Eleanor Carey

Dame Eleanor Carey (d. after 1528) was an early modern English noblewoman and nun, known for being endorsed as a candidate for abbess of Wilton Abbey by Anne Boleyn until her scandalous life was discovered.

Through her mother, Eleanor was a great-granddaughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, making her a third cousin of Henry VIII, King of England.

[8] She was said to be an "ancient, wise and discreet" woman and her sister Dame Agnes was the abbess of the much better-run Syon Abbey.

[8] When Sir William died of sweating sickness on 22 June 1528, Anne Boleyn continued to upheld the claim of her Carey kinswomen, wanting either of them to become the ruler of the nunnery.

[3] Despite this, Wolsey confirmed Isabel Jordan as abbess at a time when Anne Boleyn was not present at the royal court.