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{{Short description|English noblewoman}}
{{For|the duchess whose married name was Mary Seymour|Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (1630-1715)}}
{{other uses|Mary Seymour (disambiguation)}}
'''Mary Seymour''' (30 August 1548 - c. 1550), born at her father’s country seat, ] in ], was the only daughter of ], Baron Seymour of Sudeley, and ], widow of ] of ]. Although Catherine was married four times, Mary was her only child. Complications from Mary's birth would claim the life of her mother on 5 September 1548, and her father was executed less than a year later for treason against ].
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox noble
| name = Mary Seymour
| birth_date = 30 August 1548
| birth_place = ], ], England
| death_date = {{?}}
| death_place =
| noble family = ]
| father = ]
| mother = ]
}}
'''Mary Seymour''' (30 August 1548 – {{?}}), born at her father’s country seat, ] in ], was the only daughter of ] (brother of ], third wife of ]), and the ], ], widow of Henry VIII. Although Catherine was married four times, Mary was her only child. Complications from Mary's birth would claim the life of her mother on 5 September 1548, and her father was executed less than a year later for treason against her cousin ].


{{anchor|Restitution of Mary Seymour Act 1549}}
In 1549, the ] passed an ] (3 & 4 Edw. 6 C A P. XIV) removing the ] placed on her father from Mary, but his lands remained property of the Crown.
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = Restitution of Mary Seymour Act 1549
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of England
| long_title = An Act of the Restitution of Mary Seymour dawghter of the Lorde Seymour late Admirall of Englond.
| year = 1549
| citation = ]. c. 14
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent =
| royal_assent = 1 February 1550
| commencement = 4 November 1549
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date = 16 June 1977
| amends =
| replaces =
| amendments =
| repealing_legislation = ]
| related_legislation =
| status = repealed
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000017915519&view=1up&seq=201
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG =
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed = yes
}}
In 1549, the ] passed an ] (]. c. 14) removing the ] placed on her father from Mary, but his lands remained property of the Crown.


As her mother's wealth was left entirely to her father and later confiscated by the Crown, Mary was left a destitute orphan in the care of ] ], who appears to have resented this imposition.<ref>Linda Porter (2010) ''Katherine the Queen''</ref> After 1550 Mary disappears from historical record completely, leading to the conclusion that she did not live past the age of two.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/sixwives/meet/cp_handbook_children2.html|title=Catherine Parr: Children|work=The Six Wives of Henry VIII|publisher=]|accessdate=2008-10-11}}</ref> As her mother's wealth was left entirely to her father and later confiscated by the Crown, Mary was left a destitute orphan in the care of ], who appears to have resented this imposition.<ref>Linda Porter (2010) ''Katherine the Queen''</ref> After her second birthday in 1550, Mary disappears from historical record completely, and no claim was ever made on her father's meagre estate, leading to the conclusion that she did not live past the age of two.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/sixwives/meet/cp_handbook_children2.html|title=Catherine Parr: Children|work=The Six Wives of Henry VIII|publisher=]|access-date=2008-10-11}}</ref>


==Survival speculations==
==Speculations of an adult life==
] author ] claims in her biography of Catherine Parr that Mary Seymour did survive to adulthood, and in fact married ], a member of the household of Queen ], consort to King James VI of Scotland and I of England. Strickland's theory incorporates that perhaps the Dowager ], after her marriage to ] in 1553, and before she fled England during the ] which started on 20 January 1555, she provided an honorable marriage for Mary with Bushel. The problem with this theory is that Lady Mary would have been aged six at the time.<ref>Agnes Strickland, Elizabeth Strickland. ''Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest,'' 1842. pg 296.</ref> ] author ] claimed, in her biography of Catherine Parr, that Mary Seymour did survive to adulthood, and in fact married Sir Edward Bushel, a member of the household of ], wife of ]. Strickland's theory suggested that the Dowager ], after her marriage to ] in 1553, and before she fled England during the ] in or after 1555, arranged Mary's marriage to Bushel. The problem with this theory is that Mary would have been aged only six at the time.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Agnes |last1=Strickland |first2=Elizabeth |last2=Strickland |orig-year=1842 |date=2020-02-21 |chapter=Catherine Parr, sixth queen of Henry&nbsp;VIII |title=Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest |volume=III |page=296 (of 175–300) |edition=1885, photo scan&nbsp;F |type=image of print text |place=London, UK |publisher=George Bell & sons |chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044094404332&view=1up&seq=330 |access-date=2021-07-20 |via=Hati Trust Digital Library (babelHathiTrust.org)}}</ref>


