James Boleyn 1493-1561

In 1465 [his father] William Boleyn [aged 14] and [his mother] Margaret Butler [aged 11] were married. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Thomas Butler 7th Earl Ormonde [aged 39] and [his grandmother] Anne Hankford Countess Ormonde [aged 34].

In 1493 James Boleyn was born to William Boleyn [aged 42] and Margaret Butler [aged 39].

In 1498 [his brother] Thomas Boleyn 1st Earl Wiltshire and Ormonde [aged 21] and [his sister-in-law] Elizabeth Howard Countess of Wiltshire and Ormonde [aged 18] were married. She the daughter of Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk [aged 55] and Elizabeth Tilney Countess of Surrey. They were fourth cousins.

On 10th October 1505 [his father] William Boleyn [aged 54] died. His son [his brother] Thomas Boleyn [aged 28] inherited Hever Castle, Kent [Map].

Around 1507 John Astley was born to Thomas Astley of Hilmorton and Melton Constable [aged 38] and Anne Wood aka Wode. His mother was the sister of [his future wife] Elizabeth Wood aka Wode who was married to James Boleyn [aged 14] who was uncle to [his niece] Queen Anne Boleyn of England [aged 6]. He married (1) 1545 Katherine "Kat" Champernowne (2) after 1565 Margaret Grey and had issue.

On 18th August 1512 Anne Wood aka Wode died in childbirth whilst visiting her sister Elizabeth, wife of James Boleyn [aged 19], at Blickling, Norfolk. St Andrew's Church, Blickling [Map]. Memorial brass to Anne Wood aka Wode depicted holding the two and female twins that she died giving birth to. The inscription: 'Pray for the soul of Anne Wode, the second wife of Thomas Astley of Melton Constable [aged 43], Esquire, who on the feast day of Saint Agapitus the Martyr gave birth to a male and a female child, and after the peril of childbirth, suddenly departed to the Lord in the year one thousand five hundred and twelve of Christ.' Her brass is an early example of the Norwich 6 style, produced in the workshop of the freemason and marbler William Harmer and laid in a slab of Vaudey Abbey marble. The figure is a unique composition for this workshop, showing Anne with a baby in swaddling in each arm as well as an opening in her gown beneath her girdle that marks her pregnancy and a large rosary hanging in front of her. The church in which it lies has an fine collection of other brasses.

Orate p[ro] a[n]i[m]a Anne a wode ux[oris] s[e]cu[n]de Tho[m]e Asteley de Melton Constable. Armig[eri], que in die s[an]c[t]i Agapiti Martyris masculu[m] et femella[m] ad partu[m] pep[er]it et post pariendi p[er]iculu[m] subito migravit ad Domi[num] A[nn]o M[illensim]o benignissimi V^o XII^o Xpi.

Anne Wood aka Wode: she was born to John Wood aka Wode. Before 1507 Thomas Astley of Hilmorton and Melton Constable and she were married.

Thomas Astley of Hilmorton and Melton Constable: In 1469 he was born. On 19th October 1543 he died.

In or before 1536 James Boleyn [aged 42] and Elizabeth Wood aka Wode were married.

Letters and Papers. 19th May 1536. R. O. 912. Queen Anne Boleyn. Debts owing to the Queen.

Archbishop of Canterbury, £400 Bishop of Salisbury, £200 Sir Edward Baynton [aged 44], £200 John Asheley, £100 Mr. Harper, £50 Edm. Harvy, £33 6s. 8d. George Tayllour, £30 Sir James Boleyn [aged 43], "as I think," £50 The lady of Worcester, "as I think," £101, £73 6s. 8d.

With Tomson at Greenwich, 6 "kene." Gold and silver plate, a great gold chain, many great strange pieces of gold and "suffrance" in the keeping of Ant. Deny at Westminster. 2 ivory altar candlesticks and a pair of knives trimmed with gold with George Tayllour. Hangings at Hanworth, and other things in Mr. Lovell's keeping. Bedding and hangings at Greenwich, in Tomson's keeping. Owing of the last half-year, ended at Michaelmas, £400, whereof there are divers bills to be paid. Nothing is received for this half year ended at Lady Day.

Pp. 2. Endd.: Certain debts due to the late Queen Anne.

In 1537 [his mother] Margaret Butler [aged 83] died.

On 12th March 1539 Thomas Boleyn 1st Earl Wiltshire and Ormonde [aged 62] died. He was buried at St Peter's Church, Hever. His monument has a brass. He is depicted dressed in full robes wearing the insignia of a Knight of the Garter, with the Badge on his left breast and the Garter around his left knee. His head rests on a helm surmounted by a crest of a falcon displayed (his daughter's heraldic badge) and his feet rest on a griffin. The inscription reads: Here lieth Sir Thomas Bullen, Knight of the Order of the Garter, Erle of Wilscher and Erle or Ormunde, which decessed the 12th dai of Marche in the iere of our Lorde 1538. Earl Wiltshire, Earl Ormonde and Viscount Rochford extinct. His brother James Boleyn [aged 46] inherited Hever Castle, Kent [Map] who sold it a year later to the Crown [or possibly exchanged it for manors in Norfolk].

On 31st December 1540 James Boleyn [aged 47] sold Hever Castle, Kent [Map] to the Crown for £200.

In 1561 James Boleyn [aged 68] died. His great-nephew Edward Clere [aged 24], grandson of James' sister Alice Boleyn, inherited the estate at Blickling, Norfolk. Curiously Edward Clere's mother was Anne Tyrrell, grand-daughter of James Tyrrell who had been executed in 1502, and who had reportedly confessed to the murder of the Princes in the Tower.

He was buried at St Andrew's Church, Blickling [Map] on 6th September 1561. In his will he left he great-niece Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland [aged 27] a basin and gilt ewer and "my written book of the revelations of Saint Bridget".

Henry Machyn's Diary. 6th September 1561. The vj of September [was the funeral] of ser James Bullen, and standard, [coat armour,] and elmett, targett, and sword, and a vj dos [en of scocheons of] armes, and master Chester [aged 63] was harold.

Note. P. 266. Funeral of sir James Boleyne. One of the uncles of queen Anne Boleyne. He was of Blickling, co. Norfolk, and was buried there on the 5th Dec. 1561; having died without issue. See the pedigree of Boleyne in Clutterbuck's Hertfordshire, vol. iii. p. 94; and see the History of Norfolk, by Blomefield and Parkin, fol. vol. iii. p. 627.