Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (1599-1674)

Frances Devereux
Duchess of Somerset
Frances Devereux (Anthony van Dyck)
Born	Frances Devereux 30 September 1599 Walsingham House, Seething Lane, London, England
Died	24 April 1674(1674-04-24) (aged 74)
Buried	Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire
Noble family	Devereux (by birth) Seymour (by marriage)
Spouse(s)	William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset
Issue William Seymour Robert Seymour Henry Seymour, Lord Beauchamp Mary Finch, Countess of Winchelsea Jane Boyle, Viscountess Dungarvan Lady Frances Seymour John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset
Father	Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Mother	Frances Walsingham
Religion	Anglican

Frances Seymour (née Devereux), Duchess of Somerset (30 September 1599 – 24 April 1674), was an English noblewoman who lived in the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, Charles I and Charles II. Her father was Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Elizabeth I's favourite who was executed for treason in 1601. Lady Frances was the second wife of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and the mother of his seven children.

Lady Frances was born on 30 September 1599 at Walsingham House, Seething Lane, London, England. She was the youngest child of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Frances Walsingham. Her paternal grandparents were Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and Lettice Knollys, and her maternal grandparents were Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's trusted spymaster, and Ursula St. Barbe. Lady Frances was also a direct descendant of Mary Boleyn, the sister of Anne Boleyn.

At the time of Frances's birth, her father, who was a former favourite of Queen Elizabeth, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was under arrest for treasonous behaviour in the Nine Years' War during the disastrous Irish campaign in which he parleyed with the rebellious Earl of Tyrone, and thus incurred the Queen's wrath. Essex was executed on 25 February 1601 for allegedly conspiring to murder the Queen. He left behind his wife and small children; Frances was less than two years old at the time. Frances's brother was Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and she had an elder sister, Dorothy. She had also three younger half-siblings from her mother's third marriage in 1603 to Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde. These were Honora, Mary and Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde.