William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset

William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, KG, KB (1588 – 24 October 1660) was an English nobleman and Royalist commander in the English Civil War.


The Duke of Somerset
KG KB
William Seymour, Marquess of Hertford, later 2nd Duke of Somerset (1588–1660), portrait attributed to Gilbert Jackson (c. 1595/1600–1648), private collection
Duke of Somerset
Tenure1660
PredecessorVacant
Last held by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
SuccessorWilliam Seymour, 3rd Duke of Somerset
Born1588
Died24 October 1660 (aged 71–72)
Noble familySeymour
Spouse(s)Lady Arbella Stuart
Lady Frances Devereux
IssueFrances Darcy, Countess of Holderness
William Seymour
Robert Seymour
Henry Seymour, Lord Beauchamp
Lady Mary Seymour, Countess of Winchilsea
Lady Jane Seymour, Viscountess Dungarvan
John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset
FatherEdward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp
MotherHonora Rogers

Arms of Seymour: Gules, two wings conjoined in lure or

Origins

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Seymour was the son of Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp (who predeceased his own father) by his wife Honora Rogers. He was the grandson of Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, by his wife Lady Katherine Grey, a sister of Lady Jane Grey, "The Nine Days Queen", which thus gave him a distant claim to the throne through Katherine's descent from Mary Tudor, younger sister of King Henry VIII. He was the great-grandson of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1500–1552), the uncle of King Edward VI and Lord Protector of England.

Life

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Seymour made a secret marriage at Greenwich on 22 June 1610 to Arbella Stuart (died 1615), daughter of Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox and Elizabeth Cavendish. Arbella was thirteen years his senior, and King James I disapproved of the marriage as the union of two potential Tudor pretenders to the throne, who were respectively fourth and sixth in line, could only be seen as a threat to the ruling dynasty. As a result, William was condemned to life imprisonment in the Tower of London and thus became the fourth of five generations of Seymours to spend time in that prison.

In June 1611 Seymour escaped from the Tower, planning to meet up with Arbella, who also had escaped captivity. They were to flee to the Continent, but bad weather and other circumstances prevented their meeting, and Arbella was recaptured and placed back in the Tower.[1] William managed to reach safety abroad at Ostend, but was never reunited with Arbella who remained in the Tower until her death in 1615.

Political career

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Seymour was knighted as a Knight of the Bath in November 1616.[2] In December 1620 Seymour was elected Member of Parliament for Marlborough in Wiltshire, but vacated the seat soon afterwards on his elevation to the House of Lords, having succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Hertford in 1621. In the House of Lords he became a prominent opponent to King Charles I, where he supported the Petition of Right of 1628, and co-signed the letter of the twelve Peers of 1640, along with his brother-in-law Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex.

During the Long Parliament, Seymour eventually parted company with the more radical opponents of the king, and in 1641 was created by him Marquess of Hertford. In the Civil War, Hertford was a moderate royalist, along with such figures as Sir Edward Hyde, and throughout sought a compromise settlement, by continuing unofficial negotiations throughout the war with his brother-in-law Essex, the Parliamentary commander. He was nevertheless a trusted supporter of the king, who made him guardian of his son the future King Charles II, and he undertook several important military commands in royalist service over the course of the war, including commanding troops from South Wales and a successful campaign in Somerset in summer 1643.[3] Along with his brother Lord Seymour, Hertford was sent as a commissioner for the king at the failed Treaty of Uxbridge negotiations (1645).[4]

After the end of the First Civil War and the king's imprisonment, Hertford was the most prominent nobleman to remain alongside the king throughout his captivity, and was with him until his execution in 1649. He was one of four lords (the others being the Duke of Richmond, and the earls of Lindsey and Southampton) who petitioned the Commons to be allowed to assume responsibility for the king's actions and to suffer death in his place.[3] During the interregnum, Hertford kept himself away from both politics and royalist conspiracies, in the belief that the monarchy would eventually be restored and that conspiracies would only delay that event.

