William Stafford († 1556)
Sir William Stafford (* around 1500; † May 5, 1556 in Geneva , Switzerland ) was an English landowner and second husband of Mary Boleyn , Anne Boleyn's sister .
Life
William Stafford was the second son of Sir Humphrey Stafford († 1545) and his first wife Margaret Fogge, the daughter of Sir John Fogge from Ashford, Kent . His family was distantly related to the powerful Staffords, who held the titles of Duke of Buckingham and Earl of Wiltshire until 1521 . Nevertheless, William Stafford was a commoner, moreover only the second-born son, and therefore served Henry VIII as a soldier.
In 1532 Stafford was one of the 200 people who accompanied Henry VIII to France. The purpose of this trip was that Heinrich wanted to introduce his future wife, Anne Boleyn, to the French King Francis I so that he could show his public support for the annulment of Heinrich's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon . Anne Boleyn's sister Mary, Thomas Boleyn's eldest daughter, was among the other passengers. Through their connections, Mary, whose first husband William Carey died in 1528, had good prospects of marriage. Nonetheless, William Stafford and Mary Boleyn secretly married in 1534. When the marriage became known when Mary became pregnant, the couple were expelled from the court.
The couple initially lived in Chebsey, Staffordshire , but later moved to the Boleyn family home, Rochford Hall in Rochford, Essex . They lived in seclusion until Mary died in 1543 and served Stafford in Scotland . There he was knighted in 1545, and two years later he was elected member of parliament for Hastings. In 1545 Stafford married his second cousin, Dorothy Stafford , the youngest daughter of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, and Ursula Pole .
During the reign of Mary I , the Protestant Stafford fled with his family to Geneva, where he died on May 5, 1556. His wife Dorothy, like his children and stepchildren, was to have a great influence at Elizabeth I's court .
Marriages and offspring
In 1534 William Stafford secretly married Mary Boleyn (* around 1499, † 1543), the sister of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn. Mary Boleyn is said to have been pregnant at the time of marriage to William Stafford, but all of their offspring probably died in childhood.
In his second marriage, William Stafford married Dorothy Stafford († 1604), the daughter of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, and Ursula Pole in 1545 . They had three sons and three daughters:
- Sir Edward Stafford (* 1552; † 1604) ∞ 1. Roberta Chapman († 1578); ∞ 2. Douglas Sheffield (* 1547; † 1608)
- William Stafford (* 1554; † 1612) ∞ Anne Gryme († 1612)
- Sir John Stafford of Marlwood Park (January 1556 - September 28, 1624) ∞ 1. Bridget Clopton († March 1574); ∞ 2nd Millicent Gresham († 1602)
- Elizabeth Stafford (1546 - February 6, 1599) ∞ 1. Sir William Drury (1550 - 1590); ∞ 2. Sir John Scott.
- Ursula Stafford (* 1553) ∞ Richard Drake († July 11, 1603)
- Dorothy Stafford, presumably died in childhood
William Stafford in literature and film
Movie and TV
- In the film adaptation of The Queen's Sister (original: The Other Boleyn Girl), Stafford is played by Eddie Redmayne . Mary Boleyn is played by Scarlett Johansson .
- Philip Glenister played Stafford in the BBC production of The Other Boleyn Girl alongside Natasha McElhone as Mary Boleyn.
- William Stafford is also mentioned in the television series The Tudors but does not appear.
- Stafford appears briefly in the third episode of the TV adaptation of Wolf Hall . He is played there by Tom Forbes.
literature
- Stafford is a main character in The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper, a book about the life of Mary Boleyn. There he is called "Staff" by everyone who knows him (especially Henry VIII).
- In The Queen's Sister by Philippa Gregory , Stafford (called William) is also a main character. There they met as early as 1527 and became friends after the death of Mary's husband, William Carey.
- Stafford is mentioned in the novel Wölfe (original: Wolf Hall), where he appears briefly in a scene in Calais.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kelly Hart: The mistresses of Henry VIII . S. 114-118 .
- ↑ STAFFORD, Sir William (by 1512-56), of Chebsey, Staffs., Rochfod, Essex and London. In: History of Parliament Online. Retrieved March 23, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Jonathan Hughes: Stafford, Mary (c.1499-1543) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . 2004.
- ^ BW Greenfield: Dalton's 'History of the Wrays of Glentworth, 1522-1852' . London 1880, p. 304 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stafford, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English landowner and second husband of Mary Boleyn |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1500 |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 5, 1556 |
| Place of death | Geneva |