Our Connection to Anne Boleyn in the family tree

Anne Boleyn is back in the spotlight.  She is the subject of a new series on AMC, only this time with a twist… the actress playing Anne Boleyn is black.  I don’t know why they chose a black actress to portray a historical (very) white woman, but that is the case for this series.  As of yet, I don’t know if our relative, William Brereton will be represented in the series.  He certainly was represented in the HBO series called “The Tudors” which ran on Showtime for 3 seasons a few years back.  

“Who?” you’re asking?   Who is Anne Boleyn and William Brereton? 

Well, Anne Boleyn was one of Henry the 8th’s wives who was beheaded along with 5 of her (supposed) lovers.  William Brereton was one of those lovers.    

William Brereton, as it turns out, was a distant Uncle of mine on my mother’s side (Downing) of the family.  Or to be more specific, his mother, Eleanor Dutton, was my 20th Great Grandmother.   Wait… you say we’re related via the Downings (my mother), but she is a Dutton?  Yes, as it turns out, my parents are distant cousins.  Somehow the Downings and Duttons, both from England, managed to meet up in the USA several generations later and make some babies.   

Eleanor Dutton, mother of William Brereton, was a remarkable woman in her own right.  She married into the Brereton family, and eventually bore 8 sons and 4 daughters, including a son named William.  Her daughter Elizabeth is our connection to the Breretons.  But, it is her son William who would go down in history as a victim of King Henry #8 and his paranoia of his wives (many wives) adulterous affairs. 

Even still, Eleanor has a tomb that still exists in England (pics and info here).   The ancestry of Eleanor Dutton-Brereton is well documented.  

William Brereton was called out (falsely) as a ‘lover’ of Queen Anne Boleyn and be executed (beheaded) along with 4 other men.  Each was accused of being an adulterer with Queen Anne.   He has since been acquitted of all crimes, but… too late, he’s dead.  Still, he has gone down in history and even been portrayed in multiple movies and TV series.  

Here are a few videos that highlight the history of King Henry 8 and Anne Boleyn…. 

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Henry the 8th song.  Yes, it is a mockery of King Henry #8.  He deserved it.  He was a scumbag. 
In the film Ghost, Sam (Patrick Swayze) sings this song on a continuous run in a bad Cockney London accent all night long, to Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) to annoy her into helping him

Here’s some Facts about fat ass Henry that you never asked for.  He weighed 400 pounds at one point.  

Horrible Henry simplified in a short song

The full story of Henry the 8th and the execution of Queen Anne Boleyn and 5 innocent men.  William Brereton is mentioned at 7:15 in this video…

William Brereton in characterized in the Showtime series The Tudors” (by actor James Gilbert). 
He had a small part in the series, but here are snipets of some of his scenes…  

It is also interesting to note that Anne Boleyn gave birth to a daughter with Henry 8 who eventually became Queen Elizabeth 1.  Liz was only 2 years old when her mother, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded.  The current Queen of England is Elizabeth 2… named directly in honor Elizabeth 1, although they are actually distantly related. If you’d like to read more about that connection, click here

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This is the genealogy from Eleanor Dutton-Brereton to myself: 

• Eleanor Dutton-Brereton– 1484-1522 b. Chesire, England, d. Chesire, England (mother of William Brereton killed along with Anne Boleyn)
• Elizabeth Brereton – b. Malpas Cheshire England 1500, d. Cheshire England 1545
• Margaret Mainwairing – b. Over Cheshire england 1521, d. Over Cheshire England 1570
• Sir George Mainwairing – b. Lightfield Shropshire England 1520, 1570
• Margaret Mainwairing – b. London England 1580  d.1601
• John Baker – b. Edgemond Shopshire England 1598, d. Topsfield Essex Massachucets 1672
• Robert Baker – b. Newport Shopshire England 1616, d. Edgemont Shopshire England 1672
• Joseph Baker – b. Edgemont Shopshire England 1630, d. Edgemont Chester Pennsylvania d. 1776
• Joseph Baker  – b. Thornsbury Chester Pennsylvania 1686  Edgemont Deleware Pennsylvania d.1717
• Hannah Baker  – b. Edgeport, Deleware 1715 Aston, Deleware 1760
• Margaret Talbot – b. Willmington, Deleware 1737 d. Willmington, Deleware 1815 
• Thomas Grissel  – b. Willmington New Castle Deleware 1763 d. Columbiana Ohio 1827
• Euphemia Grissel Townsend – b. Hanover, Virginia 1710 d. Rotham, Pennsylvania 1799
• Elizabeth Watson – b. Hampshire, Virgina 1731 d. Rutherford, North Carolina 1806
• Captain George Walker b. Prince William, Virginia 1745 d. Bledsoe, Tennessee 1833
• Jesse Walker  b. Warren, North Carolina 1770 d. Blesdoe, Tennessee 1850
• Jesse John Walker  b. Tennessee 1798 d. Stoddard, Missouri 1850 
• Melissa Walker  b. Tennessee 1822 d. Mountain Home, AR 1900
• Polk Walker  b. Alabama 1854 – d. Mountain Home, AR 1936
• Virgil Walker b. Mountain Home, AR 1880 – d. Mountain Home, AR 1966
• Mabel Walker/Downing b. 1908 Mountain Home, AR – d. 1995 Mountain Home, AR
• Shirley Downing/Dutton b. 1938 Mountain Home, AR – d. 2019 Harrison, Ar
• Joseph Dutton – 1965 b Harrison, Arkansas…