Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset appeared to back the common people against a rapacious landowning class. In the early 20th century this line was taken by the influential A. F. Pollard, to be echoed by Edward VI's 1960s biographer W. K. Jordan. A more critical approach was initiated by M. L. Bush and Dale Hoak in the mid-1970s. Since then, Somerset has often been portrayed as an arrogant ruler, devoid of the political and administrative skills necessary for governing the Tudor state. Edward Seymour married twice: The male line of Edward Seymour and Anne Stanhope died out with the seventh Duke of Somerset in 1750,
Mary Seymour, Duchess of Somerset Egremont. Their children were: The duchess was a patron of several charities. The duke died in December 1757, and was buried at Maiden Bradley. The duchess then expanded the Seend Green House (later Seend Park), which had belonged to her grandfather, John Somner. She died on 1 February 1768, aged 70, and was buried at Seend. Her will is held in the National Archives at Kew. Mary Seymour, Duchess of Somerset Mary Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (22 October 1697 – 1 February 1768), formerly Mary Webb, was the wife of Edward Seymour, 8th Duke of Somerset, and the mother of