A more modern theory, from ], author of a 2010 biography on Katherine Parr, suggests that a 1573 Latin book of poems and epitaphs written by ], Katherine Parr’s chaplain, contains the following reference to Mary:
Mary was also believed to have been removed to ], ] and raised under the care of a Protestant family there, the Harts, who had been engaged in piracy off the Irish coast under the protection of a profit sharing arrangement with Thomas Seymour.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} A lozenge-shaped ring inscribed "What I have I hold" reputed to have been an early gift to Thomas by his brother Edward passed down through her descendants the Seymour-Harts up to at least 1927.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}


::I whom at the cost<br/>
There was reference found in old Elizabethan texts of 'The Late Queen's heir.' However, this could be various other women. Historian ] states that "Mary definitely lived past the age of 10, but after that little is known."
::Of her own life<br/>
::My queenly mother<br/>
::Bore with the pangs of labour<br/>
::Sleep under this marble<br/>
::An unfit traveller.<br/>
:
::If Death had given me to live longer<br/>
::That virtue, that modesty, That obedience of my excellent Mother<br/>
::That Heavenly courageous nature<br/>
::Would have lived again in me.<br/>
:
::Now, whoever<br/>
::You are, fare thee well<br/>
::Because I cannot speak any more, this stone<br/>
::Is a memorial to my brief life.


Porter suggested that this was an epitaph written by Parkhurst, on the occasion of Mary's death around the age of two. Porter further speculates that Mary is buried in ], near ], the estate owned by the Duchess of Suffolk, "where she had lived as an unwelcome burden for most of her short, sad life."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Linda |last=Porter |year=2011 |title=Lady Mary Seymour: An unfit traveller |magazine=History Today Magazine |volume=61 |issue=7}}</ref>
The latest theory, comes from ] who has done extensive research and written her own biography on Lady Mary's mother, Queen Catherine.


==Portrayals in fiction==
In an article in ''History Today'', published in July 2011, Porter states:
The 2007 novel ''The Red Queen's Daughter'' by ] speculates an alternative history where Mary Seymour becomes ] to ]. The 2009 novel ''The Stolen One'' by ] depicts Mary being raised by a 'witch' in the English countryside. A similar premise allows Seymour's supernatural powers to help her friend Alison Bannister search for her lost child in the 2016 novel ''The Phantom Tree'' by ].<ref>{{Cite book|isbn = 9781474050692|title = The Phantom Tree|last1 = Cornick|first1 = Nicola|date = 29 December 2016}}</ref>


The 2022 drama series '']'' portrays Mary’s birth.
{{quote|text=In January 1550, Lady Mary Seymour was allowed, by act of Parliament, to inherit any of her father’s property that remained. There was not much left but no claim was ever made and, thereafter, Catherine Parr’s daughter disappears from the historical record completely. What could have happened to her?

The answer to this compelling Tudor mystery seems to lie in a Latin book of poems and epitaphs written by ], Katherine Parr’s chaplain, who had previously served the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk. The discovery was made by the American academic, ], but has been overlooked by historians. I am grateful to Jean Bray, the archivist at Sudeley Castle, for drawing it to my attention. In Parkhurst’s Ludicra sive Epigrammata ], published in 1573, appears the following poem, which translated reads:

I whom at the cost<br>
Of her own life<br>
My queenly mother<br>
Bore with the pangs of labour<br>
Sleep under this marble<br>
An unfit traveller.<br>
If Death had given me to live longer<br>
That virtue, that modesty, That obedience of my excellent Mother<br>
That Heavenly courageous nature<br>
Would have lived again in me.<br>
Now, whoever<br>
You are, fare thee well<br>
Because I cannot speak any more, this stone<br>
Is a memorial to my brief life

Though no name is given, this must surely be the epitaph that Parkhurst, who would have known Lady Mary Seymour, wrote on her death. It suggests, as has long been conjectured, that she died young, probably around the age of two. She may well be buried in ], near ], the estate owned by the Duchess of Suffolk, where she had lived as an unwelcome burden for most of her short, sad life.|sign=Linda Porter|source=History Today, ''Lady Mary Seymour: An Unfit Traveller", Volume: 61 Issue: 7 2011.}}

==Fiction==
The fictional story, ], by ], centres around Mary Seymour, and speculates a life in which she never marries, and becomes ] to ]. Another fiction book named The Stolen One by ] is about Lady Mary. It states Mary lived and was raised by a 'witch' in the England countryside.

==Ancestry==
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|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Lady Mary Seymour'''
|2= 2. ]
|3= 3. ]
|4= 4. ]
|5= 5. ]
|6= 6. ]
|7= 7. ]
|8= 8. ]
|9= 9. Elizabeth Darrell
|10= 10. ]
|11= 11. Anne Say
|12= 12. ]
|13= 13. ]
|14= 14. ]
|15= 15. Joan Fogge
|16= 16. ]
|17= 17. Elizabeth Coker
|18= 18. Sir George Darrell of Littlecote
|19= 19. Hon. Margaret Stourton
|20= 20. ]
|21= 21. Hon. Mary Clifford
|22= 22. ]
|23= 23. ]
|24= 24. Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal
|25= 25. Alice Tunstall
|26= 26. Henry FitzHugh, 5th Baron Fitzhugh of Ravensworth
|27= 27. ]
|28= 28. Sir Thomas Green, Lord of Greens Norton
|29= 29. Matilda Throckmorton
|30= 30. ]
|31= 31. Alice Haute
}}</center>
{{ahnentafel bottom}}


==References== ==References==
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* by Linda Porter. * by Linda Porter.


