A series of clandestine marriages
His first wife, Lady Catherine, was a potential claimant to Elizabeth's throne, and law established that it was a penal offence for her to marry without notifying the Sovereign. They were married by a Catholic priest at
Hertford House, Canon Row. The marriage was kept secret until August nearly a year later when Catherine became visibly pregnant and she confided the reason to
Lord Robert Dudley. They were sent to the
Tower (this began while Seymour was in France — he was imprisoned upon his return). While in custody, they were questioned about every aspect of their marriage, but they both claimed to have forgotten the date.
A commission was begun, headed by
Archbishop Parker in February 1562. Under this pressure, Lady Catherine finally declared that they had waited for Elizabeth to quit the capital for
Eltham Palace. Servants were questioned, and none of them could remember the exact date either.
John Fortescue said it was 'in November'. The priest could not be located, but by consulting the accounts of the Cofferer of the Household the marriage date was decided to be
November 27.
His son Edward was declared illegitimate and the father was fined 15,000 pounds in
Star Chamber for "seducing a virgin of the blood royal."
Despite all this, the Earl apparently found a way to continue marital relations with his wife in the Tower. In February 1563, Thomas Seymour was born. Lady Catherine died in 1568, and Seymour was finally allowed out of the Tower and allowed to re-appear at court. Officially his sons remained bastards.
His oldest son was
Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp of Hache (
1561–1612) whose son
William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset was imprisoned for secretly marrying
Arbella Stuart. In fact, Edward, William, and William's elder brother, another Edward, were all, at various times, considered possible matches for Arbella.
In 1582, he married his second wife, Frances Howard. Their union was in secret, and remained a secret for nearly a decade, with Frances serving as a gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber. Hertford attempted to have this marriage set aside in 1595 (hoping to clear his still illegitimate sons claim to the throne). He was arrested again, and Frances died in 1598.
May 1601, he secretly married once more, to a widow named Frances Prannell (born, interestingly enough, Frances Howard).
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