Sir Richard Page (1474-1548) was an English courtier. He was a member of the Privy Council of Henry VIII of England and was the Vice-Chamberlain in the household of Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London during the downfall of Anne Boleyn.
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Page began his climb to prominence as secretary to Cardinal Wolsey and was then Vice-Chamberlain in the household of Henry FitzRoy, the illegitimate son of the King. Whilst Vice-Chamberlain he devised armorial bearings for the boy.
He afterwards served as Captain of the King's Bodyguards, whilst enjoying the favours of the court, as a letter from Thomas Cromwell to Wolsey describes:
| “ | Mr. Page received your letter directed to my Lady Ann Boleyn and will deliver the same. She gave him kind words, but will not promise to speak to the King for you. | ” |
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—Thomas Cromwell, [1] |
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Sir Richard from 1527-1533 was the Recorder of York. During his tenure as Recorder, he was knighted in 3 November 1529 at the Palace of Whitehall, and received a gift of crest and arms quarterly on 1 February 1530 from Thomas Benolt.
On the 5 May 1536, Sir Richard along with Sir Thomas Wyatt were sent to the Tower of London on suspicion of being Anne Boleyn's lovers. Lord Hussey's letter to Lord Lisle on 12th May 1536 describes the event:
| “ | Mr. Payge and Mr. W[y]at are in the tower, but it is thought without danger of life, though Mr. Payge is banished the King's court for ever. | ” |
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—Lord Hussey (Who was executed himself in 1537), [2] |
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Both Page and Wyatt were released from the Tower in June 1536 on the advice of Cromwell.
Though Page had been banished from court in disgrace, the King summoned Page back, and he was made High Sheriff of Surrey in 1537. During the same year the King bestowed on Page the office of Chamberlain to his son Prince Edward.
In 1512 Page married the King's cousin the Hon. Elizabeth Bourchier, daughter of Fulk Bourchier, 10th Baron FitzWarin and Elizabeth Dynham.[3]
Richard and Elizabeth had one daughter:
Elizabeth Bourchier before marrying Page had been married twice before: 1) to Henry Beaumont; and 2) to Sir Edward Stanhope, who died in 1511. She had one daughter by Stanhope:
After Page's death she married for the fourth and final time to Nicholas Pigot.