Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormonde and 1st Viscount Rochford

Name and Titles: Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormonde (the 2nd creation of the title), 1st Viscount Rochford and Knight of the Garter.

Born: c 1477 at Blickling Hall, Blickling, Norfolk.

Died: 12 March 1539 at Hever Castle, Hever, Kent.

Buried: St Peter’s Church, Hever, Kent.

Thomas Boleyn was the eldest son of Sir William Boleyn and his wife, Margaret Butler, co-heiress of the Earldom of Ormonde, a noble family that dominated Irish aristocracy. He was born at Blickling Hall in Norfolk around 1477, part of a family on the rise, thanks to Thomas’ paternal grandfather, Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, who accumulated wealth and status as a merchant and politician, serving as Lord Mayor of London between 1457-8.

Sir William was responsible for purchasing the manors of Blicking, Hever Brocas and Hever Cobham around the 1450s/60s. Although Blicking would be Thomas’ childhood home and the likely birthplace of his children, it was Hever that would become indelibly associated with the Boleyn family through the stellar rise of Thomas’ youngest daughter, Anne, in the 1520s/30s.

At the end of the fifteenth century, Thomas made an advantageous match by marrying Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of Thomas Howard (at the time the Earl of Surrey but later the 2nd Duke of Norfolk) and his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney. In doing so, Thomas Boleyn moved the family to within touching distance of England’s elite ruling class.

The young Boleyn was a skilled linguist and diplomat and, as an adult, began establishing himself in Crown service. Because of his talents, Thomas was entrusted with overseas missions on behalf of King Henry VIII. The international connections he forged during this time were likely responsible for securing a coveted place for his daughter, Anne, in the court of Margaret of Austria. While Thomas must have had high hopes for the benefits that Anne would reap from this prestigious appointment at one of the most fashionable Renaissance courts of the day, he could never have realised that it would set Anne on the path to capturing the heart of the King of England and becoming England’s Queen.

Thomas became Sir Thomas Boleyn in 1523 after Henry VIII made him a Knight of the Garter. After Anne became involved with the King and her status and influence grew through the mid-late 1520s, her father was ennobled, first as Viscount Rochford (1525) and then, in 1529, he was elevated even further up the Tudor social ladder to become the 1st Earl of Wiltshire and 1st Earl of Ormond (this was the second creation of the title). The Boleyns had arrived and were now officially part of the English nobility.

Little is known about Thomas Boleyn’s role when the Boleyn faction was annihilated in May 1536, or indeed whether he tried to intercede for the life of his son and daughter. However, it is unlikely that Thomas would have seen the King. Cromwell cleverly isolated Henry from the rest of the court as the proceedings against the King’s second wife and the men accused alongside her unfolded towards their dramatic climax.

After George and Anne’s executions, Boleyn kept his titles but withdrew from the office of state he had previously held, namely that of Lord Privy Seal, which passed to Thomas Cromwell. However, if Thomas was rusticated from the court, it did not last long. Despite the carnage that rent apart his family and the court in May 1536, he was again in service of the Crown later that year. Boleyn was sent North to assist in suppressing those rebels who had risen up in protest against the social and religious reforms sweeping the nation at the time. This was the infamous Pilgrimage of Grace, which arose in the Catholic North of England and whose vitriol was directed toward the ‘new’ men serving the King, principally Thomas Cromwell.

The following October (1537), Boleyn was at the christening of the future Edward VI. One can only imagine how heart-wrenching this must have been to a man who must have longed to see his daughter deliver England its male heir and be feted like the new Queen, Jane Seymour.

On 3 April 1538, his wife of nearly 40 years, Elizabeth Boleyn, died at Howard House in Lambeth. She was buried in the adjacent church (where her broken tomb ledger was recently rediscovered and can still be seen).

That same year, the irrepressible Thomas Boleyn was back at court again. There were even rumours that he would marry Margaret Douglas, Henry VIII’s niece.

However, if there were any substance to these rumours, nought arose from them, for Thomas died on 12 March the following year. He was in his early 60s. The only record we have of his passing is a note in a letter from one of his manservants, Richard Cranwell, penned to Thomas Cromwell, which informed the King’s First Minister that ‘My good lord and master is dead. He made the end of a good Christian man.’

The Tomb

Thomas Bolyen was laid to rest in the Bullen Chapel, built by his grandfather, Sir Geoffrey, in 1465. The chapel lies on the north side of the chancel of St Peter’s Church, itself part of the tiny village of Hever, lying just outwith the current castle ‘gatehouse’.

There has been a church on site since the Norman period, but no discernable vestiges of this church remain, except perhaps a few stones built into the walls. The oldest part of the current church dates to the late thirteenth century, while the remainder was built in the mid-fourteenth century. The Bullen Chapel (referred to above) was added in the mid-fifteenth century and unusually contains a Tudor fireplace. One assumes this was the height of luxury, to be enjoyed by members of the Boleyn family during their visits to church on freezing winter mornings!

Thomas’ tomb lies to the left of the high altar and under the arch that divides the Bullen Chapel from the chancel. It is a chest tomb made from black Purbeck marble, and compared to some tombs of the period, it is relatively plain. It is made plainer still because the decoration around the sides of the tomb has been badly worn away over time, and parts of its walls are patched up unsympathetically with red bricks.

However, the tomb’s most eye-catching and significant feature is the ornamental brass fixed to the Purbeck marble lid. It depicts Thomas Boleyn in his robes of the Garter, with the garter collar about his shoulders, the insignia of the Garter on his left chest and the Garter itself around his left leg, just below the knee. His head rests upon his helmet, his feet upon a gryphon, while the falcon (his daughter’s badge as queen) takes flight over his right shoulder. It is a touching addition which speaks of the former glory of his lost family.

Also etched onto a brass plate is an inscription which reads:

Here lieth Sir Thomas Bullen, Knight of the Order of the Garter, Erle of Wilscher and Erle or Ormunde, which decessed the 12th dai of Marche in the iere of our Lorde 1538

Inscription on Thomas Boleyn’s tomb.

Note: Because the Tudor year began on Lady Day – 25 March – the inscription is dated to 1538 rather than 1539.

Visitor Information:

Many first-time visitors often overlook the church in their rush to dive into the nearby castle’s rich history. Of course, we know better! Of all the Boleyn family, Thomas’s tomb is the most intact and remains the only one whose resting place we can confidently touch, knowing that ‘here lies a Boleyn’. The church is often empty, so in the profound silence, it is easy to stay awhile and run your hand across the tomb and its brass, remembering a great family whose fate and ambition truly changed the course of English history.

When you are visiting Hever, you cannot miss the church lying opposite the pub and to the right of the present castle gatehouse. Make sure you factor in some time to linger over the history there. And don’t forget to look out for the small brass cross inlaid into the floor of the chancel, close to Thomas’ tomb and in front of the high altar. This is the burial place of Henry Boleyn, another Boleyn sibling, who is thought to have died in infancy.

Other Nearby Tudor Places:

The map below shows significant Tudor places in Kent. Some are open to the public as a visitor attractions, and others are private residences that can only be viewed from nearby public land. Please do your research on each of these locations beforehand to ensure you are not disappointed.