Lady Mary BOLEYN ¹⁵⁹⁰

   FamilySearch ID: L5BC-D1G

  General Notes:

Mary Boleyn is believed to be the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard. She was the sister of Anne and George Boleyn.

Mary grew up at Hever Castle in Kent, and in 1514, she was sent to France to serve Mary Tudor, the Queen of France. Even after the Queen returned to England, Mary stayed, and it is believed that she was the mistress of King Francis I, and possibly others.

Mary Boleyn returned to England in 1519. Soon after, she married William Carey. She caught the eye of King Henry VIII, and she became his mistress. The affair is supposed to have ended about 1526. William Carey died in 1528, leaving Mary a widow with two young children. She married William Stafford, a soldier, in 1534, and when her sister Anne, now queen, found out, Mary was banished from the court. She probably spent the rest of her life in seclusion at Rochford with her husband and children.

It is unknown where she is buried, but some assume she was buried at the Boleyn home of Hever Castle.

  Burial Notes:

St Peter Churchyard

  Noted events in her life were:

1. She worked as a Maid of Honor to Queen Catherine in 1520. ¹⁶¹¹

Mary married William CAREY, son of Thomas CAREY and Lady Margaret SPENCER, on 4 February 1520 in Chapel Royal, Greenwich Palace, London.¹¹⁵⁸ (William CAREY was born in 1489 in , , Wiltshire, England,¹⁵⁹⁰ died on 22 June 1528 in Gloucestershire, England ¹⁵⁹⁰ and was buried in , , , England ¹⁵⁹⁰.)

Mary next married Sir William STAFFORD in 1534.¹⁶¹¹ (Sir William STAFFORD was born in April 1508 in Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, England,¹⁶¹¹ died on 5 May 1556 in Geneva, , Genève, Switzerland ¹⁶¹¹ and was buried in 1556 in Geneva, , Genève, Switzerland ¹⁶¹¹.)