Anne Hungerford

Anne Bassett was an English courtier of the Tudor period, whose charms attracted the attention of King Henry VIII.[1]

Anne was born in 1521,[2] the fourth child of Sir John Bassett and Honor (daughter of Sir Thomas Grenville of Stowe in Kilkhampton, Cornwall and his wife Isabella). As her father died when she was young, Anne was brought up by her mother and stepfather, Arthur Plantagenet, Lord Lisle, in the English enclave of Calais. Lord Lisle was the illegitimate son of Edward IV of England, and thus Henry VIII's uncle.

Lady Honor, Anne's formidable mother, had attempted to secure a place for her two daughters (Anne and her sister Catherine Bassett) in the service of Queen Anne Boleyn several times, but to no avail. She persisted in her efforts to secure them positions and eventually, after sending a large consignment of quails to Anne's successor, Queen Jane Seymour the latter relented. She allowed Lady Lisle to send her daughters but warned her that only one position could be found. Anne was the sister accepted and was sworn into service the day after the pregnant queen took to her chamber for her lying-in.[1]

Anne is rumoured to have attracted Henry VIII in 1538 and 1539, and is rumoured to have been the king's mistress. The ambassadors thought that she might become his fourth wife in 1540, and again in 1542, just after Queen Catherine Howard was sentenced to death.[1]

Anne was maid of honour to Queen Mary I. On 11 June 1554 Robert Swyfte reported her marriage to Sir Walter Hungerford in a letter to Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury, as having taken place "on Thursday last...at which day the Queen shewed herself very pleasant, commanding all mirth and pastime".[3] There were two children of the marriage, who both died without issue.[4][3]

Anne died before 1558 when Sir Walter—with the permission of Mary—married Anne Dormer.[5]

Anne Bassett is the basis of the character Nan Bassett in Kate Emerson's novel, "Secrets of the Tudor Court: Between Two Queens".[6]

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bassett

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• HUNGERFORD, Sir Walter (by 1527-95/97), of Farleigh Hungerford, Som.
• b. by 1527, 1st s. of Walter, Lord Hungerford of Heytesbury. Wilts., by 1st w. Susan, da. of Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey, Wilts.; half-bro. of Sir Edward Hungerford. m. (1) 11 June 1554, Anne, da. of Sir John Bassett of Umberleigh, Devon, 2ch. d.v.p.; (2) by 5 May 1558, Anne, da. of (Sir) William Dormer of Wing, Bucks., 1s. 3da.; 3s. 1da. illegit. suc. fa. 28 July 1540. Kntd. May/Nov. 1554.2
• From: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/hu...
• ______________________ Anne Bassett, c.1521-before June 7,1557, was the third daughter of Sir John Bassett (1462-January 21,1528) and his second wife, Honor Grenville (c.1494-April 1566). Her stepfather, Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, was Lord Deputy of Calais and Anne was sent to a French family to be educated. In 1537 she obtained a post at court as one of Queen Jane Seymour’s six maids of honor, having been told in 1536 that, at fifteen, she was too young for the post. At the queen’s death, she was placed in the household of her cousin, Mary Arundell, countess of Sussex, to await the king’s next marriage. Later she resided with Peter Mewtas and his wife (Jane Asteley) and then with a distant cousin, Anthony Denny, and his wife (Joan Champernowne). The king took a particular interest in her, at one point giving her a gift of a horse and saddle. Upon his marriage to Anne of Cleves, Anne Bassett resumed her position as a maid of honor and she also held this post under Catherine Howard. After that queen’s disgrace, Anne was particularly provided for because at the time her stepfather, mother, and two sisters were being held in connection with a treasonous plot to turn Calais over to England’s enemies. This does not seem to have affected the king’s feelings for Anne. At a banquet held a short time later, she was one of three ladies to whom he paid particular attention and there was speculation that Anne Bassett might be wife number six. When King Henry chose Katherine Parr instead, Anne resumed her role as maid of honor. She left court during the reign of Edward VI with an annuity of forty marks for her service to Katherine Parr but returned as a lady of the privy chamber in 1553 when Mary Tudor took the throne. On June 11, 1554, Anne married Walter Hungerford of Farleigh (c.1526-1596) in the queen’s chapel at Richmond. The queen granted Anne a number of Hungerford properties lost when Walter's father was attainted in 1540. Walter was knighted later that year. They had two sons who died young. Biography: Anne’s story is told and some of her correspondence reprinted in M. St. Clare Byrne’s The Lisle Letters.
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The Queen’s grant was in fact to Anne Bassett, one of her maids of honour and sister of James Bassett, with remainder to Hungerford; but was occasioned by Anne’s marriage to Hungerford, who was bound to pay £5,000 for the property. The wedding took place at Richmond on 11 June 1554 on ‘which day the Queen shewed herself very pleasant, commanding all mirth and pastime’. He was knighted later in the year and his election for Wiltshire to the third Parliament of the reign marked his rehabilitation there. In 1557 he was appointed to serve in the campaign against the Scots and later in the same year he was pricked sheriff: his tenure of this office precluded his return for a Wiltshire constituency in 1558, but he was able to utilize his links with Cornwall, where he owned some property and where his brother-in-law James Bassett was influential, to obtain his election at Bodmin. His name is one of those marked with a circle on a list of Members for this Parliament. In the summer of 1558, between the two sessions of Parliament, he obtained a final indication of the Queen’s goodwill: on his marriage to the sister of her close friend, Jane Dormer,

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• Links
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_Grenville,_Viscountess_Lisle
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Plantagenet,_1st_Viscount_Lisle
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hungerford_(Knight_of_Farley)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bassett

Anne Bassett was an English courtier of the Tudor period, whose charms attracted the attention of King Henry VIII.

Family background

Anne was born in 1521, the fourth child of Sir John Bassett and Honor (daughter of Sir Thomas Grenville of Stowe in Kilkhampton, Cornwall and his wife Isabella). As her father died when she was young, Anne was brought up by her mother and stepfather, Arthur Plantagenet, Lord Lisle, in the English enclave of Calais. Lord Lisle was the illegitimate son of Edward IV of England, and thus Henry VIII's uncle.

Biography

Lady Honor, Anne's formidable mother, had attempted to secure a place for her two daughters (Anne and her sister Catherine Bassett) in the service of Queen Anne Boleyn several times, but to no avail. She persisted in her efforts to secure them positions and eventually, after sending a large consignment of quails to Anne's successor, Queen Jane Seymour the latter relented. She allowed Lady Lisle to send her daughters but warned her that only one position could be found. Anne was the sister accepted and was sworn into service the day after the pregnant queen took to her chamber for her lying-in.

Anne is rumoured to have attracted Henry VIII in 1538 and 1539, and is rumoured to have been the king's mistress. The ambassadors thought that she might become his fourth wife in 1540, and again in 1542, just after Queen Catherine Howard was sentenced to death.

Anne was maid of honour to Queen Mary I. On 11 June 1554 Robert Swyfte reported her marriage to Sir Walter Hungerford in a letter to Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury, as having taken place "on Thursday last...at which day the Queen shewed herself very pleasant, commanding all mirth and pastime". There were two children of the marriage, who both died without issue.

Anne died before 1558 when Sir Walter—with the permission of Mary—married Anne Dormer.

References in popular culture

Anne Bassett is the basis of the character Nan Bassett in Kate Emerson's novel, "Secrets of the Tudor Court: Between Two Queens".