American Seymour Genealogy

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==== Excerpt from "Annals of the Seymours" (1902) ====

|  **ORIGIN AND EARLY DAYS\\ OF THE\\ ST. MAUR OR SEYMOUR FAMILY**  |

THE origin of every family, of no matter how great importance, can scarcely be
traced without considerable difficulty to the time when it first became of
sufficient greatness to obtain even the slightest mention in such few chronicles
as were kept in the obscure and stormy days of European history preceding the
Norman Conquest. Even such writings as remain in old and almost undecipherable
manuscripts, can hardly be considered as affording reliable and trustworthy
information. Most of them were written by the monks of old who, in the seclusion
of their monasteries, could only write on hearsay evidence of the events passing
around them. Such stories as thus came to their knowledge had already, we may be
sure, passed through many repetitions, and were certain to have become
inaccurate and distorted. One cannot, therefore, look upon them without a
certain amount of suspicion.

In endeavouring to discover early traces of the St. Maur family, a further
difficulty is encountered in the fact that, after William the Conqueror's
arrival in England, accompanied, as will presently be seen, by a Seigneur de
Saint Maur, no mention is made of the family for a considerable time (that is,
no mention of their doings, though the name is to be met with in deeds and
charters of the time). not in fact until they once again reach sufficient
prominence to be noticed by the chroniclers. This has, not unnaturally, cast a
doubt in the minds of historians as to their real origin, which the majority do
not attempt to trace beyond the St. Maurs of Penhow, in Monmouth, whom, however,
they generally agree to have been without doubt of Norman origin, and to have
come to this country either with, or shortly after, the Conqueror.

In a history of this kind it is of course necessary to start as far back as
possible, and it is my intention to begin with. the first mention of the name.
At the same time ' 1 must caution the reader that 1 can obtain no authentic data
earlier than the year 1000, and that although 1 commence at an earlier date, I
myself can only look upon it as little better than a legend, drawn from
unreliable sources.

There is in France a small but very ancient village named "Saint Maur-sur-
Loire." It is supposed to have been named thus on account of a black hermit,
famous for, his goodness and piety,((There undoubtedly was a famous saint called
St. Maur, to whom churches were dedicated and whose feast days were held, but it
is doubtful whether there was any connection between the hermit and the saint,
who, I believe, during his lifetime, was an abbot.)) who is said to have lived
in the 7th century, and to have been an Abyssinian prince, descended from the
royal. race of Solomon and (sad to relate) the Queen of Sheba, but who had been
obliged to leave his country during some insurrection in which his father and
his nearest relatives had been massacred. In the year 710 this village is said
to have been in the possession of the family 'of St. Maur, who no doubt must
have taken their name from the place, from being the most important owners
there, for it is beyond the bounds of possibility that they can have been the
Issue of the hermit. The head of the family is supposed to have been Richard de
St. Maur, and he is said to have been mentioned in a grant to the royal Abbey of
Villers, founded by Queen Frédégonde.

In addition to Richard. a Guy de St. Maur is said to have performed his fealty
and homage at the same Abbey in 701, and a Ludo de St. Maur is said to have been
mentioned in a list in 919.

Even legend, however, does not supply us with any account of these or their
descendants, and it is necessary to go on to Goscelin de Ste. Maur or Maure,
surnamed Peitazinua, probably on account of some voyage, pilgrimage, or exploit,
that he performed in Aquitaine.

This Goscelin de Ste. Maur is mentioned:
  - In a charter of Foulque Martel, Comte d'Anjou, in the year 1000
  - In the foundation of the Abbey of Beaulieu, with Suhard de Craon, and other gentlemen.

He is always styled 11 Castri Sanctæ Mauræ dei gratiâ jure hereditario possessor
et dominus." Pope Gregory VII wrote him a letter (the 22nd in the second volume
of his letters) which is reproduced in "I'Histoire de Sable" P. 254.

Goscelin de Ste. Maur married Aremburge in the year 1000, and by her had four
sons, viz., Josbert, Guillaume, Hugues, Goscelin. Of these the latter had a son
Guillaume who died s.p., and Hugues married Alner de Berlay de Montreuil by whom
he had several children, only one of whom, Hugues (1087 to 1105), however, left
any issue. This was a son Gautier, whose son Guillaume left an only daughter who
married the Seigneur de Pressigny in Tourraine, who took the name of the heiress
and founded the second house of Ste. Maur.((For the above statements, see La
Chenaye des Bois. It does not, however, mention where Goscelin de Ste. Maur came
from, but mentions the walls of Ste.-Maur, near which was the priory of
Mesmin.)) The above Guillaume is mentioned in 1198 as being in Normandy.((See
The Norman People.))

