Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester

The Earl of Worcester
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Hastings, Countess of Worcester
Issue Henry Somerset, 5th Earl of Worcester Thomas Somerset, 1st Viscount Somerset Catherine Somerset Blanche Somerset Frances Somerset
Noble family	House of Beaufort
Father	William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester
Mother	Christian North
Born	circa 1550
Died	3 March 1628

Quartered arms of Sir Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, KG

Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, KG, Earl Marshal (c. 1550 – 3 March 1628) was an English aristocrat. He was an important advisor to King James I (James VI of Scots), serving as Lord Privy Seal.

He was the only son of three children born to the 3rd Earl of Worcester and Christian North. On February 21, 1589, he succeeded his father as Earl of Worcester, and in 1593 he was made a Knight of the Garter.

In 1606 he was appointed Keeper of the Great Park, a park created for hunting by Henry VIII around Nonsuch Palace, of which Worcester Park was a part. The residence Worcester Park House was built in 1607.

Family

He married Lady Elizabeth Hastings in December 1571. She was a daughter of Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and Catherine Pole. Catherine was a daughter of Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu and Jane Neville. Jane was in turn a daughter of George Nevill, 4th Baron Bergavenny and Margaret Fenne. They had fifteen children among whom were:

• Henry Somerset, 5th Earl of Worcester, his heir and successor, who was later created the 1st Marquess of Worcester;
• Thomas Somerset, 1st Viscount Somerset (Peerage of Ireland), who was born in 1579, died in 1649; he was created Viscount Somerset on December 8, 1626; in 1616 he married Helen Barry - her third marriage -, with whom he had one daughter:
  • Elizabeth Somerset, who might have died young, but that is unsure;
• Lady Catherine or Katherine Somerset, who died on November 6, 1654 and, before January 14, 1607, married Thomas Windsor, 6th Baron Windsor, with whom she had no issue; and
• Lady Blanche Somerset, who died October 28, 1649, and married Thomas Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Wardour, with whom she had one son and two daughters, his only children; the settlement for this marriage was on May 11, 1607.
• Lady Frances Somerset, wife of William Morgan, 1st Baronet Of Llantarnam
• Sir Charles Somerset (1587/8 – 1665), traveler and writer, Knight of the Bath.

Somerset is buried in the family chapel in the Church of St Cadoc, Raglan, Monmouthshire

Ancestry

Family of Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester

16. Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset               8. Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester                       17. Joan Hill               4. Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester                             18. William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke               9. Lady Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert                       19. Anne Devereux               2. William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester                                   20. Sir Thomas Browne               10. Anthony Browne                       21. Eleanor FitzAlan               5. Elizabeth Browne                             22. John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu               11. Lady Lucy Neville                       23. Isabel Ingoldesthorpe               1. 'Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester                                         12. Roger North                       6. Edward North, 1st Baron North                             26. Richard Warcup               13. Christiana Warcup                       3. Christiana North                                   14. Oliver Squier of Southby, Hampshire                       7. Alice Squier

References

Political offices
Preceded by The Earl of Essex	Master of the Horse 1601–1616	Succeeded by Sir George Villiers
Preceded by The 2nd Earl of Pembroke	Custos Rotulorum of Monmouthshire 1601–1628	Succeeded by The 3rd Earl of Pembroke
	Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire jointly with Henry Somerset 1626–1628 1602–1628	Succeeded by The Earl of Worcester
Preceded by In Commission	Earl Marshal 1603	Succeeded by In Commission
Preceded by The Earl of Somerset	Lord Privy Seal 1616–1625	Succeeded by Sir John Coke
Peerage of England
Preceded by William Somerset	Earl of Worcester 1589–1628	Succeeded by Henry Somerset
	Baron Herbert (descended by acceleration) 1589–1604