Anne Bray, Baroness Cobham

Anne Braye
Baroness Cobham
Effigies of Anne Braye and her husband, George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham on their tomb in St Mary Magdalene parish church, Cobham, Kent
Born	21 March 1501 Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, England
Died	1 November 1558 (aged 57 years) Cobham Hall, Kent
Buried	St Mary Magdalene parish church, Cobham, Kent
Spouse(s)	George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham
Issue Dorothy Brooke Elizabeth Brooke William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham Catherine Brooke George Brooke Thomas Brooke John Brooke Henry Brooke
Father	Sir Edmund Braye, 1st Baron Braye
Mother	Jane Halliwell

Anne Brooke, Baroness Cobham, born Anne Braye (21 March 1501 – 1 November 1558), was the wife of Sir George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham. She was the attendant horsewoman at Anne Boleyn's coronation as Queen Consort on 1 June 1533, and she was allegedly one of the first accusers of Queen Anne in 1536. Anne Braye was Baroness Cobham from 1529 until her death in 1558.

Anne Braye was born on 21 March 1501 in Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, England, the eldest daughter of Sir Edmund Braye (circa 1480 – 18 October 1539), who would be created 1st Baron Braye on 4 December 1529 by King Henry VIII of England, and Jane Halliwell (circa 1480 – 24 October 1558. She had a brother, John Braye, 2nd Lord Braye, of whom she was one of his co-heirs, along with her younger sisters, Elizabeth, Frideswide, Mary, Frances, and Dorothy Bray, Baroness Chandos. The latter was 23 years Anne's junior.

In 1517 or before 1526, she married George Brooke (1497 – 29 September 1558), the brother-in-law of poet Sir Thomas Wyatt. He was knighted in July 1523 by the Earl of Surrey after the taking of Morlaix, and he would succeed his father as 9th Baron Cobham on 19 July 1529; henceforth, Anne was styled as Baroness Cobham. They lived at Cobham Hall in Kent and Cowling Castle.

Together George and Anne had 10 sons and four daughters. These included:

In April 1533, Anne received a letter of summons from the King to attend the coronation of his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She was allocated the role of Queen Anne's attendant horsewoman for the royal procession from the Tower of London to the Queen's coronation at Westminster Abbey, and as such was required to find white palfreys for herself and her ladies. Although her own robes and long cloth of gold trapper for her horse were provided for, Anne was expected to equip her attendants herself.