Cheryl Carden mentions reading in "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" by Alison
Weir that the steward of Anne of Cleeves (after her divorce) was Sir Thomas
Cawarden, and asks if there could be a connection.
Cawarden was the original spelling of Carden, and was actually pronounced
Carden. There are fascinating Cawarden tombs at Mavesyn Ridware,
Staffordshire, and there is plenty about the family in Shaw's Staffordshire
and Ormerod's Cheshire, going back to the 13th century. The Sir Thomas
mentioned by Cheryl sometimes spelled his name Carden, sometimes Cawarden.
He was made a knight by Henry VII in 1545. He was Master of the Revels;
entertained Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn at his castle in Bletchingley, Surrey;
was locked up in the Tower of London by Queen Mary; and was a close friend of
Queen Elizabeth I. He had no children, so none of us is descended from him!
I wrote an article about him in 1975, and since then I have collected a huge
file of information about him. Does anyone know someone who might be
prepared to write a proper biography of him? I will be glad to send them my
file. Perhaps someone knows a History Professor who might give the task to
one of his students as a thesis.
Arthur Carden, currently in the Algarve, Portugal.