Elizabeth Wolley was one of Queen Elizabeth I's ladies of the Privy Chamber. She was the eldest daughter of Sir William More of Loseley, Surrey, and his second wife, Margaret Daniell, and the wife of the Queen's Latin secretary, Sir John Wolley, and the Queen's Lord Chancellor, Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley.

Sir William More, of Loseley, Surrey, was the son of Sir Christopher More. The great house at Loseley Park was built for him, which is still the residence of the More Molyneux family. Of Protestant sympathies, as Sheriff and Vice-Admiral of Surrey he was actively involved in local administration of the county of Surrey and in the enforcement of the Elizabethan religious settlement, and was a member of every Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was the owner of property in the Blackfriars in which the first and second Blackfriars theatres were erected. He has been described as "the perfect Elizabethan country gentleman" on account of his impeccable character and his assiduity and efficiency of service.