 In 1539 Carew's wife Thomasine Pollard died and he again entered the King's service, taking over the strategically vital fort of Rysbank in the Calais Pale.The fort's previous commander and Carew's kinsman Nicholas Carew had paid with his life for his machinations against the King.George Carew was disgusted with the poor state of readiness and repair in which he found the fort and set about effecting repairs and became involved in the administration of Calais under its Deputy Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle.