Anne Hankford
Anne Hankford was born around 1431 into a Devon family whose name would echo across generations in ways she could not have foreseen. Her father, Sir Richard Hankford of Annery in Monkleigh, held the feudal barony of Bampton. Her mother, Anne Montagu, was the daughter of John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. Anne was a co-heiress to her father's estate, which placed her among the propertied women of her time. Before she turned twenty she would marry one of the most powerful Anglo-Irish earls in England. She would die just as her husband's fortunes turned, and within a generation her granddaughter would become one of the most consequential figures in Tudor history.
Sir Richard Hankford's seat at Annery, in the parish of Monkleigh in Devon, was the landscape of Anne's early years. As a co-heiress, she stood to inherit a share of her father's feudal holdings, including the barony of Bampton. Her mother's lineage reached up into the higher reaches of the English nobility through the Montagu family. John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, was Anne's maternal grandfather, a connection that gave the Hankford family a thread into the older aristocratic world. That thread, woven through the co-heiress arrangement, made Anne a desirable match for ambitious noble families looking to consolidate land and alliance.
Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, born around 1426, came from a family deep in Anglo-Irish power. He was the youngest son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, and Joan de Beauchamp. Anne married Thomas before 1450, entering a household that straddled England and Ireland. They had two daughters. Margaret Butler, born around 1454, married Sir William Boleyn. Anne Butler, born around 1455, married Sir James St. Leger. Through Margaret's union with Sir William Boleyn, the line passed to Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and from there to Thomas's children: Anne Boleyn, Mary Boleyn, and George Boleyn, by his wife Elizabeth Howard.
King Edward IV had declared Thomas Butler and his brothers traitors, and had statutes made against them at Westminster. Anne lived with the consequences of that attainder alongside her husband. She died on the 13th of November 1485, in the same month that King Henry VII's first Parliament restored the estates and the title of Ormond to Thomas. She did not live to see that restoration take effect. After her death, Thomas Butler married Lora Berkeley, a daughter of Sir Edward Berkeley; that second marriage produced one daughter, who died young. In 1509, Thomas was appointed the first Lord Chamberlain to Queen Catherine of Aragon, a position that came nearly a quarter century after Anne's death.
Anne Hankford's place in history rests almost entirely on descent rather than on any recorded act of her own. Through her daughter Margaret Butler and son-in-law Sir William Boleyn, she became the great-grandmother of Anne Boleyn. Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, was the child of that marriage, and his own children included the woman who would become Henry VIII's second queen. Mary Boleyn and George Boleyn were Thomas's children as well, by Elizabeth Howard. The chain of connection from a Devon co-heiress of around 1431 to the court of Henry VIII is direct and spans three generations, with Anne Hankford standing at its root.
Up Next
Common questions
Who was Anne Hankford and why is she historically significant?
Anne Hankford, also known as Lady Anne Butler, Countess of Ormond, was born around 1431 and died on the 13th of November 1485. She is historically significant as the great-grandmother of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII.
Who were Anne Hankford's parents?
Anne Hankford was the daughter of Sir Richard Hankford of Annery, Monkleigh, Devon, feudal baron of Bampton, and his second wife Anne Montagu. Her maternal grandfather was John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury.
Who did Anne Hankford marry?
Anne Hankford married Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, before 1450. Thomas was born around 1426 and was the youngest son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, and Joan de Beauchamp.
What children did Anne Hankford have?
Anne Hankford had two daughters with Thomas Butler. Margaret Butler, born around 1454, married Sir William Boleyn. Anne Butler, born around 1455, married Sir James St. Leger.
How is Anne Hankford connected to Anne Boleyn?
Anne Hankford was the great-grandmother of Anne Boleyn. Her daughter Margaret Butler married Sir William Boleyn, and their son Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, was the father of Anne Boleyn, Mary Boleyn, and George Boleyn.
What happened to Anne Hankford's husband Thomas Butler after her death?
After Anne's death in November 1485, King Henry VII's first Parliament restored the estates and title of Ormond to Thomas Butler in that same month. Thomas later married Lora Berkeley and in 1509 was appointed the first Lord Chamberlain to Queen Catherine of Aragon.