Born Jane Parker, a distant relative of Henry VIII, she became a lady-in-waiting to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and to quite a few of those that followed. Married Anne Boleyn’s brother, George, and later, when Anne was an unwanted wife and George and Anne were accused of incest, Jane gave evidence against her husband. Consequently George was beheaded on Tower Hill along with four other men also accused of adultery with Anne. A few years later when Henry needed to get rid of another wife, Anne of Cleves, Jane again provided useful evidence. When Catherine Howard (number 5) needed a go-between to facilitate her liaisons with Thomas Culpeper Jane stepped into the role. But the affair was discovered and all involved and some that weren't, were imprisoned. Jane appeared to suffer a nervous breakdown and was declared insane which ought to have saved her life but Henry changed the law to allow the execution of the insane and so Jane was beheaded at Tower Green, immediately after Catherine.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford
Commemorated ati
Tower of London execution site
Catling wrote the poem as well as creating the sculpture. Doesn't that cushio...
Other Subjects
Edmund Hurst
Burnt at the stake in Bow (or possibly Stratford) for his Protestant beliefs.
Lord Balmerino
Jacobite. Taken prisoner at the Battle of Culloden. Tried and beheaded on the Tower Hill scaffold.
Major-General Thomas Harrison
Executed for regicide. In the civil war he fought on the side of Parliament against King Charles I. Close to Cromwell, he was elected to the Long Parliament, sat as a judge in the King's trial and...
Ensign Eliane Sophie Plewman, Croix de Guerre
Elaine Sophie Browne-Bartroli was born on 6 December 1917 in Marseille, France, the daughter of Eugene Henry Browne and Elsa Francesca Browne née Bartroli. In addition to the information shown on ...