{{Short description|English courtier (1519–1590)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} '''Joan Bulmer''' (1519 – December 1590), born '''Joan Acworth''', was an English gentlewoman and courtier.

== Life == Born in Toddington, Bedfordshire, Joan was the daughter of George Acworth and Margaret Wilberforce. Her maternal grandfather was Christopher Wilberforce of Egglestone and her grandmother was Elizabeth Broughton (the Broughtons were relations of the Howard family. Joan also had a brother, John as well several half-siblings from her fathers first marriage to Eleanor Niter; George, Anne, Frances, and Thomas. Joan's father died in 1530, when she was just eleven years of age, and two years later her mother was remarried to John Danyell. After her mother's death sometime around 1539, Joan, as the sole heir was set to inherit property, but this was opposed by Danyell.

Joan married William Bulmer in 1539 at the age of twenty. The marriage was unhappy,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Josephine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9f4eCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT85&dq=%22william+bulmer%22+divorce&hl=sv&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwig6OyU05iPAxVLJxAIHYN8AD4Q6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=%22william%20bulmer%22%20divorce&f=false |title=Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's Fifth Queen |date=2016-04-07 |publisher=John Murray Press |isbn=978-1-4447-9628-5 |language=en}}</ref> and the couple were separated. She later entered the service of Agnes Tilney, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. While in service to the duchess, Bulmer became acquainted with Katherine Howard, who would later become the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. It was during this time that Joan became involved in an affair with Edward Waldegrave.<ref name="TudorWomen">{{cite web|url=http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/TudorWomenA.htm|title=A Who's Who of Tudor Women (A)|work=kateemersonhistoricals.com|accessdate=9 February 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141002211016/http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/TudorWomenA.htm|archivedate=2 October 2014}}</ref>

After Katherine Howard married Henry VIII, Bulmer requested a place in the royal household based on their previous association.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/howard.html|title=Catherine Howard: Facts, Biography, Portraits & Information|author=Marilee Mongello|work=englishhistory.net|date=31 January 2015 |accessdate=9 February 2015}}</ref> Following Katherine's arrest, Bulmer was called upon to testify against the Queen and detail the aspects of her early life.

After Katherine's trial and execution, Bulmer was released. She subsequently went on to marry Edward Waldegrave and resided at Lawford Hall in Essex.<ref name=TudorWomen/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cloptonfamily.org/d_hist/wmmanors.html|title=English History|work=cloptonfamily.org|accessdate=9 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010306152522/http://www.cloptonfamily.org/d_hist/wmmanors.html|archive-date=6 March 2001|url-status=dead}}</ref> A letter from her to Katherine has survived.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry VIII: July 1540, 11-20 {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol15/pp436-445 |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref>

== Issue == Anne, married Humprey Monoux<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8JcbV309c5UC&pg=RA3-PA285&dq=%22joan+waldegrave+acworth&hl=sv&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwis27uCw5ePAxWlIxAIHVHEM34Q6AF6BAgHEAM#v=onepage&q=%22joan%20waldegrave%20acworth&f=false |title=Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011 |publisher=Douglas Richardson |isbn=978-1-4610-4520-5 |language=en}}</ref>

Edward

Bridget, married John Kighley<ref name=":0" />

Mary, married Isaac Astley<ref name=":0" />

Margery, married William Clopton<ref name=":0" />

==In film and television== Joan Bulmer is depicted in the fourth series of ''The Tudors'' by Catherine Steadman.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulmer, Joan}} Category:1519 births Category:1590 deaths Category:16th-century English women courtiers Category:Household of Catherine Howard

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