Dukes of Somerset

Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and his siblings

Jan 26, 2024

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy

Bamburgh Castle, Baron Howth, Dukes of Somerset, executions, First Battle of St. Albans, Hexham, james butler earl of ormond, John Earl of Ormond, John Marquess of Dorset, John Paston, Margaret Beaufort, Margaret FitzLewis, Second Battle of St. Albans, Sir Humphrey Stafford, Tewkesbury, Towton, Wakefield, william paston

It is difficult to keep track of the various ‘Somersets’ who pop up in the Wars of the Roses, and easy to confuse them. Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (1436-1464) was the third Duke of his line. He succeeded to the title on the death of his father at the first Battle of St.…
The Touchet/Audley Family in the Fifteenth Century.

Sep 26, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion

Alionore Holland, Arundels, Barnet, Battle of Bosworth, Battles of Sandwich, Bishop Edmund Audley, Bishop of Hereford, Blore Heath, Buckingham rebellion, Calais, Cheshire, Constance of York, Despensers, Dukes of Somerset, Edmund Holland, Edward I, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, executions, Fitzalans, Francis Viscount Lovell, Heighley Castle, Henry III, Henry VII, Isabel Mylbery, James Lord Audley, Joan Bourchier, Joan of Kent, John Lord Audley, Lord High Treasurer, Ludlow Castle, Margaret Darrell, Margaret of Anjou, Margaret Roos, Mortimer’s Cross, Parliament’s power to determine legitimacy, Red Castle, Richard Duke of York, Richard III, Sir Humphrey Audley, surnames, Tewkesbury, Towton, Welsh Marches, Wydevilles

James Touchet, Lord Audley, was born about 1398. He was not in the first rank of magnates but nevertheless had significant estates, notably Heighley Castle, near Madeley in Staffordshire, and the Red Castle (Hawkstone) in Shropshire, as well as two small Marcher lordships in Wales. His first marriage was to Margaret Roos, daughter of Lord Roos…
Autumn dig at Chirk Castle promises to be exciting….

Sep 10, 2018

archaeology, buildings

Chirk Castle, Dukes of Somerset, Earls of Arundel, Edward I, executions, Henry Cardinal Beaufort, Llewellyn the Last, Myddletons, National Trust, Richard III, Roger Mortimer, Sir William Stanley

It seems that during the medieval period, no fewer than five holders of Chirk Castle were executed for treason. With that track record, I trust the National Trust intends to tread very carefully when it looks into the castle’s past and secrets this autumn. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, also held Chirk for a while, so…
The Howards, Talbots and Seymours – England’s auxilliary royal families?

Apr 6, 2018

anniversaries, battles, genealogy

Admiral Charles Rodney, Admiral Thomas Seymour, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Charles II, Dukes of Somerset, Edward IV, George IV, George V, Henry VIII, Howards, James of Monmouth, Jane Seymour, John Ashdown-Hill, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Laura Culme-Seymour, Lucy Walter, Maria Smythe, Miranda Hart, naval families, Royal Marriage Secrets, Seymours, Talbots

This document shows the descent of the known “wives”, secret wives, mistresses, illegal wives and alleged partners of five English and British kings, taken from Ashdown-Hill’s Royal Marriage Secrets: thosehowardsagain As a bonus, Laura Culme-Seymour, from a naval family, including Admiral Thomas Lord Seymour; Admiral Rodney and the first three Culme-Seymour baronets, has a famous…
A big development

Dec 2, 2014

archaeology, genealogy, Science

“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, Dukes of Beaufort, Dukes of Somerset, Edward III, Edward IV, Lancastrians, Richard III, Sir Hugh Swynford, Y-chromosome

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/141202/ncomms6631/full/ncomms6631.html It seems from this that there is a Y-chromosome mismatch between Richard III (as confirmed by his mtDNA, age, scoliosis etc), and the present Duke of Beaufort. There are various possibilities and our piece “A genealogical mystery deepens” outlined one – that Sir Hugh Swynford fathered the first “Beaufort”, making the Dukes of Somerset,…

Dukes of Somerset

Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and his siblings

The Touchet/Audley Family in the Fifteenth Century.

Autumn dig at Chirk Castle promises to be exciting….

The Howards, Talbots and Seymours – England’s auxilliary royal families?

A big development