Alice St.John, mother of Jane Boleyn

Jane Boleyn’s mother was Alice St. John. Alice was the eldest daughter of Sir John St. John of Bletsoe, a first cousin of Henry VII. She married Jane’s father Henry Parker, the 10th Baron Morley, who had grown up in the house of Margaret Beaufort. They had five children – Jane, Henry (who was knighted at Anne Boleyn’s coronation), Margaret (who married John Shelton), Elizabeth and Francis. There is very little recorded about Elizabeth and Francis, so there is a possibility that they may have not survived childhood. Alice died in 1553, outliving both Jane Boleyn who was executed in 1542 and her son Henry, who died 1552. Even though she did not publicly mourn her daughter’s death, in Jane’s memory she contributed to the cost of a new bell for the church in Great Hallingbury where Jane grew up. The following web page shows more background on Alice and other St. John ladies - http://goodgentlewoman.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/alice-st-john-lady-morley/

Image - Holbein sketch believed to be either Jane Boleyn or Grace Newport (the first wife of Jane's brother Henry).