Frederick Tilney
Lord of Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk, and Boston, Lincolnshire
About Frederick Tilney
Lived 1416 – 1445 (aged 28–29). Frederick Tilney was an English and British.
Sir Frederick Tilney (died 1445) Lord of Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk, and Boston, Lincolnshire, England, was the husband of Elizabeth Cheney and father of Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey. He is notably the great-grandfather of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the wives of King King Henry VIII, and also the great-great-grandfather to Queen Elizabeth I, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
Family Frederick Tilney was born in Borough of Broxbourne in . He the eldest son of Sir Philip Tilney and Isabel Thorpe. He made his principal residence at Ashwellthorpe Manor, inheriting his father's titles which were originally earned during the Siege of Acre amidst the Third Crusade.
(This is an error, the Siege of Acre took place between 1189-1191)
He had about six siblings, one of whom was a younger brother, Hugh Tilney, who was the father of Agnes Tilney. Agnes would be the second wife to Frederick's daughter's husband, Thomas Howard. Ledger stone and monumental brass of Philip Tilney (d.1453) formerly in Lincoln Cathedral (where he retired to as a secular canon), the father of Frederick Tilney.
Marriage and issue On an unknown date, Frederick married his wife Elizabeth Cheney, the eldest child of Lawrence Cheney (c. 1396 – 1461), High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, and his wife, Elizabeth ( Cokayne). They only had one daughter: Elizabeth Tilney (before 1445 – 4 April 1497), married firstly in about 1466, Sir Humphrey Bourchier, by whom she had three children; and secondly on 30 April 1472, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, who later became the 2nd Duke of Norfolk, by whom she had nine children. These children included Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Elizabeth Howard, mother of Anne Boleyn, and Lord Edmund Howard, father of Catherine Howard.
Death Frederick died from unknown causes on and was buried at All Saints Churchyard, in Newsham Abbey. His death left his young daughter Elizabeth as heiress to his estates. His widowed wife Elizabeth Cheney went on to marry again one year later to Sir John Say of Broxbourne, Speaker of the House of Commons, and a member of the household of King Henry VI.
Ancestry
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Frederick Tilney's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Frederick Tilney?
Lord of Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk, and Boston, Lincolnshire
When was Frederick Tilney born?
Frederick Tilney was born in 1416 in Broxbourne.
When did Frederick Tilney die?
Frederick Tilney died in 1445 in Nettlestead.
What nationality was Frederick Tilney?
Frederick Tilney was English and British.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Frederick Tilney. https://biography.guide/frederick-tilney/
MLA: "Frederick Tilney." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/frederick-tilney/.
Chicago: "Frederick Tilney." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/frederick-tilney/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
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