Of Goscelin's two elder sons one appears to have been a priest. This must have
been Josbert, for the second son Guillaume seems to have had a son Wido de Ste.
Maur who came to England during the Norman invasion. It is of course impossible
to show any proof as to who did or did not actually accompany the Conqueror, as
there is no list of names in which the least reliance can be placed. In an
account of the Battle Abbey Roll (the inaccuracy of which is, 1 believe,
generally admitted) in Fuller's Church History by Brewer, where the lists in
Holinshed and Stow's Chronicle are compared, the name appears in both. In
Holinshed, P. 5, as Sent More and in Stow, P. 107, as Seint More. The difference
in spelling has probably caused the name to be overlooked, but 1 feel confident
that it is intended for Saint Maur. This name indeed has undergone very many
changes of spelling and even pronunciation. In Latin deeds it generally became
de Sancto Mauro, but we also find Saynt-Mor, Sayn-Maur, Seyne-More, SenneMaur,
Seyne-Maure, Semor, Semore, Seimour, and finally Seymour. Even in Queen
Elizabeth's time 1 have found it spelt Seymaur, and in Queen Anne's reign
Seimour, whilst in these days of education 1 frequently receive letters
addressed Saint Mor, St. Mor, St. More, and even St. Muyre.

Wido de St. Maur, as we have seen, came over to England in 1066 He died before
1086 leaving 1086 a son William Fitz-Wido who held a barony in Somerset, Wilts,
and Gloucester. and ten manors in Somerset.((See The Norman People.)) Most of
this property he no doubt inherited from his father, who must have received them
from the Conqueror, as there is no mention of either marrying an heiress. We may
therefore conclude that Wido must have rendered some service to the Conqueror to
merit such a reward.

During the period immediately following the Conquest, when the country was still
far from being settled down, very few records appear to have been kept or, if
they were. they have for the most part been lost. It is not surprising,
therefore, that we should find but little mention of a private family. There
appears. however, to have been a Roger de St. Maur living in the year
1100,((Complete Peerage, b Rev. A. Jacob, 1766.)) a son, apparently, of William
Fitz-Wido, and in 1129 he appears as a witness to a charter of Richard de
Cormeil to the Priory of Monmouth. ((Notes on Penhow castle, by 0. Morgan and J.
Wakeman, 1867.))

This deed has no date. but it must have been signed in that year, for Baderon,
Lord of Monmouth, and Rohesia his wife, who were married in 1128, also signed it
as witnesses, and it was made prior to the death of Prior Godfrey which occurred
in 1130.((Notes on Penhow castle, by 0. Morgan and J. Wakeman, 1867.)) This Roger
had therefore some connection with the county of Monmouth, and it may not be
unreasonable to suppose that he had settled at Penhow, for we find the family
owning that place not many years after. He is stated to have been the founder of
two families, but there is some confusion in tracing them.((Complete Peerage, b
Rev. A. Jacob, 1766.)) An Almericus de Sancto Mauro is mentioned as being master
of the order of Knights Templars,((Complete Peerage, b Rev. A. Jacob, 1766.)) and
also a Bartholemew de Sancto Mauro who witnessed a charter of William. Earl of
Gloucester, to Keynsham Abbey about 1170.((Notes on Penhow castle, by 0. Morgan
and J. Wakeman, 1867.)) This Bartholemew seems without doubt to have been a son
of Roger, and father of William de Sancto Mauro, one of the King's esquires in
1175.((Notes on Penhow Castle (Pipe Roll, 21 Henry II.)) This William apparently
had a son, Milo, for in 1217 we find a Milo de St. Maur who is stated to have
been without doubt a direct descendant of Roger.((Dugdale's Baronage; also
Complete Peerage (Jacob).)) But little is known about him. except that he took
part with the rebellious Barons against King John, on the occasion when the
latter was forced to sign the Magna Charta, and that he left two sons, Geffrey
and William.((Dugdale's Baronage; also Complete Peerage (Jacob). Among ...))

