On this day in history, 7th April 1538, Elizabeth Boleyn (née Howard), Lady Wiltshire, wife of Thomas Boleyn and mother of the late Queen Anne Boleyn, was buried at St Mary’s Church, Lambeth.
John Hussey recorded her funeral procession in a letter to Lady Lisle:
“My lady Wiltshire was buried at Lamehithe on the 7th… She was conveyed from a house beside Baynard’s Castle by barge to Lambeth with torches burning and four baneys (banners?) set out of all quarters of the barge, which was covered with black and a white cross.” (LP xiii Part 1, 717)
Sir John Russell, Lord Comptroller, was the chief male mourner and Elizabeth’s half-sister, Katherine Howard, Lady Daubenay, was the chief female mourner.
According to Marilyn Roberts, who has done extensive research on the Howard family and the Howard burial at St Mary’s Church, now The Garden Museum, Elizabeth was buried in the chancel. As I stated in my previous article on Elizabeth’s burial, J. Nichols, in History of the Parish of Lambeth (1786), stated that there used to be a brass plate at St Mary’s Church that was inscribed “Here lyeth the Lady Elizabeth Howard, some time Countess of Wiltshire”, but it no longer exists.
I visited Lambeth in May 2013 and you can click here to see a slideshow of photos I took.
You can read more about Elizabeth Boleyn in the following articles:
- 3 April 1538 – Death of Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of Anne Boleyn
- In Memory of Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of Anne Boleyn
- Was Anne Boleyn Henry VIII’s daughter?
- Did Anne Boleyn have a stepmother?