{{authority control}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->

| NAME = Seymour, Mary
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Daughter of Catherine Parr
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1548
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, Mary}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, Mary}}
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
] ]
] ]

Latest revision as of 23:45, 8 September 2024

English noblewoman For other uses, see Mary Seymour (disambiguation).

Mary Seymour
Born30 August 1548
Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, England
Died?
Noble familySeymour
FatherThomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
MotherCatherine Parr

Mary Seymour (30 August 1548 – ?), born at her father’s country seat, Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, was the only daughter of Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley (brother of Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII), and the dowager queen, Catherine Parr, widow of Henry VIII. Although Catherine was married four times, Mary was her only child. Complications from Mary's birth would claim the life of her mother on 5 September 1548, and her father was executed less than a year later for treason against her cousin Edward VI.

United Kingdom legislation
Restitution of Mary Seymour Act 1549
Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long titleAn Act of the Restitution of Mary Seymour dawghter of the Lorde Seymour late Admirall of Englond.
Citation3 & 4 Edw. 6. c. 14
Dates
Royal assent1 February 1550
Commencement4 November 1549
Repealed16 June 1977
Other legislation
Repealed byStatute Law (Repeals) Act 1977
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

In 1549, the Parliament of England passed an act (3 & 4 Edw. 6. c. 14) removing the attainder placed on her father from Mary, but his lands remained property of the Crown.

As her mother's wealth was left entirely to her father and later confiscated by the Crown, Mary was left a destitute orphan in the care of Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, who appears to have resented this imposition. After her second birthday in 1550, Mary disappears from historical record completely, and no claim was ever made on her father's meagre estate, leading to the conclusion that she did not live past the age of two.

Survival speculations

Victorian author Agnes Strickland claimed, in her biography of Catherine Parr, that Mary Seymour did survive to adulthood, and in fact married Sir Edward Bushel, a member of the household of Anne of Denmark, wife of James VI and I. Strickland's theory suggested that the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, after her marriage to Richard Bertie in 1553, and before she fled England during the Marian Persecutions in or after 1555, arranged Mary's marriage to Bushel. The problem with this theory is that Mary would have been aged only six at the time.

A more modern theory, from Linda Porter, author of a 2010 biography on Katherine Parr, suggests that a 1573 Latin book of poems and epitaphs written by John Parkhurst, Katherine Parr’s chaplain, contains the following reference to Mary:

I whom at the cost
Of her own life
My queenly mother
Bore with the pangs of labour
Sleep under this marble
An unfit traveller.
If Death had given me to live longer
That virtue, that modesty, That obedience of my excellent Mother
That Heavenly courageous nature
Would have lived again in me.
Now, whoever
You are, fare thee well
Because I cannot speak any more, this stone
Is a memorial to my brief life.

Porter suggested that this was an epitaph written by Parkhurst, on the occasion of Mary's death around the age of two. Porter further speculates that Mary is buried in Lincolnshire, near Grimsthorpe, the estate owned by the Duchess of Suffolk, "where she had lived as an unwelcome burden for most of her short, sad life."

Portrayals in fiction

The 2007 novel The Red Queen's Daughter by Jacqueline Kolosov speculates an alternative history where Mary Seymour becomes lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I. The 2009 novel The Stolen One by Suzanne Crowley depicts Mary being raised by a 'witch' in the English countryside. A similar premise allows Seymour's supernatural powers to help her friend Alison Bannister search for her lost child in the 2016 novel The Phantom Tree by Nicola Cornick.

The 2022 drama series Becoming Elizabeth portrays Mary’s birth.

References

  1. Linda Porter (2010) Katherine the Queen
  2. "Catherine Parr: Children". The Six Wives of Henry VIII. PBS. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
  3. Strickland, Agnes; Strickland, Elizabeth (21 February 2020) . "Catherine Parr, sixth queen of Henry VIII". Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest (image of print text). Vol. III (1885, photo scan F ed.). London, UK: George Bell & sons. p. 296 (of 175–300). Retrieved 20 July 2021 – via Hati Trust Digital Library (babelHathiTrust.org).
  4. Porter, Linda (2011). "Lady Mary Seymour: An unfit traveller". History Today Magazine. Vol. 61, no. 7.
  5. Cornick, Nicola (29 December 2016). The Phantom Tree. ISBN 9781474050692.

External links

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