In the Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine, vol. xv, P. 142, we see Mr. J. R.
Planché (Brit. Archæol. Journ., 18 5 6, P. 3 2 5) says : 11 There are two
families of St. Maur. The St. Maurs or Seymours of Kingston Seymour, in
Somersetshire, who trace their pedigree to Milo de Sancto Mauro, who with his
wife Agnes, is named in a fine roll of King John ; and the St. Maurs or Seymours
of Penhow, Monmouthshire, from which the present ducal house of Somerset
descends. All our genealogists, from Dugdale downwards, are scrupulous in
observing that there is no connection whatever between the two families, who
bore different arms and settled in different counties, and 1 freely admit there
is no connection to be traced between them from the earliest. date to which they
have proved their pedigree ; but that fact by no means satisfies me that they
did not branch from the same Norman stock. We have no proof that there were two
St. Maurs who came over with the Conqueror (probably from St. Maure-sur-Loire in
la Haute Touraine), nor can we assert that if there were two or more they were
not, as in many similar instances, near kinsmen . . . . That their arms should
be different is no proof at all, for, although a similarity in their bearings
would be strong evidence in favour of some connection, it is one of the most
common things in the world to find, in 'those early days of herald the son
bearing a coat quite distinct from that of his father, as he frequently did a
perfectly different name." The St. Maurs of Kingston bore Argent, two chevrons
gules, a label of five points. The St. Maurs of Penhow, Gules, a pair of wings
conjoined in lure, or.

It would appear, therefore, according to Dugdale and others, that the two
families were entirely distinct, but I am more inclined to agree with Mr.
Planché’s reasoning and even to go further and assert that. as far as
probabilities can be made to take the place of evidence, these probabilities all
tend to show that the two families were the signatures we find an Aymer de
Sancto Mauro, Master of the Temple.-Cott. MS., Aug. 1 1106.) connected, though,
for some reason or other, they were neither of them inclined to acknowledge the
fact. To begin with, we must notice that the St. Maur family obtained lands in
Wilts and Somerset through Wido de St. Maur. Afterwards, Roger de St. Maur
obtained additional lands in Monmouth. Milo de St. Maur undoubtedly held these
lands in Monmouth, as well as those in Wilts and Somerset yet, immediately after
him, we are told that the St. Maurs holding the Monmouthshire property and the
St. Maurs holding the Somerset and Wilts property are separate families, having
absolutely no connection. And yet Milo left two sons ! There is, however, no
record of whom he married, and it is possible that the sons were by different
wives, or even that one of them may have been a natural son, which might account
for their disclaiming each other. It would be futile to enter into any long
argument either for or against the descent of the Seymour family from Milo de
St. Maur in the absence of any proofs which could prove or disprove it. The
reader must draw his own conclusions from the slender materials here produced,
always remembering that Dugdale is by no means an authority to be absolutely
relied on, and that many later genealogists have merely copied what he
wrote.((At the same time it must be remembered that Roger de St. Maur is stated
as being the founder of two families, only one of which can be traced, and that
not in a very satisfactory manner. It is possible, but hardly probable, that the
St. Maurs of Penhow came from the other. but even then the connection would only
be rendered more distant.))

Of Milo's sons the elder, Geffrey, married a daughter of William de
Rughdon,((Dugdale.)) but beyond this there appears to be no mention of him.
except that he was succeeded by 	a son, Laurence de St. Maur, who. in 1274,
obtained from King Edward 1 a grant for a market, 	to be held at his Manor of
Rode. in Somerset. upon the Thursday in every week, and also to hold a fair
there every year upon the eve, day, and morrow of St. Margaret, the
Virgin.((Dugdale.)) In 1282 we find him 1282. acknowledging the service of half
a knight's fee for his own inheritance in Wilts, and one-third of a knight's fee
for the inheritance of Sibilla, his wife, in the county of
Northumberland.((Parliamentary writs and writs of military summons, Public
Record Office.)) In August of the same year he led an expedition against the
Welsh. In 1295 he was exempted from the general summons of persons holding land
by military tenure, for the King's expedition to Gascony (June
14).((Parliamentary writs and writs of military summons, Public Record Office.))
In July, 1297, he was summoned to perform military service beyond the seas.
((Parliamentary writs and writs of military summons, Public Record Office.))
This summons can only have arrived after his death which had taken place the
previous winter. He left one son, Nicholas.((Dugdale.))

