Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormond,[1] 1st Viscount Rochford KG[2] KB (c. 1477 – 12 March 1539), of Hever Castle in Kent, was an English diplomat and politician who was the father of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, and was thus the maternal grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I.

Five children are attested, only three of whom survived childhood:[4] In his youth, Thomas Boleyn was active in the court of Henry VII.

[7] In February 1511, Boleyn took part in the Westminster Tournament, held to celebrate the birth of Henry, Duke of Cornwall.

He was paired with Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset in costumes featuring emblems of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

Like Thomas, Margaret of Austria spoke French and Latin and they got along well enough for her to accept his daughter Anne as a maid of honour.

However, as a personal friend of Henry VII he was summoned to the English parliament in November 1488 as "Thomas Ormond de Rochford, chevaler".

While James Butler was indeed the 1st Earl of Wiltshire (of the third creation), on 1 May 1461 he lost his titles and his life when he was executed by the victorious Yorkists.

[12] Also on 8 December 1529, the Earl of Wiltshire's only surviving son, George, was granted the courtesy title of Viscount Rochford.

In 1532, his daughter Anne was granted a peerage, being created Marquess of Pembroke in her own right, before marrying Henry the following year and becoming queen consort.

Boleyn acquiesced in Anne's judicial execution and that of her brother Lord Rochford when Henry discarded her in favour of his third wife, Queen Jane Seymour.

The 2007 Showtime series The Tudors has Nick Dunning in the role depicting him as ambitious, cunning and devious, constantly working to curry favour for his family against everyone else and always willing to "motivate" his daughter, Anne, lest Henry lose interest in her.