George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford (c. 1504 – 17 May 1536) was an English courtier and nobleman who played a prominent role in the politics of the early 1530s. He was the brother of Anne Boleyn, from 1533 the second wife of King Henry VIII, and thus the maternal uncle of Queen Elizabeth I (whose reign he did not live to see). Following his father's promotion in the peerage in 1529 to Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormond, he adopted his father's junior title Viscount Rochford (created in 1525) as a courtesy title. He was accused of incest with his sister Anne during the period of her trial for high treason, as a result of which both were executed. Early years and family George was the son of Sir Thomas Boleyn, later Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormond, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard, the daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk and Elizabeth Tilney. George and his sisters were probably born in Norfolk at his family's home of Blickling Hall. However, they spent most of their childhood at another of the family's homes, Hever Castle in Kent, which became their chief residence in 1505 when Thomas inherited the property from his father, Sir William Boleyn. Thomas and Elizabeth had a number of children, including two sons named Thomas and Henry who failed to reach adulthood. Three children survived: Mary, Anne and George. There has been much debate over the centuries as to the age of the three Boleyn siblings, but there is general agreement that George was born c. 1504. This stems from a number of different sources. George Cavendish says in a poem that George was about 27 when he gained a place on the Privy Council in 1529. Cavendish gives this as a maximum age in order to make his tortuous verses more rhythmic (such as "thrice nine"). In addition to Cavendish's verses, foreign diplomats believed George was too young to be appointed as Ambassador to France in October 1529. Mary's date of birth is again generally accepted as being c. 1500 but there is some disagreement as to Anne's date of birth with arguments for 1501 and others for 1507. However, following the executions of Anne and George in 1536 their father wrote to Thomas Cromwell and in his letter he stated that upon his marriage his wife gave him a child every year.