William Stafford (courtier)

For other people named William Stafford, see William Stafford.

Sir William Stafford, of Chebsey, in Staffordshire (c.1500-5 May 1556) was an Essex landowner and the second husband of Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn, and one-time mistress of King Henry VIII of England.

Contents

Biography

Stafford was the son of Humphrey Stafford of Blatherwycke, in Northamptonshire, and his wife, Margaret, the daughter of Sir John Fogge of Ashford, in Kent. The family were distant relatives of the mighty Staffords, who controlled the dukedom of Buckingham and the earldom of Wiltshire until 1521.[1] Nonetheless, William Stafford was a commoner, and only a second son, and thus served Henry VIII as a soldier.[2]

In 1532, Stafford was listed as one of the two hundred people who accompanied Henry VIII to France. The purpose of the journey was for Henry and his fiancée, Anne Boleyn, to meet with Francis I so that he might show his public support and approval for the annulment of Henry's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Among the other travellers was Anne Boleyn's sister, Mary, the younger daughter of Thomas Boleyn, who was by then the Earl of both Wiltshire and Ormonde. With her connections, Mary had excellent marriage prospects.[3] Nonetheless, Mary and Stafford married in secret in 1534. When the marriage was discovered after Mary became pregnant, the couple were banished from court.

The couple initially lived at Chebsey in Staffordshire, but later moved to the Boleyn family home, Rochford Hall at Rochford, in Essex. They lived in relative obscurity until Mary died in 1543, after which Stafford served in Scotland. He was knighted there in 1545 and, two years later, became an MP for Hastings. Also in 1545, Stafford remarried, this time to his distant cousin, Dorothy Stafford, the youngest daughter of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford and Ursula Pole.

During the reign of Mary I, Stafford and his family fled to Geneva. He died there on 5 May 1556, not living to see the reign of his first wife's niece, Elizabeth I, or to see his wife, children, and stepchildren become influential courtiers in Elizabeth's court.[4]

Marriages and Issue

Stafford married firstly, Mary Boleyn (d. 19 July 1543), daughter of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire. They had two recorded children:

Stafford married secondly, Dorothy Stafford (d. 22 September 1604), daughter of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, and Ursula Pole. They had six children:

In Popular Culture

Films & Television

Books

References

  1. ^ Humphrey Stafford was first cousin five times removed of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
  2. ^ Hart, Kelly (June 1, 2009). The mistresses of Henry VIII (First ed.). The History Press. pp. 114–118. ISBN 0752448358. http://book.google.com/books?id=r6HGPAAACAAJ. 
  3. ^ Not only was Mary the daughter of an earl, but also the niece of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk through her mother, Elizabeth Howard. Coupled with the fact that she was the future sister-in-law to a king, Mary could expect to marry very well.
  4. ^ Mary Boleyn had two children during her first marriage to Sir William Carey, Henry and Catherine Carey. The children were both rumored to have been fathered by Henry VIII, but the claim is dismissed by most historians.

Bibliography