William Carey (1490-1528)

Sir William Carey (1490? - 1528) was a courtier and favourite of King Henry VIII of England.

Carey was a noted art collector and he introduced the famed Dutch artist, Lucas van Horenbolte, to the Kingdom of England in the mid-1520s.

He was married to Lady Mary Boleyn in 1520. Shortly after their marriage, Mary became the mistress of King Henry. The liaison continued for two or three years. Legend later stated that Mary's eldest son - Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon - was the king's illegitimate child, but this has never been proven beyond a doubt. Henry VIII was known to have acknowledged only his eldest illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset.

Anne Boleyn, Mary's younger sister, caught Henry's eye a year after his affair with Mary ended. Henry proposed marriage to her in 1527. William Carey did not live to enjoy his sister-in-law's prosperity, since he died of the sweating sickness in 1528. He died greatly in debt, and his wife was reduced to pawning her jewelery before Anne Boleyn arranged a small pension for her. At the time of William's death, Mary Boleyn was pregnant with their daughter - Catherine Carey. Their son, Lord Hunsdon, became a prominent courtier during the reign of his cousin, Elizabeth I.