Gregory Cromwell Character Analysis in Wolf Hall

Gregory is Cromwell’s son and his only child who survives the sweating sickness. After Gregory is born, Cromwell promises to be as “tender” to Gregory as Walter was cruel to Cromwell. Cromwell stays true to his word and is always supportive and loving to Gregory, who has inherited none of his father’s intelligence and perceptiveness. Cromwell doesn’t begrudge him this and recognizes that Gregory has a much kinder nature than Cromwell does. Cromwell is also happy that he is able to provide his son with a secure, comfortable childhood and youth. When Cromwell is concerned about what career Gregory might take up, Johane advises Cromwell that Gregory is unsuited to a being either a businessman or a lawyer, and that Cromwell should take care to marry him well so Gregory can lead a comfortable life as a gentleman. While Cromwell trusts his clerk Rafe and his nephew Richard with details of his work, he often leaves Gregory out since he knows he isn’t capable of managing it. Still, Cromwell seems to trust Gregory the most with his secrets, confiding in him that Mary Tudor could become the next ruler if Henry happens to die, and asking him to keep this information a secret even from Rafe and Richard. Cromwell is also very protective of Gregory and ensures that he settles him comfortably by leaving him enough money and property in his will.

Gregory Cromwell Quotes in Wolf Hall

The Wolf Hall quotes below are all either spoken by Gregory Cromwell or refer to Gregory Cromwell. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Power, Ambition, and Deception Theme Icon

What he says about Gregory is, at least he isn’t like I was, when I was his age; and when people say, what were you like? he says, oh, I used to stick knives in people. Gregory would never do that; so he doesn’t mind—or minds less than people think—if he doesn’t really get to grips with declensions and conjugations. When people tell him what Gregory has failed to do, he says, “He’s busy growing.” He understands his need to sleep; he never got much sleep himself, with Walter stamping around, and after he ran away he was always on the ship or on the road, and then he found himself in an army.

Related Characters: Thomas Cromwell (speaker), Gregory Cromwell, Walter Cromwell

Page Number and Citation: 33-34

Explanation and Analysis:

He finds himself praying: this child, his half-formed heart now beating against the stone floor, let him be sanctified by this moment, and let him be like his father’s father, like his Tudor uncles; let him be hard, alert, watchful of opportunity, wringing use from the smallest turn of fortune. If Henry lives twenty years, Henry who is Wolsey’s creation, and then leaves this child to succeed him, I can build my own prince: to the glorification of God and the commonwealth of England. Because I will not be too old. […] And I shall not be like Henry Wyatt and say, now I am retiring from affairs. Because what is there, but affairs?

Related Characters: Thomas Cromwell (speaker), Anne Boleyn , King Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey , Henry Wyatt, Gregory Cromwell

Page Number and Citation: 432-433

Explanation and Analysis:

Gregory Cromwell Character Timeline in Wolf Hall

The timeline below shows where the character Gregory Cromwell appears in Wolf Hall. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Children and Human Connection Theme Icon

...had almost sent it back. She also hands him a short letter from his son Gregory, in which Gregory writes in poor Latin that he hopes his family is well and... (full context)

Liz talks about Gregory, who is at Cambridge and will soon be 13. Cromwell has sent his nephews, his... (full context)

...that he asked his daughter Liz, a widow, if she would like to marry him. Gregory was born a year later, and Cromwell had kissed him and said, “I shall be... (full context)

Dogmatism vs. Open-Mindedness Theme Icon

...he went back to Putney to see Walter, after he’d been married a year and Gregory had already been born. Walter mockingly asked him if Cromwell was now a fancy lawyer... (full context)

...and Grace is shy around him because he has hardly spent any time with her. Gregory, too, does not speak openly around his father and shows no aptitude for or interest... (full context)

...will allow the cardinal his life,” but he will take away most of his income. Gregory comes in, bringing Cromwell some more lights. Gregory begins to neaten up documents on the... (full context)

That summer, Cromwell’s son Gregory turns 15, and he is excellent at horse-riding and swordsmanship, though his Greek isn’t very... (full context)

Gregory likes reading about the lives of saints in The Golden Legend. He has the newest... (full context)

...Cromwell of the quiet girl who was with Anne Boleyn. He wants to write to Gregory and say, “I have seen such a sweet girl, […] and, if I steer our... (full context)

...they have come to arrest him. Alice and Jo appear, and Jo begins to cry. Gregory comes fully dressed, and he tells Cromwell he is there for him. (full context)

Cromwell, accompanied by Richard, Rafe, and Gregory, boards Brereton’s barge, and they begin the journey down the Thames. Henry Norris is waiting... (full context)

Rafe, Gregory, and Richard rush to Cromwell when he heads outside, asking what happened. Rafe is shocked... (full context)

Outside, Wriothesely, Rafe, and Gregory are waiting for Cromwell. He tells them that he told Katherine that Henry might separate... (full context)

Gregory asks whether Cromwell would work to bring about Katherine’s death. Cromwell stops and “takes his... (full context)

On New Year’s Day, Gregory wakes Cromwell with the news that Thomas Wyatt has been arrested. Cromwell instantly thinks it... (full context)

At Anne Boleyn’s command, Cromwell presents Richard and Gregory at court, and Henry receives them graciously. That evening, Cromwell tells Richard that Anne has... (full context)

...called Mark who once said he looks like a murderer was right about that, and Gregory, surprised, asks him if he didn’t know it until then. (full context)

On the king’s orders, Cromwell goes with Gregory to Hatfield to check on the baby Princess Elizabeth and Mary Tudor. When Cromwell was... (full context)

As Cromwell leaves, Gregory tells him that Mary Tudor likes Cromwell, and that this is strange. He seems a... (full context)

...He owns a lot of property, and he is putting some in a trust for Gregory. However, “his outgoings would frighten a lesser man” since he spends a lot when the... (full context)

Wolf Hall

Gregory Cromwell Character Analysis

Gregory Cromwell Quotes in Wolf Hall

Part 1: Chapter 3 Quotes

Part 5: Chapter 1 Quotes

Gregory Cromwell Character Timeline in Wolf Hall