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Viscount Rochford is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England.
The first creation was made in favour of Sir Thomas Boleyn in 1525 by King Henry VIII.[1] The title was taken from Boleyn's Rochford country estate in Essex.[citation needed] In 1529, Thomas was promoted even further when the King created him Earl of Wiltshire.[1] In that same year, Thomas also inherited the wealth and title of his mother's ancestors, the Earls of Ormond.[1] Thus, Thomas's only son, George became known by the courtesy title of Viscount Rochford.[2][3]
The title fell out of use as a courtesy title in 1536 when George Boleyn was executed on false charges of treason.[3] It became extinct when Thomas died in 1539.[1] In 1542, Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford, George's widow, was also executed after she was implicated in the fall of Queen Catherine Howard.[4]
The title was recreated in 1619 for Thomas Boleyn's great-great-grandson Henry Carey, 4th Baron Hunsdon, who was created Earl of Dover in 1628. Both titles became extinct on the death of the second Earl in 1677.
- ^ a b c d "Boleyn, Thomas, earl of Wiltshire and earl of Ormond". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2795. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Ives, E.W. (1986). Anne Boleyn. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. xiv. ISBN 0-631-14745-4.
- ^ a b "Boleyn, George, Viscount Rochford". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2793. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Boleyn [née Parker], Jane, Viscountess Rochford". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/70799. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)