Margaret Cheyne

Margaret Cheyne, later Margaret Bulmer (died 25 May 1537), was a woman burned at the stake for high treason in the aftermath of the Pilgrimage of Grace and Bigod's Rebellion during the reign of Henry VIII of England.

Family life According to some reports, Margaret was the illegitimate daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. Her first husband was William Cheyne of London.

At some point before 1536, Cheyne sold her to Sir John Bulmer of Wilton, and she became his mistress. This relationship seems to have been mutually affectionate, and the couple were married by 1536, after both of their former spouses had reportedly died. In her formal statement, Margaret admitted telling her husband that "the commons wanted a head". The court records contain information about the Bulmers' relationship, and therefore provide important evidence about how some early participants in English wife sales actually perceived their relationship. Jennifer Gourlay notes that "of all the early modern wife sales recorded, this [the Bulmer case] reveals the most information on the participants and further, evidence exists as to the nature of the sale and to the woman's attitude towards it". She argues that the evidence of Margaret and John Bulmer's close relationship "highlights the potential for wife sales to be used as a means to construct an affectionate match, one which suited not only the buyer, but also the wife".