Jane Seymour (1508-1537) - Find a Grave Memorial

English Queen Consort. She was a daughter of Sir John Seymour, of Wolf Hall, Wiltshire, and his wife, the former Margery Wentworth. Her education was in keeping with her family's social status in that period as members of the landed gentry with a focus on household management for women.

Jane served as a maid-of-honour to Katharine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife, and continued to serve in that capacity for his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Her presence at court caught the attention of the king who became interested in her shortly before the execution of his second wife. She and the king were distant cousins through a mutual descent from Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, a son of King Edward III of England.

Jane was betrothed to Henry VIII on the day following Anne Boleyn's execution, and they were married at the Palace of Whitehall in London on May 30, 1536, only 10 days following the betrothal. Agreeable by nature, she brought about a reconciliation between Henry VIII and his elder daughter Mary, with whom Jane had a close relationship. She achieved what neither of Henry's first two wives, nor his last three wives, were able to do, by conceiving a surviving son and heir to the throne.

Jane gave birth to a son, the future Edward VI, on October 12, 1537, at Hampton Court Palace. Tragically, she was to die of complications arising from the birth 12 days later on October 24, 1537. Jane was interred in Saint George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The esteem in which Henry VIII held her may be gauged by the fact that he directed his own burial beside her.

Bio by: CMWJR