Edward Somerset | |
|---|---|
| Earl of Worcester | |
 Portrait by Gilbert Jackson | |
| Lord Privy Seal | |
| Tenure | 1616 - 1625 |
| Predecessor | Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset |
| Successor | Sir John Coke |
| Born | circa 1550 |
| Died | 3 March 1628 |
| Noble family | House of Beaufort |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Hastings, Countess of Worcester |
| Issue | Henry Somerset, 5th Earl of Worcester Thomas Somerset, 1st Viscount Somerset Catherine Somerset Blanche Somerset Frances Somerset |
| Father | William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester |
| Mother | Christiana North |
Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, KG, Earl Marshal (c. 1550 – 3 March 1628) was an English aristocrat.[1] He was an important advisor to King James I (James VI of Scots), serving as Lord Privy Seal.
He was the only son of three children born to the 3rd Earl of Worcester and Christiana North. On 21 February 1589, he succeeded his father as Earl of Worcester.
In June 1590 Worcester travelled to Edinburgh to congratulate James VI of Scotland on his safe return from Denmark and marriage to Anne of Denmark, and gave notice that the king was to join the Order of the Garter.[2] He discussed with James rumours that English ships had lain in wait for his return. At first, he was not able to see Anne of Denmark who had toothache, and he joked that in England this would be interpreted as a sign she was pregnant.[3] Worcester had an audience with Anne, and took her letter to Elizabeth. He was accompanied by Lord Compton who watched 'pastimes' or hunting on the sands of Leith.[4]
In 1593 he was made a Knight of the Garter. In a letter of September 1602 he mentions that Queen Elizabeth was entertained in the Privy Chamber with country dances and Irish tunes.[5]
In 1606 he was appointed Keeper of the Great Park, a park created for hunting by Henry VIII around Nonsuch Palace, of which Worcester Park was a part. The residence Worcester Park House was built in 1607.
- ^ "Somerset, Edward, fourth earl of Worcester". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ^ Joseph Bain, Hamilton Papers, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1892), p. 710.
- ^ Maureen Meikle, 'Anna of Denmark's Coronation and Entry', Julian Goodare & Alasdair A. MacDonald, Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Brill, 2008), p. 293.
- ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 324-5, 331.
- ^ Edmund Lodge, Illustrations of British History, vol. 3 (London, 1791), p. 148.