Duke of Somerset VIII's third wife Jane Seymour. Henry had him created Viscount Beauchamp of Hache in 1536 and Earl of Hertford in 1537. He became Lord Protector of England at the start of the Minority of his nephew, Edward VI between 1547 and 1549. Edward married twice; he divorced his first wife Catherine Fillol (disowning her and her children) around 1535 and married Anne Stanhope who bore him nine children. In 1547 with Privy Counsel acquiescence he made himself Duke of Somerset. He bought Berry Pomeroy Castle from Sir Thomas Pomeroy, in 1547, although he probably never visited it. Less than two
Edward Seymour, 8th Duke of Somerset However, he inherited little of the great wealth enjoyed by his two immediate predecessors, as the 7th Duke had arranged for the principal Percy family estates and houses of Alnwick Castle, Northumberland House, Petworth House, and Syon House to be divided between his daughter Elizabeth and his nephew Charles Wyndham. As a result, the Dukes of Somerset were never again among the greatest landowning families. Seymour's children were all born long before the dukedom came to him: The 8th Duke of Somerset died between 12 and 15 December 1757, and was buried at Maiden Bradley on 21 December 1757. Edward