Editing Thomas Cromwell (section)

==Marriage and issue==
At one point during these years, Cromwell returned to England, where around 1515 he married [[Elizabeth Wyckes]] (d. 1529<ref name="Fitzgerald and MacCulloch 2016 591">{{harvnb|Fitzgerald|MacCulloch|2016|p=591}}: "Elizabeth's death is likely to have been in February or early March 1529".</ref>). She was the widow of Thomas Williams, a [[Yeoman of the Guard]], and the daughter of a Putney [[wiktionary:shearman|shearman]], Henry Wyckes, who had later served as a [[gentleman usher]] to King [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]].<ref>{{harvnb|Leithead|2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Angus|2022|pp=24, 25:"[…]a Wandsworth local who had lost her husband Thomas Williams, a Welsh yeoman of the Guard."}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|pp=35–36}} 
The couple had three children:{{sfn|Schofield|2011|pp=16, 23, 33}}
* [[Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell]] ({{Circa|1520}}–1551), who became [[Elizabeth Seymour, Baroness Cromwell|Elizabeth Seymour]]'s second husband.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|pp=425, 552}}<ref>{{harvnb|Angus|2022|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1PeBEAAAQBAJ&q=%2212+march%22 29]}}: "Cromwell's late sister Katherine also had a son named Gregory; perhaps the boys were both born in spring, around the time of [[Pope Gregory I|Saint Gregory]]'s feast day of 12 March." See also {{harvnb|MacCulloch|2018|pp=36–38}}</ref>
* Anne Cromwell ({{circa|1522|lk=no}} – October 1529){{sfn|Angus|2022 |p=61}}
* Grace Cromwell ({{circa|1527|lk=no}} – October 1529){{sfn|Angus|2022 |p=61}}

Cromwell's wife died in 1529 and his daughters, Anne and Grace, are believed to have died not long after their mother.<ref name="Fitzgerald and MacCulloch 2016 591"/> Their deaths may have been caused by the [[sweating sickness]]. Provisions made for Anne and Grace in Cromwell's will, dated 12 July 1529, were crossed out at some later date.{{sfn|Schofield|2011|p=33}}{{sfn|Merriman I|1902|pp=[https://archive.org/stream/lifelettersoftho01merruoft#page/58/mode/2up 59, 60]}} Gregory outlived his father by only 11 years, succumbing to sweating sickness in 1551.{{sfn|Cokayne III|1913|pp=557–559}}{{sfn|Strype II(I)|1822|pp=[https://archive.org/stream/ecclesiasticalme0201stry#page/492/mode/2up 493–494]}}{{sfn|Hawkyard|1982}}{{sfn|Hoby|1902|p=73}}{{sfn|Winchester|1955|p=270}}

Cromwell also had an illegitimate daughter, Jane ({{Circa|1530|lk=no}}–1580{{sfn|Fitzgerald|MacCulloch|2016|p=591}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=398}}{{sfn|Beazley|1908|p=82|ps=: Jane Hough was buried 3 November 1580 at [[Neston]].}}), whose early life is a complete mystery. According to novelist [[Hilary Mantel]], "Cromwell had an illegitimate daughter, and beyond the fact that she existed, we know very little about her. She comes briefly into the records, in an incredibly obscure way—she's in the archives of the county of Chester."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=George |title=Hilary Mantel interview revisited |url=http://podularity.com/2010/09/03/hilary-mantel-interview-revisited |access-date=26 November 2013 |publisher=Podularity.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Bindoff|1982}}{{sfn|Glover|1882|pp=127–128}}{{sfn|Edwards|1982}} Jane was born to an unknown mother during the time Cromwell was mourning the loss of his wife and daughters. Jane presumably was educated and resided in Cromwell's homes, but in 1539, Margaret Vernon, the worldly prioress of [[Little Marlow Priory]] (who had also helped to raise Gregory Cromwell<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Vernon, Margaret (d. in or after 1546), abbess of Malling and friend of Thomas Cromwell}}</ref>) suggested she take Jane to begin her education away from home.{{sfn|Angus|2022 |p=191}} In that same year Jane's half-brother Gregory (at age nineteen) and his wife Elizabeth moved into [[Leeds Castle]], Kent, in preparation for Gregory's election as a [[knight of the shire]] (Member of Parliament) for the county. Jane, then nine years of age, accompanied him.<ref>{{cite web |title=CROMWELL, Gregory (by 1516–51), of Lewes, Suss.; Leeds Castle, Kent and Launde, Leics. {{!}} History of Parliament Online |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/cromwell-gregory-1516-51 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=[[History of Parliament Trust]] |access-date=3 May 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Angus|2022 |p=191}} Cromwell's records show him paying Elizabeth for clothing and expenses for Jane.{{sfn|Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII|loc=14(2), [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=75908 782]|ps=: Cromwell's accounts note a payment of £12 14s. 4d. for 'apparel for [mistress] Jane' on 23 May 1539.}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=102}} It is unknown what became of Jane's mother, though historian Caroline Angus argues that Jane's mother was Elizabeth Gregory, a former household servant who was left a surprisingly large amount of money and items in Cromwell's will.{{sfn|Angus|2022 |p=59}} Elizabeth Gregory was listed among family members in the will, despite not being any relation to the Cromwell, Williams, Wyckes or Williamson families. Cromwell was known to be one of the few men at court without mistresses and tried to keep this indiscretion secret.{{sfn|Borman|2014 |p=111}}

Jane married William Hough ({{Circa|1527|lk=no}}–1585), of Leighton in the [[Wirral Hundred#Villages|Wirral Hundred]], around 1550.{{sfn|Fitzgerald|MacCulloch|2016|p=591}} William Hough was the son of [[Richard Hough (MP)|Richard Hough]] (1505–1574) who was Cromwell's agent in Chester from 1534 to 1540.{{sfn|Glover|1882|pp=127–128}}{{sfn|Noble II|1787|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oaRCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA5 5]}}{{sfn|Ormerod|1819|p=304}}{{sfn|Edwards|1982}}  Jane and her husband remained staunch Roman Catholics, who, together with their daughter, Alice, her husband, William Whitmore, and their children, all came to the attention of the authorities as [[Recusancy|recusants]] during the reign of Elizabeth I.{{sfn|Wark|1971|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=RQ8NAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA153 153], [https://books.google.com/books?id=RQ8NAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA168 168]}}