Catherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of Henry VIII died on the 7th of September in 1548. Catherine's death has been attributed to an infection following the birth of her daughter Mary who was born, just seven days earlier at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, on this very day.
Mary's father was Thomas Seymour, whose life would come to an end on the scaffold in the March of the following year. On Seymour's death, his estate passed to the crown and Mary was left in the guardianship Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk, the widow of Charles Brandon.
Mary was alone in the world at the age of just seven months and with no inheritance to help support her she was, it would seem, a burden. Evidence for this can be found in a letter from the Duchess to William Cecil where she asks for financial help. In the January of 1550, Mary was awarded what was left of her inheritance, however, no claim was made on it and therefore it has been supposed that the poor child died before that date.
In a biography of Catherine Parr, written in the 19th century, it states that Mary lived into adulthood and married. However, a recent biography suggests that Mary died, just as the above dates suggest, in 1550. In a poem dated to 1573 is said to refer to Mary.
Mary was alone in the world at the age of just seven months and with no inheritance to help support her she was, it would seem, a burden. Evidence for this can be found in a letter from the Duchess to William Cecil where she asks for financial help. In the January of 1550, Mary was awarded what was left of her inheritance, however, no claim was made on it and therefore it has been supposed that the poor child died before that date.
In a biography of Catherine Parr, written in the 19th century, it states that Mary lived into adulthood and married. However, a recent biography suggests that Mary died, just as the above dates suggest, in 1550. In a poem dated to 1573 is said to refer to Mary.
I whom at the cost
Of her own life
My queenly mother
Bore with the pangs of labour
Sleep under this marble
An unfit traveller.
If Death had given me to live longer
That virtue, that modesty, That obedience of my excellent Mother
That Heavenly courageous nature
Would have lived again in me.
Now, whoever
You are, fare thee well
Because I cannot speak any more, this stone
Is a memorial to my brief life
Of her own life
My queenly mother
Bore with the pangs of labour
Sleep under this marble
An unfit traveller.
If Death had given me to live longer
That virtue, that modesty, That obedience of my excellent Mother
That Heavenly courageous nature
Would have lived again in me.
Now, whoever
You are, fare thee well
Because I cannot speak any more, this stone
Is a memorial to my brief life
It is thought that Mary Seymour was buried somewhere on the estate of Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire where Catherine Brandon lived with her new husband Richard Bertie.
There are no portraits of poor Mary Seymour, however, I do have photographs of Grimsthrope Castle that were taken in 2011 when I last visited.
RSS Feed
