Seymour family, Dukes of Somerset (created 1547, restored 1660)

Edward Seymour (d. 1552), from a Wiltshire family, was created Duke of Somerset in 1547, and received large grants of former monastic lands in Wiltshire (Savernake Forest), Somerset and elsewhere. The Savernake estate passed to Edward Seymour (1537-1621), the Duke's son by his second marriage, created Earl of Hertford in 1559, and eventually to the Earls and Marquesses of Ailesbury (see Brudenell-Bruce, Marquesses of Ailesbury). However, Sir Edward Seymour (d. 1593), a son of the Duke by his first marriage, succeeded an elder brother in the Maiden Bradley (Wiltshire) estate in 1552, and the following year was granted his father's manor of Berry Pomeroy (Devon). His son Sir Edward Seymour (1563-1611) was created a baronet in 1611.

Sir Edward Seymour, 6th Bt (1695-1757), married in 1717 Mary, daughter and heir of Daniel Webb of Monkton Farleigh and Melksham (Wiltshire), by Elizabeth Somner of Seend (Wiltshire). In 1750, on the death of the 7th Duke of Somerset, Sir Edward Seymour succeeded to the dukedom, though not to any of the estates that had been held with it (see Percy, Dukes of Northumberland). In the eighteenth century Maiden Bradley became the principal seat, and the Maiden Bradley estate was later extended with purchases of nearby property in Somerset (Witham Friary) and Dorset (Silton). The 10th Duke (1718-93) married in 1769 Anna Bonnell, who appears to have brought property in the Spalding district of Lincolnshire and the Wisbech district of Cambridgeshire. The 11th Duke (1775-1855) acquired Bulstrode (Buckinghamshire) from the 3rd Duke of Portland in 1810.

On the death of the 12th Duke in 1885 his estates were divided. The Berry Pomeroy and Maiden Bradley estates, both reduced, passed to his next brother as 13th Duke, but his other properties, including land in Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, passed to his daughters.

Estates in 1883: Devon 8,138 acres, Somerset 6,553 acres, Wilts 5,824 acres, Lincs 2,865 acres, Bucks 1,640 acres, Cambs 289 acres, Dorset 46 acres, Norfolk 32 acres, total 25,387 acres worth £37,577 a year.