middlesex and a prominent member of the Green Ribbon Club. This had been founded by Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury after he had become aware of the Secret Treaty of Dover in which Charles II agreed to convert himself and England to Roman Catholicism in return for money paid by the French King Louis XIV. The club, unable to confront the king directly, stirred up popular ill feeling against the Roman Catholic Church. Peyton hand-picked twelve men (including himself and Godfrey) who plotted to replace the King with a republic, nominally led by Richard Cromwell. The founding meeting of the Green Ribbon Club was in the Swan Tavern in King Street, Hammersmith. This was owned by Sir Edmund Godfrey, who left it in his will. It has been said that after Titus Oates had left his deposition with Godfrey that Godfrey warned one of the intended scapegoats, Edward Colman, who was later hanged, drawn and quartered, and who was a personal friend. Mystery In 1678, Godfrey became involved with the schemes of Titus Oates when Oates invented the Popish Plot and began an anti-Catholic campaign. Titus Oates and Israel Tonge appeared before Godfrey and asked him to take their oath that the papers they presented as evidence were based on truth. Godfrey demanded first to know the contents of the papers and when he had received a copy on 28 September, took their depositions. He may have warned Coleman of the content of the accusations. When Oates's accusations became known, the public became concerned. Godfrey had supposedly been concerned that he might be one of the victims of the scare but he made no extra security precautions, although his conversation became increasingly strange, with references to martyrdom and to being "knocked on the head" (the contemporary phrase for assassination). It was this odd behaviour which led his household to conclude that he had committed suicide, despite the medical evidence to the contrary. On 12 October 1678, he left his house in the morning but did not return home. He was found dead in a ditch on