Boleyn family
The Boleyn family was a prominent English family in the gentry and aristocracy. They reached the peak of their influence during the Tudor period, when Anne Boleyn became the second wife and queen consort of Henry VIII, their daughter being the future Elizabeth I.
History
John Boleyn of Salle, Norfolk first appears on the register of Walsingham Abbey. There is a possibility that John Boleyn had a father by the name of “Simon de Boleyne” who purchased lands in the aforementioned village of Salle, Norfolk in 1252.Due to the irregularity of English spelling at this period, the name in documents is also spelled Bulleyn or Bullen.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Princess of Wales and King Charles III are descendants of Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's sister.
Hever Castle in Kent was the family seat of the Boleyns and the childhood home of future queen consort Anne Boleyn. Sir Geoffrey Boleyn bought Hever Castle in 1462 and Blickling Hall in Norfolk in 1452.
Notable members
- Thomas Boleyn, Master of Gonville Hall, Cambridge
- Geoffrey Boleyn Lord Mayor of the City of London
- William Boleyn, Sheriff of Kent
- Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire
- Mary Boleyn, Lady-in-waiting
- Anne Boleyn Queen Consort, mother of Queen Elizabeth I
- George Boleyn Viscount of Rochford
- William Boleyn Archdeacon of Winchester
- James Boleyn, Courtier, Chancellor of the Household
- George Boleyn Dean of Lichfield