Sir John Shelton (1476/7 – 1539) of Carrow, courtier, was, through marriage, the uncle of King Henry VIII's second Queen, Anne Boleyn, and controller of the joint household of the King's daughters, Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth.
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Sir John Shelton (1476/7–1539) was the son of Ralph Shelton and Margaret Clere of Ormesby, Norfolk. His family took its name from the village of Shelton near Norwich, and had held land in East Anglia for three centuries before Shelton's birth. Before 1503, Shelton married Anne (18th Nov 1475 – 06 Jan 1555), the daughter of Sir William Boleyn of Blickling, Norfolk. Shelton was appointed High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1504 and 1522, and was a Justice of the Peace for Norfolk. At the coronation of King Henry VIII he was made a Knight of the Bath.[1]
Shelton and his wife rose to prominence when King Henry VIII, married, as his second Queen, Lady Shelton's niece, Anne Boleyn, the daughter of Lady Shelton's brother, Sir Thomas Boleyn. After Queen Anne's accession to the throne in 1533, Lady Shelton and her sister, Lady Alice Clere (d. 1 November 1538),[2] were placed in charge of the King's daughter, Princess Mary, at Hatfield Palace.[3] According to Block, this was likely done to pressure Princess Mary to recognize Anne as Queen.[4]
By July 1536 Shelton was controller of the household established for Princess Mary and Queen Anne Boleyn's daughter, Princess Elizabeth. On 22 November 1538 he was granted the site of the former Benedictine nunnery of Carrow just outside Norwich. This property became the family seat.[5]
Shelton died on 21 December 1539 at the age of 62, and was buried in the chancel of Shelton church. He was said to have been "a man of great possessions", which he sought to pass on to his heirs contrary to the Statute of Uses. When the stratagem came to light after Shelton's death, the lawyers involved were punished, and an Act of Parliament was passed annulling such "crafty conveyances".[6]
Shelton had at least six children. His son and heir, Sir John Shelton (b. in or before 1503, d. 1558), married Margaret, the daughter of Henry Parker, 10th Baron Morley.[7] His daughter, Margaret, is said to have been a mistress of King Henry VIII.[8] His youngest daughter, Mary, married firstly, Sir Anthony Heaveningham, and secondly, Philip Appleyard.[9]