John Seymour (1474–1536)

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

Sir John Seymour of Wulfhall in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, KB (c. 1474 – 21 December 1536) was a member of the English gentry and a courtier to King Henry VIII, best known for being the father of the king's third wife, Jane Seymour.

Biography

Seymour was the eldest son of John Seymour (c. 1450 – 26 October 1491) of Wulfhall, Wiltshire, by his marriage to Elizabeth Darell or Darrell (born c. 1451). His paternal grandparents were Sir John Seymour and Elizabeth Coker. His maternal grandparents were Sir George Darell or Darrell (died c. 1474) and Margaret Stourton (born c. 1433), a daughter of John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton and Margery or Marjory Wadham. He was distantly descended from William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.

He fought for Henry VII against the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 at Blackheath in Kent, and was knighted by the king in the field. For Henry VIII he fought at the Siege of Tournai in 1513, and he was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.^[1] He was invested as a Knight banneret; was High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1507, 1518 and 1524; and High Sheriff of Somerset in 1515–1516. He was also invested as a Knight of the Order of the Bath.

Seymour was married before 1500 to Margery Wentworth, who was the daughter of Sir Henry Wentworth of Nettlestead, Suffolk, and his wife Anne Say. It was a good marriage since her family was more prominent than his and she was a famous beauty as well, celebrated in the poetry of John Skelton. They lived in Wulfhall, outside Savernake Forest in Wiltshire and had nine children:

• Margery Seymour (1502–1520).
• John Seymour (died 15 July 1510).
• Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1506–1552).
• Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley (c. 1508–1549).
• Jane Seymour, Queen of England (c. 1508/1509–1537).
• Elizabeth Seymour, Marchioness of Winchester (c. 1513–1563).
• Sir Henry Seymour of Marwell, Hampshire (c. 1514 – after 1568).
• Dorothy Seymour, married firstly Sir Clement Smyth^[2] (died 1562), and had seven children, married secondly after 1562 Thomas Levinthorpe
• Anthony Seymour

He also had an illegitimate son:

• Sir John Seymour (1535 – before August 1599, will probated 4 August 1599), married firstly in 1568 Jane or Joan Poyntz, daughter of Sir Nicholas Poyntz and Joan Berkeley,^[3] and married secondly Dyzary Porter, and had issue.^[4]

Seymour died on 21 December 1536. By royal custom, his daughter Queen Jane did not attend the funeral.

Notable children

Four of the Seymour children achieved prominence at the royal court—Edward, Thomas, Jane and Elizabeth.

Jane Seymour, the eldest surviving daughter, was a maid of honour of Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and then later of Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII stayed at Wulfhall with Queen Anne in the summer of 1535 for a few days.^[5] In early 1536, Henry declared his love for Jane and began spending increasing amounts of time with her, chaperoned by her brother, Edward. Henry and Jane were officially betrothed the day after Anne Boleyn was arrested and executed on charges of treason, adultery and incest. After Jane became queen on 30 May 1536, her family scaled the social ranks, as was befitting the family of a royal consort.

Her eldest brother, Edward, was made an earl and eventually a duke and briefly ruled England on behalf of his nephew, King Edward VI. Her second brother, Thomas, was made a baron and Lord High Admiral, and in 1547 eloped with Henry VIII's widow, Queen Catherine Parr. Both men were beheaded for treason, only a few years apart.

Seymour's second daughter, Elizabeth, was first married to Sir Anthony Oughtred, who died in 1534, secondly to Gregory Cromwell, son of Henry's new chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, and for a third time to John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester.

References

External links

• Sir John Seymour, Knight Family tree
• Seymour Family A pedigree of the Seymour family