John Carey

Who was John Carey?

Sir John Carey, of Plashey was a courtier to King Henry VIII. He served the king as a Groom of the Privy Chamber, and, being a descendant of Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, John Carey was a third cousin to Henry VIII.

Carey was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Carey of Chilton Foliat in Wiltshire and his wife Margaret Spencer. By July 1522 he was serving in the royal navy as the captain of the King’s ship, The Katherine Galley which was in the Channel between Cinque Ports and Jersey during Henry VIII’s first war with Francis I.

By 1526 John, probably through the influence of his younger brother William Carey was at Henry VIII's court as a Groom of the Privy Chamber.

Several historians credit John Carey with convincing Anne Boleyn to support his sister Eleanor as a candidate for abess of Wilton Abbey where she was a nun in the spring of 1528. Eleanor did not get the appointment, however, due to questionable conduct on her part. Later that year John Carey fell ill with the sweating sickness. Although he recovered, his brother William who had also fallen ill was not so fortunate and died in June 1528.