William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset was the great-grandson of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c.1500-1552), the uncle of King Edward VI and Lord Protector of England. Seymour made a secret marriage at Greenwich on 22 June 1610 to Arbella Stuart (d.1615), daughter of Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox and Elizabeth Cavendish. Arbella was thirteen years his senior, and King James I disapproved of the marriage as the union of two potential Tudor pretenders to the throne, who were respectively fourth and sixth in line, could only be seen as a threat to the ruling dynasty. As a result, William was condemned to life
Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp Wulfhall and Tottenham Lodge), inscribed in Latin as follows: Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp of Hatch (21 September 1561 – 21 July 1612) had a theoretically strong claim to the throne of England through his mother, but whose legitimacy was questioned. He was the son of Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (1539–1621), by his wife Lady Catherine Grey (died 1568), younger sister of Lady Jane Grey, "The Nine Day Queen". His grandfather was Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (executed 1552), all of whose titles became forfeit on his attainder by Parliament, during the reign of