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SEYMOUR, Hon. Charles (1621-65), of Allington and Marlborough, Wilts.
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Biography Detail
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Family and Education
b. 5 Feb. 1621, o.s. of Sir Francis Seymour†, 1st Baron Seymour of Trowbridge by 1st w. Frances, da. and coh. of Sir Gilbert Prynne of Allington. educ. Magdalen Coll. Oxf. 1636. m. (1) 4 Apr. 1632, Mary, da. and coh. of Thomas Smith of Soley, Chilton Foliat, Wilts., 1s. d.v.p. 2da.; (2) by 1654, Elizabeth (d.1691), da. of William, 1st Baron Alington of Killard [I], 5s. (2 d.v.p.) 2da. suc. fa. as 2nd Baron 12 July 1664.1
Offices Held
Commr. for sequestrations (royalist), Wilts. 1642, j.p. 1643-6, July 1660-d., commr. for assessment Aug. 1660-4, colt of militia ft. by Nov. 1660-?d., dep. lt. 1661-d., commr. for corporations 1662-3, custos rot. 1664-d.2
Biography
Seymour’s father was a leader of the Opposition in the early Stuart Parliaments and resisted shipmoney, but like his uncle, the Marquess of Hertford, he adhered to the King in the Civil War, though not so conspicuously, and was fined £3,725 on the Oxford articles. Seymour himself attended only one meeting of the royalist sequestration committee, after which he joined his father at Oxford. He never supplied the King with money or took up arms against Parliament, and it was certified that ‘while he lived at Allington he behaved himself very nobly, friendly and lovingly amongst us’. At the end of the war his income was estimated for compounding purposes at £630 p.a., and he had contributed £140 to the Wiltshire committee. At the Restoration his father became chancellor of the duchy.
Seymour was returned for the county in 1661, sharing with Henry Hyde a bill of £191 7s.2d. No committee work in the Cavalier Parliament can be definitely assigned to him, and he was obviously much less active than Edward Seymour. His correspondence shows that he gave much time and trouble to local affairs, especially the militia, though dogged by ill-health. He was listed as a court dependant in 1664, shortly before suceeding to the peerage; but he died on 25 Aug. 1665, and was buried at Trowbridge. His widow married John Ernle. Two of his sons succeeded in turn to the dukedom of Somerset, but on the death of the younger, ‘the proud duke’, the title reverted to the elder branch of the family, who continued to represent Wiltshire constituencies throughout the 18th century.3
