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,
Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baronet He was succeeded by his eldest son Sir Edward Seymour, 2nd Baronet (c. 1580 – 1659). Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baronet (c. 1563 – 10 April 1613) of Berry Pomeroy, Devon, was Member of Parliament for Devon, twice High Sheriff of Devon and an Army Colonel. Born at Berry Pomeroy Castle, Devon, of a family greatly influential in the Western counties, he was the son and heir of Lord Edward Seymour (died 1593), by his wife Margaret Walsh. He was the grandson of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1500 – 1552), Lord Protector,