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Prisoners in the Tower of London

  • Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of ExeterGertrude Blount entered the world around 1499 or 1502 as the daughter of William Blount, the fourth Baron Mountjoy. Her mother was Elisabeth Say, a coheiress…
  • Richard Page (courtier)In 1522, Richard Page took his seat as a Justice of the Peace for Surrey. This local appointment marked his transition from private service to public…
  • George Boleyn, Viscount RochfordGeorge Boleyn entered the world around 1504, born into the powerful Boleyn and Howard families. His father Thomas held titles that would eventually make him…
  • John Dudley, 1st Duke of NorthumberlandJohn Dudley was seven years old when his father, Edmund Dudley, was executed for high treason in 1510. The new king, Henry VIII, needed scapegoats for the…
  • Elizabeth IElizabeth was born on the 7th of September 1533 at Greenwich Palace. Her mother Anne Boleyn had been Henry VIII's second wife.
  • Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of SomersetEdward Seymour was born around the year 1500. He entered the household of Mary Tudor, Queen of France, in 1514 at about fourteen years old.
  • Catherine HowardCatherine Howard entered the world in Lambeth around 1523, born into a family that held high rank but little money. Her father was Lord Edmund Howard, the…
  • Francis WestonSir Francis Weston entered the world in 1511 as the only son of Sir Richard Weston. His father held estates at Ufton Court in Berkshire and Sutton Place in…
  • Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of LeicesterOn the 6th of July 1553, King Edward VI died and Robert Dudley led a force of three hundred men into Norfolk. He sought to stop Mary I from taking the…
  • Lady Jane GreyJane Grey sat in the presence of her father or mother, speaking, keeping silence, sitting, standing, going, eating, drinking, merrily or sadly.
  • Thomas CranmerThomas Cranmer entered the world on the 2nd of July 1489 at Aslockton in Nottinghamshire, England. He was a younger son of Thomas Cranmer and his wife Agnes…
  • Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of NorfolkThomas Howard entered the world in 1443 at Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk. He was the only surviving son of John Howard and his first wife Katherine.
  • Henry Norris (courtier)Henry Norris arrived into a world fractured by the Wars of the Roses. His grandfather Sir William Norris fought at the Battle of Stoke Field on the 16th of…
  • Thomas MoreThomas More entered the world on the 7th of February 1478 within the City of London. His father Sir John More was a successful lawyer who later became a…
  • Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of NorfolkThomas Howard entered the world on the 10th of March 1473, born into a family that had recently lost everything. His grandfather John Howard died at Bosworth…
  • Walter RaleighSir Walter Raleigh was born on the 22nd of January 1552 in East Budleigh, Devon. His father held Fardel Manor while his mother Katherine Champernowne owned…
  • Thomas CromwellThomas Cromwell is thought to have been born by or around 1485 in Putney, then a village in Surrey providing a ferry service across the Thames upstream from…
  • William Brereton (courtier)William Brereton, born around 1487 or perhaps as late as 1501, emerged from a prominent Cheshire family. His father was Sir Randle Brereton of Ipstones…
  • Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of SouthamptonHenry Wriothesley entered the world on the 6th of October 1573 at Cowdray House in Sussex. He was the only son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton…
  • Edmund DudleyEdmund Dudley was born around 1462 or perhaps in 1471. His father Sir John Dudley lived at Atherington in West Sussex. The boy grew up as the grandson of…
  • Mark SmeatonMark Smeaton stood in the round window of Queen Anne's chamber at Winchester on a Saturday before May Day. He was around 23 years old when he died, yet his…
  • Thomas Wyatt (poet)Sir Thomas Wyatt entered the world at Allington Castle near Maidstone in Kent during 1503. His family traced their roots back to Yorkshire before settling in…
  • Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of OxfordOn the 12th of April 1550, Edward de Vere entered the world at Hedingham Castle in Essex. He was the only son of John de Vere, the 16th Earl of Oxford, and…