Nicholas de St. Maur did his homage, and had livery of his father's lands.	He
also had been summoned in July, 1297, for military service abroad, and appears
to have attended the summons, and gone furnished with horses and
arms.((Parliamentary writs and writs of military summons, Public Record
Office.)) In 1298 he was summoned to perform military service against the Scots,
by a letter dated May 25, and in June, 1300, he was again summoned for a similar
purpose.((Parliamentary writs and writs of military summons, Public Record
Office.)) In 1306 he again served there in the retinue of Henry of Lancaster,
the younger son of Edward Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster. In 1313 he obtained a
pardon, as 1313. an adherent of the Earl of Lancaster, for having participated
in the death of Gaveston, and in the same year was summoned to Parliament as
representative of Gloucester.((Parliamentary writs and writs of military
summons, Public Record Office.)) In the following years, 1314, 1316, 1317, he
was summoned to perform military service against the Scots.((Parliamentary writs
and writs of military summons, Public Record Office.)) In 13 16 he was certified
as Lord or joint Lord of the following hundreds and townships :-North-Molton in
Devon, Hampton-Maysi in Gloucester, Yonkill and Weston in Hereford, Woolverton
and La Road in Somerset, Eton- Maysi, Poulton, and Witham in
Wilts.((Parliamentary writs and writs of military summons, Public Record
Office.)) His first wife had been Eve de Meysi, who had brought him considerable
property, but had not lived long. (Note i.) His second wife was Helen, the
eldest of the three daughters and coheirs of Alan la Zouche of Ashby, in
Leicester. By this marriage he gained considerable importance as well as more
property. (Note 2.) He died in 1317, leaving a son. Thomas. His wife, Helen,
survived him., and married Alan de Cherleton.((Dugdale, also Complete Peerage
(Jacob).))

Thomas de St. Maur was only 9 years of age at the time of his father's death. He
became, in consequence, a ward at the disposal of the Sovereign, Edward 11, who
almost immediately granted letters patent to Hugh le Despencer, the elder,
giving him the wardship of the Manors of Hampton-Maysi, in Gloucester, and Eton-
Maysi, in Wilts, which the late Nicholas had held, as part payment of certain
debts which were owed him by the King.((Public Record Office, Pat. Roll, 10
Edward II, part 2, mem. 6, 28.)) (Note 3.) This wardship was to be held during
the minority of Thomas, who does not, however, appear to have lived many years
after coming of age. Little further can be found about him, except that he
founded the Priory of Dulton, in Wilts, annexing it, as a cell, to the Priory of
Semplingham, in Lincoln.((Dugdale, also Complete Peerage (Jacob).)) The
successor to the estates was Sir Nicholas de St. Maur, Knight, who served in the
wars in France in the retinue of Maurice de Berkeley in 1348, and again in the
1348. retinue of Thomas de Holland in 136o. He was summoned to Parliament from
1352 to 1361.((Dugdale, also Complete Peerage (Jacob).)) He married Muriel, the
daughter and heiress of James, the son and heir of Richard. Lord Lovel. by whom
he had two sons, Nicholas and Richard., the former of whom died young.((Dugdale,
also Complete Peerage (Jacob).))

Richard de St. Maur inherited all his father's estates, which appear to have
been considerable. (Note 4.) In 	1387 he served in the wars in France, in the
retinue of Richard, Earl of Arundel, Admiral of England. He was also summoned to
Parliament 1381. from 1381 to 1401.((Dugdale and Rev. A. Jacob)) He married Ela,
the daughter and coheir of Sir John St. Loe, Knight, and died May 15, 1401,
leaving three sons, Richard, John, and Nicholas. of whom both the latter died
without issue.((Dugdale and Rev. A. Jacob)) By her testament, dated 1409, Ela
bequeathed her body to be buried in the new chapel of Staverdale Priory, next to
her husband's grave. She left her son Nicholas twenty pounds, her son John. a
set of beads of coral, garnished with gold, and made him her heir male, whilst
Alice, her grand-daughter, was made her heir female.((Dugdale and Rev. A.
Jacob))

