Who is William Stafford, 2nd spouse of Mary Boleyn?

Question

Who is William Stafford, 2nd spouse of Mary Boleyn?

Answer 1

poet

Answer 2

William Stafford was a younger son of a midland family of royal decent whose fortunes had been depleted during the previous century.  He married to Mary Boleyn, an ex-mistress of Henry VIII.

He attended the coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn  and this may have been the occasion of his meeting with her sister.

Their marriage displeased the King and Queenand her family disowned her but she said although she 'might have had a greater man of birth and higher' she was content to lead 'a poor honest life' with her youthful husband.

Mary inherited the Boleyn estates as her sister and brother were both executed and was able to give William several manors in Essex, including Rochford which they later made their home.

In 1541 Stafford acquired the manor of Hendon in Kent from the crown but several months later he exchanged it for more valuable property in Yorkshire and London.

After Mary's death he inherited the manor of Abinger, Surrey,

In 1544 he fought in France and in 1545 in Scotland, where he was knighted.  He married again and accompanied  by his new wife, children, sister, cousin and servants, he settled in Geneva and became known there as Lord Rochford.  He died there on May 5, 1556

.

Answer 3

William Stafford was the 2nd spouse of Mary Boleyn. William loved Mary ever since she was at King Francois's court in France. William Stafford and Mary's first husband, Will Carey, were friends. Mary always secretly loved William Stafford, and when Will Carey died of the sweating sickness, Mary was able to marry William Stafford in secret because her family would disaprove of her marriage because William had no money and no rank. He truly loved Mary and he always wanted the best for her. If you want to read more about William Stafford and Mary Boleyn's relationship, read the book 'The Last Boleyn' by Karen Harper - it is an amazing book! I love it!