Bridget Wingfield

Bridget Wiltshire (later: Wingfield, then Hervey, then Tyrwhitt; died January 1534) 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 (widower of Catherine Woodville) 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. Family and career Bridget was born on an unknown date, the daughter of Sir John Wiltshire, and Margaret Graunt (daughter of Simon le Grand and Catherine Percy), 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. Sometime later, 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: Charles Wingfield (1513- 24 May 1540), married Joan Knollys, sister of Sir Francis Knollys, and sister-in-law of Catherine Carey, who was the niece of Anne Boleyn.