Richard de St. Maur served in Ireland under Thomas, Duke of Surrey, the
Lieutenant of that realm, in 1399, and afterwards in France, in 1402. He was
summoned to Parliament from 1402 to 1407, and died the following year, leaving
no male issue. His wife. Mary, received at his death a considerable dowry, and
his daughter, Alice, inherited the re mainder of his property. This daughter was
born either just before or just after his death in the house of Thomas Cressy,
citizen and mercer of London, in the parish of St. Laurence, in Cripplegate
Ward, and was baptised in the church of St. Laurence. She married Sir William le
Zouche, Knight, of Totnes, who performed fealty, and had livery of her
lands.((Dugdale and Rev. A. Jacob))

Thus the elder or the two families started by Milo de St. Maur came to an end in
an only daughter. We will therefore now go back to his second son, William, for
from him apparently are descended the St. Maurs or Seymours of the present day.
Sir William de St. Maur, Knight, was expressly called "of Penhow,"((Notes on
Penhow Castle.)) which was one of the border castles in Monmouth erected against
the Welsh., and which, as has been already noticed, had formed part of the
possessions of the family for some time. These possessions Sir William evidently
determined to increase, for, in 1235-6, he entered into an agreement with
Gilbert Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, to wrest the Manor of Woundy or Undy (as it
was called later) from a Welshman, Morgan ap Howell, Lord of Caerleon,((Notes on
Penhow Castle.)) an attempt which appears to have been successfully carried out,
the manor being subsequently divided between the Earl and Sir William. An old
Latin record, which is transcribed in Vincent's manuscript baronage in the
College of Arms, No. 20, says: "Gilbertus Marescallus., comes Pembrochiae
tenetur praebere domino Willo de S. Mauro consilium in quantum poterit, secundum
leges Angliae, ad perquirendum manerium de Woundy, de Morgano filio Hueli, tali
conditione quod si praed ; Willus dictus menerium perquirere poterit. dictus
Gilbertus habebit medietatem dicti manerii, et aliam medletatem ciat extendi
dicto Willo, per probos et legales homines ad hoc ex utraque parte electos ita
quod pro qualibet summa 20 L. redditus dictus Gilbertus dabit Willo de S. Mauro
decem libras. Et quod idem Willus de S. Mauro teneat medietatem dicti manerii in
manu sua, donec inde plenam solutionem, sicut praescriptum est, receperit. Et si
forte contigerit, quod idem Willus de consilio dicti Gilberti defecrit, dictus
Willus de S. Mauro remaneat soiutus et quietus de obligatione, quam dictus
Gilbertus fecit super dictum manerium de Woundy."

Sir William de St. Maur thus became possessed of the Manor of Undy in addition
to that of Penhow.((Dict. Nat. Biog., and J. R. Planché, Journ. Archæolog.
Assocn., 13, 327-8.)) The latter place he made his residence, and soon
transformed it into a larger and more important castle, surrounded by a large
park, both of which he named St. Maur.((Complete Peerage (Jacob).)) He also
dedicated the church there to St. Maur) the patron saint of the
family,((Complete Peerage (Jacob).)) who seems to have been of some importance
in ancient days, for even now churches are to be found abroad that were
dedicated to him. Camden. in his chronicles of events in Ireland, 1361, also
mentions him: "On the feast of St. Maur the Abbot., there happened a violent
wind, that shook or blew down the pinnacles, chimneys, and such other buildings
as overtopped the rest ; trees without number and several steeples ;
particularly the steeple of the Friar's Preacher's." (Note 5.)

Sir William's signature appears as witness to two charters of Gilbert Marshall,
and to three of Walter Marshall, two being undated, and the third bearing the
date 1245.((Notes on Penhow Castle.)) He married the 3rd daughter of William
Marshall. Earl of Pembroke, but nothing more is to be found about him except
that his son, Roger, is mentioned as succeeding him.

Sir Roger de St. Maur inherited his father's possessions at Undy and Penhow. He
is mentioned as Lord  of the Manor of the former in 1269. He died before 1300
and was succeeded by his eldest son, Roger.((Augustine Vincent's Manuscript
Baronage, 1613.)) (Note 6.)

