Little is known for certain about Anne's early life, beginning with the date and location of her birth. She was born in either 1501 or 1507, as one source says she was 20 upon her return from France in 1521, and another that she was not yet 29 at the time of her death in 1536. The location was either Blickling Hall in Norfolk or Hever Castle in Kent. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, a courtier and later a diplomat, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. She had two siblings; a sister Mary and a brother George.