Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Baron Beauchamp, KG (22 May 1539 – 6 April 1621), of Wulfhall and Totnam Lodge in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset, of Netley Abbey, Hampshire, and of Hertford House, Cannon Row in Westminster, is most noted for incurring the displeasure of Queen Elizabeth I by taking part in more than one clandestine marriage. Early life Seymour was the eldest son of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c.1500 – 1552) by his second wife Anne Stanhope (c.1497 – 1587), and was a nephew of Jane Seymour, a wife of Henry VIII. Although his father had sons by his first marriage to Catherine Fillol, these were postponed by special remainder to the succession of his dukedom behind the sons of his second marriage, due to her suspected adultery. The senior line did eventually inherit the dukedom in 1750, as the special remainder allowed, when the 7th Duke of Somerset died leaving no sons. Career From 1547, when his father was created Duke of Somerset, his son Edward Seymour was styled by the duke's subsidiary title of Earl of Hertford. He was educated with the young Prince Edward, later Edward VI, and was knighted on the occasion of Edward's coronation. On 7 April 1550, he was sent to France as a hostage, returning three weeks later. Following his father's disgrace and execution, his son was barred from inheriting his titles and most of his wealth. Some of his father's lands and property were restored to him by Edward VI, but he still seems to have been forced to rely on Sir John Thynne for some financial support. Under Queen Mary he was "restored in blood", but was not given back his title; Queen Elizabeth I created him Earl of Hertford, in the earldom's third creation, in 1559. Between April and May 1605 following the Treaty of London (1604) he was sent on an Embassy by King James I to Albert VII, Archduke of Austria, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands between 1598 and 1621, at Brussels, to receive his oath of peace. A series of clandestine marriages Katherine Grey His first wife, Lady Katherine Grey, 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 an anonymous clergyman at Hertford House in Cannon Row, Westminster,