Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester

The Marquess of Worcester
Born	1577
Died	18 December 1646
Noble family	House of Beaufort
Spouse(s)	Hon. Anne Russell
Issue	Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester
Father	Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester
Mother	Elizabeth Hastings, Countess of Worcester

Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester (1577 – 18 December 1646) was an English aristocrat, who was a prominent and financially important Royalist during the early years of the English Civil War.

Life

He was the son of Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester and Elizabeth Hastings. On 3 March 1628, he succeeded his father and became the 5th Earl of Worcester.

Brought up a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism as a young man. He was considered an outstandingly wealthy peer, with an income, by the contemporary estimate of Richard Symonds, of £24,000 per annum. By good management, as well as by inheritance and marriage, he built up major holdings in property. When war came, he claimed to have expended and lent over £900,000 to the royalist cause.

Charles I asked him to keep a low profile in public life. Some noted recusants, such as Gwilym Puw and his chaplain Thomas Bayly, gathered around him at Raglan Castle. His local support was increased by the fact that he was not identified as a courtier. For his financial support of King Charles I at the outset of the First English Civil War, he was created 1st Marquess of Worcester, on 2 November 1642.

After the battle of Naseby, King Charles sought refuge at Raglan, in the period June to September 1645. The next year, the Marquess was forced to surrender Raglan Castle to the forces of Sir Thomas Morgan, 1st Baronet, late in 1646, marking the effective end of the Civil War in Wales. He was taken into custody by the Parliamentary forces, and died in Covent Garden, on 18 December 1646.

Family

He married Hon. Anne Russell, daughter of John Russell, Baron Russell and Elizabeth Cooke on 16 June 1600. Anne's paternal grandparents were Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford and his wife Margaret St. John. Anne's maternal grandparents were Sir Anthony Cooke and his wife Anne FitzWilliam.

With his wife, he had nine sons and four daughters including, Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester, his heir and successor, and Thomas Somerset, his second son, who became a Catholic priest in Rome before joining the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Perugia before Pope Clement IX sent him to England as his internuncio. Fr Thomas died in exile in Dunkirk on 30 August 1678. Another son was Sir John Somerset, of Pauntley, Gloucestershire, who married Mary Arundell, a daughter of the 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour, co. Wiltshire by his second wife. His youngest daughter, Elizabeth, married Francis Browne, 3rd Viscount Montagu.

Ancestry

Family of Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester

16. Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester 8. Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester 17. Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert 4. William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester 18. Sir Anthony Browne 9. Elizabeth Browne 19. Lucy Neville 2. Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester 20. Roger North 10. Edward North, 1st Baron North 21. Christian Warcup 5. Christian North 22. Oliver Squire 11. Alice Squire 1. Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester 24. Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings 12. George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon 25. Mary Hungerford 6. Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon 26. Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham 13. Anne Stafford 27. Catherine Woodville 3. Elizabeth Hastings 28. Sir Richard Pole 14. Henry Pole, 11th Baron Montacute 29. Margaret Plantagenet, 8th Countess of Salisbury 7. Catherine Pole 30. George Nevill, 4th Baron Bergavenny 15. Jane Neville 31. Margaret Fenne

References

• Lundy, Darryl (31 January 2011). "Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester". Thepeerage.com. p. 2465 § 24647. Retrieved October 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Cokayne, G.E. (2000). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant. Vol. XII/2 (reprint in 6 volumes ed.). Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing. p. 857. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  • Mosley, Charles, ed. (1999). Burke's Peerage and Baronetage,. Vol. 1 (106th in 2 volumes ed.). Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books). p. 221. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)