Marquis of Hertford's Restoration Act 1661
Act of Parliament
 
Long titleAn Act for confirming of an Act for restoring of the Marquis of Hertford to the Dukedom of Somersett.
Citation13 Cha. 2. St. 2. c. 1
Dates
Royal assent20 December 1661

When the restoration of the monarchy came in 1660, Hertford was restored to all his former positions, and his services in the Royalist cause were further recognised by King Charles II, who in 1660 restored Hertford to his great-grandfather's Dukedom of Somerset, which had been forfeited in 1552, via the Marquis of Hertford's Restoration Act 1661 (13 Cha. 2. St. 2. c. 1). He thus became the 2nd Duke of Somerset.

Marriages & children

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William Seymour married twice:

 
Lady Arbella Stuart (d.1615), Seymour's first wife
 
Frances Devereux, by Anthony van Dyck

Firstly and secretly (see above), on 22 June 1610, to his third cousin once-removed[5] Lady Arbella Stuart (died 1615), who was then fourth in line to the succession of their cousin, King James I. There were no children from the marriage.

Secondly, on 3 March 1617 at Drayton Bassett, he married Lady Frances Devereux (1599–1674), daughter of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, by his wife Frances Walsingham, daughter of Francis Walsingham. By Frances he had at least eight children:

Issue

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  1. Lady Frances Seymour (1618–1685), who married three times: Firstly to Richard Molyneux, 2nd Viscount Molyneux Secondly (as his third wife) to Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, and thirdly (as his third wife) to Conyers Darcy, 2nd Earl of Holderness, by whom she had no children.
  2. William Seymour (1621 – 16 June 1642), who predeceased his father.
  3. Robert Seymour (1622–1646), who predeceased his father.
  4. Henry Seymour, Lord Beauchamp (1626 – 30 March 1654), who married Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (1630–1715) and had children, including William Seymour, 3rd Duke of Somerset (1654–1671), heir to his grandfather the 2nd Duke. His descendants included Diana, Princess of Wales.
  5. Lady Mary Seymour (1637 – 10 April 1673), who married Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Winchilsea and had issue.
  6. Lady Jane Seymour (1637 – 23 November 1679), who married Charles Boyle, 3rd Viscount Dungarvan and had issue. Her modern descendants included Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
  7. John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset (1646 – 29 April 1675), heir to his nephew in the dukedom in 1671, who married Sarah Alston in 1656 but left no children.
  8. Lady Judith Seymour (1623–1645), married Peter Ransone, by whom she had issue.

Death, burial & succession

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Hertford died at Essex House in London and was buried on 1 November 1660 at Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire. He was succeeded by his grandson William Seymour, 3rd Duke of Somerset.

References

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  1. ^ "The story of Lady Arbella Stuart". National Trust. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 2 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 31.
  3. ^ a b   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Somerset, Earls and Dukes of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 385.
  4. ^ Rushworth, John (1721) [orig. before 1690]. "Historical Collections: The treaty at Uxbridge, 1645". In Browne, D. (ed.). Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 5, 1642–45. London. pp. 787–843. Retrieved 24 May 2020 – via British History Online.
  5. ^ Arbella and his father were third cousins in descent from Henry VII

Further reading

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Parliament of England
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Marlborough
1621
With: Richard Digges
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
jointly with The Earl of Pembroke 1639–1640
Lord Herbert 1640–1646

1639–1646
English Interregnum
Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Wiltshire
1626–1646
Honorary titles
English Interregnum Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
1660
Succeeded by
Custos Rotulorum of Somerset
1660
Succeeded by
Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
1660
Succeeded by
Custos Rotulorum of Wiltshire
1660
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Oxford
1643–1648
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Oxford
1660
Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Vacant
forfeit in 1552
Title last held by
Edward Seymour
Duke of Somerset
1660
Succeeded by
New creation Marquess of Hertford
1640–1660
Preceded by Earl of Hertford
1621–1660
Baron Beauchamp
(writ in acceleration)

1621–1660