176 SOMERSET. Dukedom- :?. Wim.iam SBTMOtTB, great grandson nf Edward VI T lfi60 (Seymour), Dukk ok SOMERSET, Earl OF Hertford, &c. above- ' uatued. being 2d but eventually 1st aurv. a. ami h. ap. of Edward !sep- BWMOim, all/led Lord Heaitham!', by Honora, da. of Sir JiicbarH Rogers, which Edward (who d. v.p. July 1612 aged 50) wiis lata, and h. ap. of Edward (Seymour). Karl OV Hertford and Baron BkaUCHaXp (so cr. 13 Jan. 155S/9) who was yr s. (but 1st by tbe second wife) of the said Edward, DuKB of Somerset. He was b. 158S ; mat. at Oxford (.Mag. Coll ), 16 April 1806, aged 17 ; B.A., 'J Dec. 1607, being cr. M.A., 31 Aug. 1636, and Doc. Med., 12 Aug. 164.5. He was imprisoned for a short time in lt>10 for his marriage with the King's cousin, as mentioned below. He waa made K.B., 4 Nov. 161 0, and was, after the death of his elder br. in Sep. 1618, styled Lord Bealchami' till he sue. to the peerage, 6 April 1621, as EARL OF HERTFORD and BARON BEAUCHAMP on the death of his grandfather abovenamed. He had been, a few months previously, M.P. for Marlborough, At the coronation, 2 Feb. 1686/6, he was Bearer of St. Kdward"s Staff.; was L. Lieut, of Somerset. 103$ (as also in 1642 on nom. of Pari, and in 1660), and was cr. 3 June 1610, MARQUESS OF HERTFORD. Faithful to the King, he was on the com- mission to the Scots at Ripon in Sep. 1640, and at Loudon in Nov. following : P.C., 1641 ■ a Cominissr. of Regency. Aug. to Nov. 1U41 ; Qwy. to the Prince of Wales, 1641-43, and Lieut, lien, of tbe Royal forces in the west, 1 6 12 13, distinguish- ing himself by his defence of Sherborne Castle in Dorset in 1612 and at the battle of Lansdown in 1613. He was Chancellor of the Univ. of Oxford, 1613 16, and again in 1060; Groom of the Stole, 1611 : a Commissr. for the King at the conference of Uxbridge in 1615 and at that of Newport in 1648. He was one of the four personn(') who chivalrously offered themselves to the Commons for punishment in lieu of the King as being responsible by their advice for his acts. He was nom. KG. at Jersey, 13 Jan. 1640/50 and invested at Canterbury, 27 .May 1660, but was never installed. Groom of the Stole and P.C. 1660. By Act of Pari. 1.3 Sep. 1660 (confirmed by Art ■20 Dec. 1661) he was restored as DDKS OF SOMERSET and BARON SEYMOUR, by the reversal of the attainder of his paternal great-grandfather, Edward, the 1st Duke, who had been so cr. with a spec. rem. in favour firstly of the sons of his uetmd wife, of which Edward, Earl of Hertford (of whom this William was grandson and heir) was the eldest. He (when only a yr. son of the heir ap. of the Earldom) M. firstly (privately) 22 June 1610v) in her chamber at Greenwich palace, " the Lady Arabella Stuart" (she being then about 31, and be about 22) da. and h. of Charles (Stuart), btb Earl of Lennox [S.J, (paternal uncle to the reigning King. James I.) by Elizabeth, da. of Sir William CavkNDIsH, which Arabella was herself descended from the blood royal of England, thro' her grandmother, Margaret, Countess OF Lennox [S.], da. of Archibald 'Douglas), Earl of Angus [S ]. by Margaret, QoW Dow. of Scotland, da. of Henry VII. This clandestine match created great, dis- pleasure at Court( c ) and both parties were imprisoned and, tho' both escaped, the lady was recaptured and Confined to the Tower for the rest of her life; her maternal aunt, the Countess of Shrewsbury, being also (during her said niece's life) imprisoned as her accomplice. She d. in prison s.p. having latterly become "distracted," 27 Sep. 1615, aged about 39 and was Inn: the same day ill the royal vault at Westrn. Abbey, "near Henry, Prince of Wales, ' her first cousin. He m. secondly, April 1617, Frances, sister and coheir [1616] of Robert (DKVEliKrx), (") These were the Earls of Richmond, Hertford, Southampton, and Lindsey- See Hume's " England " and also Lloyd's " H'ort/iiex," where their proposition is thin worded ; They "offered that since his Majesty was presumed by the Law to do no harm himself and since he did all by his Ministers, and they had the honour to act under, they might have the happiness to suffer for hits." ( b ) "The fact was discovered in the early part of July. It is mentioned in a letter of Carleton to Sir Thomas Edmondes, dat. the 13th of that month in terms by M means complimentary to the Lady." See Craik's " Romance of the Peerage" (vol. ii), where there is a good account of this elderly leve-sick lady. ( c ) HiB grandfather, the old Earl of Hertford, was also much displeased at this semi-Royal alliance, which in some measure resembled his own match (about 1560) with the Lady Catharine Grey (great-grandaughter of Henry VII.), which marriage had drawn him into considerable trouble.
