American Seymour Genealogy

THERE ARE FEW SOURCES today that provide authentic information on the lineage of the Seymour family in Normandy during the centuries before the Norman Conquest, and if they were repeated here, there would be only more clouds on an already misty past. It is sufficient to say that the inhabitants of Normandy were not French, as such, but Northmen (Vikings, Danes, and West Saxon warriors) who moved south down the French peninsulas to raid and conquer lands for an easier living than was obtainable in the northern latitudes. In the seventh century there was a monk named Maur who in due time became canonized because of his works. The Abbey of Saint Maur-sur-Loire, still operating in 1981, owes its origin to that sainted individual. As with any place, village, or community, prominent individual families who lived there would use the place name as their family name. Thus, Goscelin de St. Maur is mentioned in a charter of Foulque Martel, count of Anjou, in the year 1000.

Starting with this Goscelin we are bold enough to depict the supposed family lines beginning with the eleventh century down through the end of the fourteenth. From that point onward we are on solid ground with dates, names, burials, and marriages all confirmed by identifiable records. According to R. St. Maur's book, 1129 was the year that Penhow Castle was first recognized as a dwelling place of the St. Maurs. The first lord of the castle would then have been Roger St. Maur, who was followed by Bartholomew St. Maur, 1170. At this point the line splits into two parts:

William St. Maur, knight, married the third daughter of William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, retained Penhow and came to be identified with that place through his son, Roger St. Maur, who died before 1300. This line continues until Sir Roger, who married Cecilia, daughter of john Beauchamp, baron of Hache in Somerset, moved out of Penhow, leaving it to a daughter who married into the Bowles family. From the Roger St. Maur-Beauchamp line is derived the ducal branch, starting with John Seymour of Wolf Hall, whose great-granddaughter Jane married Henry Tudor, known as Henry VIII.

The other branch of the descendants of Milo St. Maur of 1217 was headed by Geoffrey, who lived about 1240. His great-grandson Thomas St. Maur, born 1308, may have been the Sir Thomas St. Maur who. according to The Victoria County History of the County of Hertfordshire, married Alice Lisle. The significance of this possible connection with Richard Seymour of Norwalk has never, to the author's knowledge, been considered until recently, through a set of circumstances that will be disclosed in the next few pages.

One complication about trying to make a superficial examination of identities from existing printed material is that in the Annals, no wife is shown for the Thomas St, Maur, born in 1308, However. his son Nicholas, who died 1361, left further progeny. and it may be significant that the first female listed happened to be named Alice. Was she named for her great-grandmother, Alice Lisle St. Maur, who was heiress to a large number of estates?

Going back to the original St. Maurs who assisted with the Norman Conquest, in some capacity or another (there is nothing definite about this), we can picture Penhow Castle in southeast Gwent as being the first place where they were to plant their standard, emblazoned with the arms of St. Maur, the WINGS CONJOINED IN LURE, Traces of the wings can be found on the present-day castle on a rock surface near the gatehouse. The seal of Queen Jane also bears the wings, although the space allotted is small, and the wings are extremely long in proportion to other representations of this symbol. (A wax impression made from Queen Jane's seal can be purchased from the British Museum for a few dollars.)

If we can say that a St. Maur was actually involved in the battle of Hastings, then we can picture him as being a very rough-and-tough character, not given to chivalry as depicted by poets and others. A few civilians were dallying at Pevensey when William landed and were run through, although they are said to have offered no resistance. Of the seven hundred small Viking-type boats that sailed on a south wind across the Channel on the fateful day of September 28, 1066, many carried the 3,600 cavalry ponies, which were trained to mount a narrow gangplank from the beach to the vessel and to dismount the same way, with riders sitting in the saddle.

Once ashore, William ordered that a prefabricated wood fortress tower be constructed, the forerunner of a keep, or stronghold. William is said to have fought many campaigns in Wales between 1080 and the end of the century, and undoubtedly this is when the first St. Maurs could have had their taste of ravaging the Welsh countryside. The Norman motte, constructed of earth thrown up from a deep circular trench, would first be capped by a wood “castle,” a two- or three-storied rectangular block on end, with quarters for retiring in times of danger, when the outer bailey, also palisaded, would be breached. Wood was replaced by stone for the more permanent structure.

“Castles built by the Normans in Normandy were defensive, but in England and Wales, were for offensive purposes,” says A. E. J. Morris in his article, “Norman Castles,” in British Heritage. 2 This description fits the experience of Penhow as deduced by Mr. Stephen Weeks, present (1980) owner, when he says: “Penhow was never a great battely castle.”3

The first St. Maur families were devout and must have fought their way into the good graces of William I and his successors to have gained

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