It is at this period that we first find mention made of the arms of the St. Maur
family which, from a seal appending to a grant of message to Thomas Elliot, of
the chapel of Undy, surrounded by this inscription : (1 Sigill, Rogerii de
Seimour," appear to have consisted of two. angel's wings, joined, tips downward.
In an MS. of Percy Enderby, which was in the possession of S. R. Bosanquet,
Esq., in 1867, he records that in the "South windows at Penhow there were in the
centre the arms of Seymour, Gules, 2 wings conjoined, or." In his History of
Modern Wiltshire, vol. i, p. 115, Sir Richard Colt Hoare says: "Percy Enderby,
in his book entitled Cambria Triumphans, informs us, that the arms, now borne by
Seymour (viz. : a pair of wings) Were, in his time, visible in the church at
Penhow ; both cut in stone and in painted glass ; and 1 have been informed by a
friend of mine, who lately visited Penhow at my request, that he perceived the
wings on two old windows, belonging to a tenant at that place, and which being
rather singular as to their application and situation, I think worthy of
remark."((A drawing of one of these windows may be seen in Sir R. Colt Hoare's
History of Modern Wiltshire.))

Of Roger de St. Maur but little is known, except that he lived in the year 1314,
and married Joan, daughter of __//???//__ Damarel, of Devonshire,((Vincent's MS.
Baronage ; also Complete Peerage (Jacob).)) by whom he had two sons, Sir John
St. Maur and Sir Roger St. Maur, the former of whom died about 1358, 1358.
leaving a son, Roger, born in 1340, who in turn left an only daughter who
married into the family of Bowlays, near Penhow, and apparently brought her
inheritance of Penhow Castle into that family. ((Dict. Nat. Biog.))

Sir Roger St. Maur, or Seymour as we may now call him, became Lord of the Manor
of Woundy in succession to his father. He does not, however, appear to have
spent much of his time there, preferring to reside at Evinswinden, in
Wilts.((Vincent's MS. Baronage ; also Complete Peerage (Jacob).)) He married
Cecilia, daughter of John de Beauchamp, Baron of Hache, in Somerset.((Vincent's
MS. Baronage ; also Complete Peerage (Jacob).))

Camden says: "From William de St. Maur, knight, who first settled at Woundy,
descended Roger de St. Maur, knight, who married one of the heiresses of the
illustrious John Beauchamp (this John Beauchamp of Hache married Cecilia,
daughter of Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, as may be seen in Sir William Dugdale's
Antiquities of Warwickshire), the noble Baron de Hache, who was descended from
Sybill, one of the coheiresses of that most puissant William Marshall (so called
from his office), Earl of Pembroke ; and from William Ferrers, Earl of Derby;
Hugh de Vivon ; and William Malet, men of eminent worth in their times. The
nobility of all which, as also of several others, have (as may be made evident),
concentred in the Right Honourable Edward de St. Maur or Seymour, now Earl of
Hertford, a singular encourager of virtue and learning ; for which qualification
he is deservedly famous."

In his description of the county of Somerset, Camden again says: "The
Beauchamps, otherwise de Bellocampo; have flourished in great honour from the
time of Henry 11, especially since Cecilia de Fortibus, descended from the Earls
of Ferrariis, and from the famous Marshall of England, William, Earl of
Pembroke, was married into this family. But in the reign of Edward III, the
estate was divided by sisters, between Roger de Sancto Mauro and John Meriel,
both of them sprung from ancient and honourable ancestors. This is the cause why
Henry VIII, after he had married Jane Seymour, Edward VI's mother, made Edward
Seymour, her brother, Viscount Beauchamp."

This marriage not only greatly advanced the importance of the Seymour family,
but brought them a considerable increase in wealth for, as we have seen, the
Lady Cecilia was one of two sisters, the last of the Beauchamp 1363. family,
and, in, the entire possessions of that family were divided between
them.((Camden.)) (Note 7.) She died in 1393, having survived her husband, by
whom she had five sons, the eldest of whom, William, being the only one about
whom any information is to be gathered.

This Sir William Seymour, knight, resided for the most part at Undy. (Note 8.)
He is mentioned, in 1362, as attending the Prince of Wales to his government of
Gascony, after first obtaining the King's letter of protection, dated from
Bamberg on February 8 of that year. He married Margaret, daughter of Simon de
Brockburn, and died in 1390, leaving a son, Roger, born in 1366. ((Vincent's MS.
Baronage; Complete Peerage (Jacob); Edmundson's Peerage; Camden.)) (Note 9.)

