Bridget Wiltshire


Bridget Wiltshire was a neighbour, close friend and lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England. She was the wife of Sir Richard Wingfield and the daughter of Sir John Wiltshire of Stone Castle, Kent, a neighbour of the Boleyn family.
A letter written by Anne Boleyn to Bridget was used as evidence in the trial of the Queen for adultery, incest and conspiring against the life of the King. As Bridget had died, she could not refute the interpretation the prosecution placed on the Queen's words. The report also questioned the morality of Bridget: And note that this matter was disclosed by a woman called Lady Wingfield who was a servant of the said queen and shared the same tendencies. And suddenly the said Wingfield became ill and a little time before her death she showed the matter to one of those etc.
She married three times; her first husband was Sir Richard Wingfield, by whom she had ten children; he died in 1525. Her second husband was Sir Nicholas Hervey, and her third husband was Sir Robert Tyrwhitt.

Family and career

Bridget was born on an unknown date, the daughter of Sir John Wiltshire, and Margaret Graunt, of Stone Castle, in Shurland, Kent, She became a member of Catherine of Aragon's household, sometime before 1520, as Bridget was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in France. Later, on an unknown date, Bridget became a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Catherine's successor, Anne Boleyn.

Marriages and children

In 1513, she married her first husband, Sir Richard Wingfield, courtier, diplomat, and Lord Deputy of Calais. He was one of twelve brothers and the widower of Catherine Woodville, a younger sister of Edward IV's queen consort Elizabeth Woodville. Together, Sir Richard and Bridget had ten children:
Sir Richard died in 1525, and she married secondly, Sir Nicholas Hervey of Ickworth, Ambassador to Emperor Charles V, but a loyal supporter of Anne Boleyn. Bridget and Sir Nicholas had six children, George Hervey, Cecily Hervey, Bridget Hervey, Isabella Hervey, Eleanor Hervey and William Hervey. After the death of Sir Nicholas on 5 August 1532, Bridget married her third husband, Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, a man of whom Anne Boleyn did not approve. The two quarrelled possibly on account of the latter's disapproval. Bridget is last mentioned in the list of New Years' Gifts in 1534, although as there were many Lady Wingfields it is hard to be sure who was being referred to. She died after giving birth to Joan and Arthur Tyrwhitt.