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,
Edward Seymour, 16th Duke of Somerset Depot, with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel (ordnance officer, 2nd class) from 4 January 1900. He eventually became Inspector of Army Ordnance Services, and retired from the army in 1918. Seymour established his claim to the dukedom in 1925, the 15th Duke of Somerset having died without issue in 1923. He was the great-great-grandson of the Very Reverend Lord Francis Seymour, fourth and youngest son of the 8th Duke. On 28 July 1881, Seymour married Rowena Wall, a daughter of George Wall, of Colombo, Ceylon. Together, they had one son: Evelyn Seymour, 17th Duke of Somerset, born on 1 May