Within three years of the death of his father, Roger Seymour inherited all the
possessions of his grandmother, Cecilia, in addition to the property already
received from his father. He was at this time 27 years of age.((Vincent's MS.
Baronage; Complete Peerage (Jacob); Edmundson's Peerage; Camden.)) He married
Maud, daughter and coheir to Sir William Esturmy, knight, of Wolfhall in
Wilts,((History of Modern Wiltshire.)) and died in 1420, leaving a son, John,
born in 1402. Camden says:” The Esturmies had been bailiffs and guardians of the
forest of Savernake. by right of inheritance., from the time of Henry III. The
Earl of Hertford, descended from this Roger, had in his possession their
hunter's horn of a mighty bigness and tipped with silver. The Esturmies are
famous for being the founders and patrons of the hospital of the Holy Trinity at
Easton, near Marlborough, in Wilts."

John Seymour inherited all his father's possessions, which	had been so greatly
encreased by his marriage, at the age of 18. Being also heir to his cousin, Sir
Peter de la Mere, knight, he became of still greater importance. In 1431 he
served as Sheriff of the county of Southampton, and in the following year of
Wiltshire. Soon after this he was made a knight, and appears to have become one
of the most important of the gentlemen of Wilts ; for, in the list of names of
the gentlemen of that county returned by the Commissioners in 1434 his name
appears first, after those of the elder knights and William Westbury,
Justiciarus. He also served as Sheriff of Gloucester and Somerset, and again of
Southampton in 1437. In 1451 he served in Parliament as one of the knights for
the county of Wilts, this Parliament being one held at Reading.((Vincent's MS.
Baronage; Camden; Complete Peerage (Jacob), &c.)) His wife was Isabel, daughter
of Mark Williams, of Bristol, by whom he had a son, John.((Close Roll, 23 Henry
VI (endorsement).))

Isabel Seymour, who had been married in 1424, survived her husband for many
years, dying April 14, 1485.((Genealogist.)) Two years after her husband's
death, in 1463, she took the vow of perpetual chastity in the collegiate church
of Westbury, inter missar solempnia, in the presence of Bishop Carpenter, who
gave her his benediction and put upon her the vidual vesture, June 3,
1465.((Bishop carpenters Register at Worcester, vol. i, fol. 192.)) She was
possessed in fee of divers messuages. cottages, and gardens, in the town and
suburbs of Bristol ; and held in dower, or by joint feoffment with her late
husband Sir John Seymour, various lands in the counties of Southampton, Wilts,
Hereford. and Somerset. Her heir was found to be her grandson, John Seymour of
Wolfhall, in Wilts, who at the time of her death was 34 years of age. His father
and mother had both predeceased his grandmother.((Genealogist, vol. xii, N.S.,
P. 74.))

John Seymour, described as of Wolfhall (the Ulfela of the Saxons), in Wilts,
served as Sheriff for that county in 1458. He married Elisabeth, daughter of Sir
Robert Coker of Laurence Lydiard, in Somerset, and died in 1463, a month or two
before his father, leaving two sons, John and Humphrey, the latter of whom
settled at Evinswinden,((The old name for Swindon.)) and married the daughter
and coheiress of Thomas Winslow of Burton, Oxon. The Seymours of Oxford and
Gloucester were directly descended from him. Elisabeth Seymour died
1472.((Vincent's MS. Baronage; Complete Peerage (Jacob), &c.))

The elder brother, John Seymour of Wolfhall, was born in 1450 He was, therefore,
barely 14 years of age when his father and grandfather died. He was twice
married, first to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Darell, of Littlecote in
Wilts, by Margaret, daughter of John, Lord Stourton ; secondly to a daughter of
Robert Hardon, by whom he had one son, Roger, who in turn left four daughters,
his coheirs. The death of John Seymour occurred in 1491.((Genealogist.)) By his
first wife, Elizabeth, he left numerous issue:
  * Sir John Seymour, of whom we will speak next.
  * George Seymour, who was Sheriff of Wilts in 1499.
  * Robert Seymour.
  * Sir William Seymour, who was made a Knight of the Bath at the marriage of Arthur, Prince of Wales, November, 1501.((Hume, 3, 411))
  * Margaret Seymour, who married Sir William Wadham, knight.
  * Jane Seymour, who married Sir John Huddlestone, of Warleston, in Cumberland.
  * Elizabeth Seymour, who married John Crofts, Esq.
  * Catherine Seymour, who died unmarried.

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