Robert Rochester

Sir Robert Rochester K.G. (c. 1494 – 28 November 1557) was an English Catholic and employee of Mary I. Rochester was born at Terling, Essex, England, the third son of John Rochester of Terling and Grisold, daughter of Walter Writtle, of Bobbingworth. By 1551 Robert had received the appointment of Comptroller of the Household to Princess Mary Tudor, the daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, declared illegitimate after Henry divorced her mother and married Anne Boleyn. In that year, the Privy Council ordered him to stop any priest from saying mass in the princess's household; however, Rochester refused and was put in the Tower, and was replaced in his position by Sir Anthony Wingfield. The next year, he was released to...