Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester

Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, KG, Earl Marshal (bef. 1568 – 3 March 1628) was an English aristocrat. He was an important advisor to King James I, serving as Lord Privy Seal.

In 1606 he was appointed Keeper of the Great Park, a park created for hunting by Henry VIII around Nonsuch Palace, of which Worcester Park was a part. The residence Worcester Park House was built in 1607.

Family

He was the only son of three children born to the 3rd Earl of Worcester and Christian North. On February 21, 1589, he succeeded his father as Earl of Worcester, and in 1593 he was made a Knight of the Garter.

He married Lady Elizabeth Hastings in December 1571. She was a daughter of Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and Catherine Pole. Catherine was a daughter of Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu and Jane Neville. Jane was in turn a daughter of George Nevill, 4th Baron Bergavenny and Margaret Fenne. They had fifteen children among whom were:

• Henry Somerset, 5th Earl of Worcester, his heir and successor, who was later created the 1st Marquess of Worcester;
• Thomas Somerset, 1st Viscount Somerset (Peerage of Ireland), who was born in 1579, died in 1649; he was created Viscount Somerset on December 8, 1626; in 1616 he married Helen Barry - her third marriage -, with whom he had one daughter:
  • Elizabeth Somerset, who might have died young, but that is unsure;
• Lady Catherine or Katherine Somerset, who died on November 6, 1654 and, before January 14, 1607, married Thomas Windsor, 6th Baron Windsor, with whom she had no issue; and
• Lady Blanche Somerset, who died October 28, 1649, and married Thomas Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Wardour, with whom she had one son and two daughters, his only children; the settlement for this marriage was on May 11, 1607.
• Lady Frances Somerset, wife of William Morgan, 1st Baronet Of Llantarnam ^[1]

References