#Anne never knew her tho as she died in 1497

[aethelfleds]

Some notes from researching Elizabeth Boleyn’s mother, Elizabeth Tilney, that I thought were neat:

- She was a maternal descendant of the Welsh Prince, Gruffydd ap Madog as well as the de Grey family, making her a distant cousin of Elizabeth Woodville’s first husband Sir John Grey. 

- Coincidentally, Elizabeth was a lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth Woodville and carried her train at her coronation. She also went into sanctuary at Westminster with queen Elizabeth in 1470. 

- I’d say she was quite Yorkist, as her first husband died fighting for Edward IV at Barnet. Then Edward himself arranged her second marriage to Thomas Howard. 

- Elizabeth was the only child of Sir Frederick Tilney and Elizabeth Cheney, so she was the sole heir of her father’s properties which would come in handy later. Elizabeth Cheney married a second time to John Say and their daughter Anne Say would be the maternal grandmother of Jane Seymour. So that's a closer link between Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, and Katherine Howard.

- Elizabeth’s father-in-law, the Duke of Norfolk, was killed at Bosworth. Her husband, the Earl of Surrey, was taken prisoner. Because he fought for Richard III, Henry VII passed an act of attainder which stripped Thomas of his title and inheritance. 

- Without her husband or his Howard inheritance, Elizabeth had to take charge of her family. The attainder did not strip her of her own lands, so she must certainly have made use of them while providing for her children. 

- Two months after Bosworth, Elizabeth was staying on the Isle of Sheppey. My theory is that she also made use of her Cheyne relations. At that time her distant cousin, John Cheyne, owned Shurland Hall on the isle. He had also served in Elizabeth Woodville’s household and was then in good standing with Henry VII, so I think Elizabeth looked to him for help.

- At some point she moved to London to be near the Tower, where her husband was imprisoned. Ride or die. He was eventually released and both of them were given positions at court again. Elizabeth even stood in as a joint godmother to Margaret Tudor.