Joan Larke

Joan Larke
Born	c.1490 Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
Died	After 1529
Nationality	English
Known for	Mistress of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
Spouse(s)	George Legh George Paulet
Children	(By Thomas Wolsey): Thomas Wynter Dorothy Clancey (By George Legh): Thomas Legh Elizabeth Legh Mary Legh Margaret/Ellen Legh
Parent(s)	Peter Larke

Joan Larke (c.1490- after 1529), was the mistress of the powerful English statesman and churchman, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, and the mother of his two illegitimate children.

Joan was born in about 1490 in Yarmouth, Norfolk, the daughter of Peter Larke, variously named a Thetford innkeeper or a gentleman of Huntingdonshire. Her brother Thomas Larke was chaplain to Thomas Wolsey. In about 1509, when Wolsey served as almoner of the new king Henry VIII of England, Joan became his mistress, living with him in Bridewell. She bore him two illegitimate children:

Her son was sent to live with a family in Willesden, and her daughter, Dorothy, was adopted by John Clancey, and later placed in the Shaftesbury Nunnery, where she became a nun. She received a pension from Thomas Cromwell when her religious house was later dissolved.

Sometime after Wolsey's arrest and death in November 1530, Thomas Wynter went to study at the University of Padua, at the King's expense. When he returned to England penniless in about 1535, he was financially assisted by Queen Anne Boleyn, Wolsey's former adversary.

As Wolsey continued to rise swiftly and prominently in the Church and government, eventually becoming Bishop of Lincoln, Archbishop of York, a cardinal, and Lord Chancellor of England, Joan became an embarrassment to him. In 1519, he arranged her marriage to George Legh, of Adlington Hall, Cheshire, and provided her dowry. Wolsey would later assist the Leghs in a property dispute.

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