Anne Gainsford

[1][2] After it was stolen in jest by her bethrothed, George Zouche, it fell into the hands of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.

When it was taken from her hands in jest by her betrothed Sir George Zouche, it was later discovered in the latter's possession by Richard Sampson, Dean of the Chapel Royal, who promptly took it to his master, Cardinal Wolsey.

[1] It was therefore through the carelessness of Anne Gainsford that Henry VIII managed to read Tyndale's banned book which denounced papal power in favour of that of secular rulers.

When Anne Gainsford was shown the book with its drawings by her mistress, she allegedly remarked, "If I thought it true, though he were an emperor, I would not myself marry him".

Anne and Sir George made their principal home at Codnor Castle, Derbyshire and they had eight children.

Samuel Weller Singer, the nineteenth-century editor of Wyatt’s work, identified the lady as Anne Gainsford.

[10] In his last will dating to 16 July 1548, George Zouche, Gainsford’s husband, made it clear that he had remarried since he mentioned “Elleyn now my well-beloved wife”.

Soberton argues that the two book incidents were very similar, but the chronology in Wyatt’s account is muddled; he describes that it happened following Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s wedding in January 1533 and has Wolsey interrogating the maid’s suitor, though Wolsey died three years earlier.