Gurney Genealogy Library Updated 29 May 2026 by Allen Gurney

Queen Anne Boleyn (c. 1501 - 19 May 1536)

Queen Anne Boleyn was not a direct ancestor in this line; she was Anthony Gurney's second cousin through the Heydon-Boleyn branch, making her Allen Gurney's second cousin, 16 times removed.

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Born
About 1501. Historic Royal Palaces identifies her father as Sir Thomas Boleyn, a courtier, and her mother as Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. Anne spent part of her childhood at Hever Castle in Kent and later received a court education in the Low Countries and France. 1
Died
19 May 1536, Tower of London. Anne was arrested on 2 May 1536, tried for treason, beheaded on Tower Green, and buried in the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower. 2
Status
Queen consort of England, second wife of Henry VIII, and mother of Elizabeth I. She is a collateral cousin in this project, not a direct ancestor. 3
Relationship
Second cousin, 16 times removed. Anne Boleyn and Anthony Gurney (G17) were both great-grandchildren of Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, Lord Mayor of London, and Anne Hoo: Anthony through Anne Boleyn the elder and Anne Heydon; Queen Anne through Sir William Boleyn and Sir Thomas Boleyn. 4
Marriage / Child
Henry VIII - married January 1533; Anne was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey on 1 June 1533. Their daughter Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I, was born on 7 September 1533. 5

Highlights

  • The connection is through Anthony Gurney's mother, not the paternal Gurney spine. William Gurney V (G18) married Anne Heydon, daughter of Sir Henry Heydon and Anne Boleyn the elder of Blickling. Anne Boleyn the elder was sister to Sir William Boleyn, Queen Anne's paternal grandfather. That makes Anthony Gurney (G17) and Queen Anne Boleyn second cousins. 4
  • Same generation as Anthony Gurney. Anne was born about 1501, while Anthony Gurney is placed about 1499. They were near contemporaries in the same extended Norfolk-and-courtly cousinage. 16
  • A royal cousin, not an ancestor. The direct line continues through Anthony Gurney to Francis Gurney (G16), Henry Gurney (G15), and onward. Queen Anne belongs beside the line as a collateral Boleyn cousin, not inside the direct ancestor chain. 7
  • Her marriage changed England. HRP summarizes the central historical consequence plainly: Anne's marriage to Henry VIII produced Elizabeth I, and the marriage politics around Henry's break with Rome helped reshape the religious and political landscape of Tudor England. 35
  • The Tower is both coronation threshold and death site. In May 1533 Anne came to the Tower before her coronation; three years later she returned as a prisoner after her arrest on 2 May 1536 and was executed there on 19 May. 25

Narrative

Queen Anne Boleyn belongs in this genealogy as a bright collateral flare: famous enough to distort the room, but not a direct ancestor. The direct Gurney line reaches her by way of marriage into the Heydon and Boleyn families. William Gurney V (G18) married Anne Heydon of Baconsthorpe Castle. Anne Heydon’s mother was Anne Boleyn the elder of Blickling, sister of Sir William Boleyn. Sir William was the father of Sir Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, and Sir Thomas was Queen Anne’s father. Anthony Gurney (G17), son of William Gurney V and Anne Heydon, therefore stood to Queen Anne as a second cousin. 4

That is why the generation label here is G17. Anne Boleyn was not a Gurney ancestor, but she sits at the same generation level as Anthony Gurney in the cousin diagram. Their most recent common ancestors were Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, Lord Mayor of London, and his wife Anne Hoo. Anthony descends through Geoffrey’s daughter Anne Boleyn the elder; Queen Anne descends through Geoffrey’s son Sir William Boleyn. From Anthony Gurney down to Allen is sixteen generational steps, so the relationship is second cousin, sixteen times removed. 4

Historically, Anne’s own life moved from the regional Boleyn-Howard world into the center of European court politics. HRP places her birth at about 1501 and names her parents as Sir Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard. Her Howard mother made her part of the same high Norfolk aristocratic world that surrounded the Gurneys through Heydon, Howard, Calthorpe, Paston, and Lestrange marriages. After education in continental courts and service as lady-in-waiting to Katherine of Aragon, Anne became the focus of Henry VIII’s dynastic crisis. 1

Anne married Henry VIII in January 1533, was crowned queen on 1 June 1533, and gave birth to Elizabeth on 7 September 1533. Henry’s campaign to make that marriage possible helped drive the English break with Rome, making Anne’s brief queenship far more consequential than its three-year span suggests. 5

The same Tower of London that framed her coronation also framed her fall. Anne arrived there in May 1533 in preparation for her coronation. She returned after her arrest on 2 May 1536, was condemned in a hostile trial, and was beheaded on Tower Green on 19 May 1536. She was buried in the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula inside the Tower. 2

For the Gurney line, the point is not royal descent but social proximity. Anthony Gurney was not made powerful by being Anne’s cousin, and there is no evidence here that the two knew one another personally. But the relationship explains why the Tudor Norfolk Gurneys should be read inside the same eastern-county web that produced the Boleyns, Heydons, Howards, Pastons, Cobhams, and Lestranges. 7

Citations

  1. Historic Royal Palaces, "Anne Boleyn," Tower of London, accessed 26 April 2026. HRP gives Anne's approximate birth year, parents Sir Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard, Hever childhood, and French court education. Source ID: hrp-anne-boleyn. return
  2. Historic Royal Palaces, "Anne Boleyn," Tower of London, sections "Anne Boleyn's arrest and trial," "Anne's imprisonment at the Tower of London," and "Execution and burial." HRP gives arrest on 2 May 1536, execution at Tower Green on 19 May 1536, and burial in the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula. Source ID: hrp-anne-boleyn. return
  3. Historic Royal Palaces, "Anne Boleyn," Tower of London, introductory and closing sections, for Anne as Henry VIII's second wife, mother of Elizabeth I, and historically significant queen whose life affected Tudor religion and politics. Source ID: hrp-anne-boleyn. return
  4. Relationship chain from the existing G17 Anthony Gurney and G18 William Gurney V fact-sheet citations: Daniel Gurney, The Record of the House of Gournay (London, 1848), pedigree p. 287; Daniel Gurney, Supplement to the Record of the House of Gournay (King's Lynn: Thew & Son, 1858), pp. 868 ff.; Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004), genealogical chart appendix, as already cited in the G17 and G18 sheets for the Heydon-Boleyn cousinage. The relationship calculation is: Sir Geoffrey Boleyn and Anne Hoo -> Anne Boleyn the elder -> Anne Heydon -> Anthony Gurney, and Sir Geoffrey Boleyn and Anne Hoo -> Sir William Boleyn -> Sir Thomas Boleyn -> Queen Anne Boleyn. return
  5. Historic Royal Palaces, "Anne Boleyn," Tower of London, sections "Anne marries Henry VIII" and "How much did Anne influence the English Reformation?" HRP gives the January 1533 marriage, 1 June 1533 coronation, 7 September 1533 birth of Elizabeth, and the 1534 break with Rome. Source ID: hrp-anne-boleyn. return
  6. Anthony's c. 1499 dating and parentage: G17 Anthony Gurney fact sheet, citing Daniel Gurney, Record (1848), pedigree p. 287; Daniel Gurney, Supplement (1858), pp. 870 ff.; and the Pease/Pennyghael Gurney genealogy. return
  7. Direct-line distinction from the existing project spine in data/ancestors v26.json: the direct line runs Anthony Gurney (G17) -> Francis Gurney (G16) -> Henry Gurney (G15), while Queen Anne Boleyn is entered as a related/collateral G17 person. return