Anne Hoo
Anne Hoo was born around 1424 as the only child of an English baron. Her name is rarely spoken today except in the context of someone else. Her great-granddaughter, also named Anne, married Henry VIII. That granddaughter's daughter became Elizabeth I. But the woman who began that family line lived her own full life. She moved through the English peerage, the London merchant class, and the churches of 15th-century Norfolk. How did a baron's only daughter come to stand at the root of that lineage? And what do we actually know about the decades she lived before history wrote her descendants' names instead of her own?
In 1445, Thomas Hoo was created Baron of Hoo and Hastings, a title that raised his family's formal standing in the English nobility. Anne was his only child by his first wife, Elizabeth Wychingham. As the sole heir of that first marriage, she stood as a co-heiress to her father's estate and name.
Thomas Hoo remarried, and his second wife was Eleanor Welles, the daughter of Lionel de Welles, the 6th Baron Welles. That union brought Anne three half-sisters. The eldest, Anne the younger, was born around 1447. She married Roger Copley, a citizen and mercer of London with a property at Roughey in Horsham, Sussex. Copley died sometime between 1482 and 1488. Anne the younger later married William Greystoke, a gentleman with ties to London and to St. Olave in Southwark.
Eleanor Hoo also made two marriages. Her second husband was Sir James Carew of Beddington in Surrey, and through that marriage she had a son named Richard.
Elizabeth Hoo, the youngest half-sister, married Thomas Massingberd, a citizen and mercer of London. Her second husband was Sir John Devenish of Horselunges manor in Hellingly. Whether Elizabeth had children from either marriage is uncertain in the surviving record.
The half-sisters were still young when Anne made her own match in Salle, Norfolk. Her new husband carried the name Boleyn.
Geoffrey Boleyn was born in 1406. His father was also named Geoffrey Boleyn, and died in 1440; his mother's family name was Bracton. Geoffrey the younger had established himself in the cloth trade as a mercer, a profession that placed him among London's commercial elite. The wedding he shared with Anne took place around 1445.
He eventually served as Lord Mayor of London, one of the city's most prominent civic roles. His death came in 1463. Anne did not remarry.
The children they raised would spread the Hoo and Boleyn names across London, Norfolk, and the counties between.
Thomas Boleyn, the eldest son, died on the 30th of April 1471 without ever having married. He was buried in the Church of St Lawrence Old Jewry in London, beside his father. Of the five children Anne and Geoffrey raised, Thomas left the fewest traces in the record.
Sir William Boleyn was born in 1451 and lived until 1505. He made a significant marriage: his wife was Lady Margaret Butler, the daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Butler, the 7th Earl of Ormond. Their son was Thomas Boleyn, who would be created the 1st Earl of Wiltshire.
Three daughters filled out the family. Isabel Boleyn died in 1485, having married William Cheyney, who was born in 1444 and died in 1487. They had no children. Alice Boleyn died around 1480. She had children through her marriage to Sir John Fortescue of Ponsborne Park Newgate Street in Hertfordshire. Fortescue died in 1500.
Anne Boleyn, the youngest child, bore her mother's maiden surname. She married Sir Henry Heydon of Baconsthorpe in Norfolk, who was born in 1425 and died in 1504. She outlived him, dying in May 1510, and had children.
Thomas and Alice both died before their mother. Anne Hoo buried two of her five children before her own death came.
Anne died on the 6th of June, in either 1484 or 1485, aged about 61. She was buried in Norwich Cathedral in Norfolk.
William Boleyn had left instructions before his death that he wished to be buried beside his mother. Those instructions were honored, and the two of them were laid to rest together in the cathedral.
At some point in the 16th century, her resting place was moved. The monumental brass fixtures that had marked her grave were lost during that relocation. William's written request to lie beside his mother is how we know where both of them ended up.
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Common questions
Who was Anne Hoo?
Anne Hoo was an English noblewoman born around 1424, the only child of Thomas Hoo, Baron Hoo and Hastings, and his first wife Elizabeth Wychingham. She married Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, a mercer and Lord Mayor of London. She is noted as the great-grandmother of Anne Boleyn and the maternal great-great-grandmother of Elizabeth I of England.
How is Anne Hoo related to Anne Boleyn, queen of England?
Anne Hoo was the great-grandmother of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII. Her son Sir William Boleyn married Lady Margaret Butler, daughter of Thomas Butler, the 7th Earl of Ormond. Their son, Thomas Boleyn, was created the 1st Earl of Wiltshire and was the father of Anne Boleyn.
When did Anne Hoo die and where was she buried?
Anne Hoo died on the 6th of June in either 1484 or 1485, aged about 61. She was buried in Norwich Cathedral in Norfolk.
Who did Anne Hoo marry?
Anne Hoo married Sir Geoffrey Boleyn around 1445 in Salle, Norfolk. Geoffrey Boleyn was born in 1406 and served as both a mercer and Lord Mayor of London. He died in 1463, after which Anne did not remarry.
How many children did Anne Hoo have?
Anne Hoo had five known children with Sir Geoffrey Boleyn: Thomas, William, Isabel, Alice, and Anne. Sir William Boleyn, born in 1451 and died in 1505, married Lady Margaret Butler, daughter of Thomas Butler the 7th Earl of Ormond. Through that marriage, he became the grandfather of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII.
What happened to Anne Hoo's grave in Norwich Cathedral?
Anne Hoo's resting place in Norwich Cathedral was moved during the 16th century, and her monumental brass fixtures were lost in the process. Her son Sir William Boleyn had requested to be buried beside her, and that wish was honored before the relocation took place.
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