Notable Names: Lady Jane Rochford 

Lady Jane is a sad figure from history whose true story will never be known. Married to Anne Boleyn’s brother in 1526, she served as a Lady of the Bedchamber for four of King Henry the VIII’s wives before meeting her demise on the executioner’s block in 1542.

While the world will never know the true intentions behind her actions, it appears that her testimony directly led to the death of George and Anne Boleyn before her actions caught up with her and she was executed for enabling the affair of Catherine Howard.

Memorial to the original site where many members of the nobility, including Anne Boleyn, Jane Rochford, and Catherine Howard were executed

Born into English Nobility around 1505 in Norfolk, she was the daughter to Henry Parker, 10

Baron Morley, and Alice St John. She was most likely educated at home, due to her father’s status as an intellectual. She was sent to court in her early teens and the first recorded duty was accompanying the Royal party to France in 1520 in a visit that is known as “The Field of the Cloth of Gold”. She next appeared as a lead in King Henry VIII’s prestigious masquerade “Château Vert” in 1522. It was about this time that Anne Boleyn appeared back in English court after serving as the maid of honour to Claude of France, and both Anne and her sister Mary had roles in the play as well.

Approximately two years later, likely in 1525, Jane was married to George Boleyn. As a wedding present, King Henry VIII presented the couple with Grimston Manor in Norfolk. Jane was granted the courtesy title of “Viscountess Rochford” through marriage and was hereafter known as “Lady Jane”. In true fashion of Henry VIII, rewarding those whose wealth were growing around him, he granted the Boleyn family more favours and Lady Jane and George were given Beaulieu Palace as their main residence. It should be noted at Beaulieu Palace was always a Boleyn Residence, however it was “sold” to King Henry VIII who refurbished and expanded it. Later, it was given back to the Boleyn’s as a gift although the deeds were never formally signed over as they were for Grimston Manor.

Lady Jane’s marriage to George Boleyn has often been portrayed as a miserable one. It is often suggested that George Boleyn was homosexual and promiscuous at that. As is true of many of a personal life, we never will know the true nature of their marriage nor of George’s orientation. Suffice to say that all marriages have their own personalities and Lady Jane and George’s marriage was no exception.

Anne Boleyn married King Henry VIII in 1533 and Lady Jane became a lady of the bedchamber to Anne. As a lady of the bedchamber, as well as family to Anne, she was considered a confidante and was privy to Anne’s secrets as well as a witness to much behaviour that a woman may not want public. It was in these duties where she learned the true power a lady-in-waiting to The Queen has. At her fingertips was not only The Queen’s favour, but as she was often in the background, she overheard many conversations that she would not normally be privy to – giving her the advantage in knowing all the court’s gossip.

It was not long after Anne’s marriage to The King that it began to fail. Unsatisfied, The King’s eye began to wander, something he did quite frequently, and it landed upon a mystery woman of the court. When Anne discovered this, she enlisted the help of Lady Jane to have this woman banished from court. It has often been suggested that Lady Jane was jealous of Anne Boleyn and was not particularly fond of her. This perception may have been due to her later testimony against Anne as well as the reason Lady Jane was banished from court for a short time. Shortly after the mystery woman left, The King discovered the plot surrounding Lady Jane and Anne, and banished Lady Jane for her actions.

As The King’s marriage to Anne continued to crumble, Anne became more desperate to keep him, and the Court became more nervous for their lives as The King’s behaviour grew more erratic. Eventually the Boleyn’s found their family at the brunt of Henry’s anger and Anne, with other members of her family (likely her father and brother, though this is unclear), were imprisoned in the Tower of London on various charges. George Boleyn was arrested in May 1536 for having sexual intercourse with his sister, Queen Anne.

The reign of King Henry VIII caused many English nobles to adopt survival techniques that were quite brutal. Some people would lie on the stand about their own family members and friends if that meant they were spared torture or execution. Lady Jane Rochford was no different. It was Jane’s actions at this time that has marked her as a jealous and spiteful woman by many historians. Upon further reflection, as chaotic and frightening the court was at this time, she might have been acting out of sheer terror of her environment. Be it out of jealousy, spite or sheer terror, Lady Jane took the stand and testified against her family. She used her position as confidante to The Queen and divulged to Thomas Cromwell and eventually the court that The Queen declared the King impotent, an act of treason. She also testified that her husband, George, had been in a sexual relationship with his sister, The Queen, since the winter of 1535, resulting in one miscarriage.

Regardless of her true attentions against the family she had married into, she found herself a valuable tool for The King. She gave testimony that allowed him to execute his wife to make way for another. She provided proof that there were people plotting against the benefit of The King and fed his ego and paranoia that he was correct in his actions. Not only did Henry VIII see how valuable she was, but also others saw how persuasive she could be and in the same regard, how impressionable she was.

of May, Lady Jane left court in order to ensure her finances would continue to support her noble status. George and Jane had no male heirs and as a result, all the land and titles they had amassed while they still had The King’s favour were lost. Eventually she was granted a small pension by what remained of the Boleyn family, just enough to maintain nobility, and she returned to court as a lady-in-waiting to Henry’s third wide, Jane Seymour.

After her passing, The King was wed to Anne of Cleves, a dull woman whom Henry tired of almost immediately. Remembering how the testimony of Lady Jane helped him get rid of a previous Queen, King Henry VIII called upon Lady Jane for help. In 1540, Lady Jane answered The King’s call and provided testimony that Queen Anne of Cleves confided in her that the marriage was never consummated. This allowed Henry to annul his marriage and marry a fifth wife, Catherine Howard.

Catherine Howard was a young girl, schooled in the ways of seduction, but of little else. After witnessing what The King does to people that cross him, especially his wives, it is rather curious to discover that Catherine Howard was having an affair with a young man, Thomas Culpepper, within the first year of her marriage to The King. With at least 20 years of a difference in age between Henry and Catherine Howard, it was of no surprise to anyone that she preferred the company of a man her own age, but the fact that she carried on the affair is a shock.

The Queen was very flashy and was known to share her wealth with her favorites. It is not known why Lady Jane decided to help Catherine hide Thomas Culpepper, but it could be assumed that she was one of many women trying to get favour from The Queen. She must have known the danger she was putting herself in, however after helping The Queen set up a clandestine meeting with her lover once, she was bound to do it again.

Eventually, the paranoia and backstabbing atmosphere, that was so common of the Court, came to head and Catherine’s transgressions were discovered. In what may have been an attempt to divert attention from their own actions, other ladies-in-waiting pointed their fingers at Lady Jane and implicated her as the key figure in the conduct of the affair. A love letter was also uncovered that not only detailed the love affair between Catherine and Thomas Culpepper, but of Lady Jane’s involvement. She was imprisoned in the Tower of London under the charge of misprision of treason, and was held for months before her sentence was given.

Due to laws at the time, aristocracy was not tortured while imprisoned, but merely extensively questioned. Lending credibility to the theory that Lady Jane was incredibly impressionable, she seemed to suffer a nervous breakdown during her questioning, her mind torn between wanting to please her interrogators and her will to stay off the executioner’s block.

Her mental status prevented her from standing trial, but The King wanted her punished for her actions. Jane, as she was then known, was condemned to death by Act of Attainder (without trial) and was executed on 13 February 1542. Her exact words before the crowd that had gathered are unknown, but the general consensus is that she was calm and demure. She would have been approximately 36 at the time of her death and is buried in the Tower of London, next to Catherine Howard and close to Anne and George Boleyn.

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