Edward Seymour : r/Tudorhistory Skip to main content

Get the Reddit app

Scan this QR code to download the app now
Or check it out in the app stores
r/Tudorhistory icon
r/Tudorhistory icon
Go to Tudorhistory
r/Tudorhistory
A banner for the subreddit

A place for images, links, and discussion relevant to the Tudor period. The Tudor period is defined as from the beginning of Henry VII's reign in 1485 to the end of Elizabeth I's reign in 1603. All history (economic, social, religious etc) and discussion of all types of people (monarchs, nobles, commoners) welcome. Submissions pertaining to the Wars of the Roses may be accepted or removed at the discretion of the mods.


Members Online

Edward Seymour

TIL, Edward Seymour had 4 children named Edward. 3 of whom were living at the same time and lived a good many years.

“I like myself so much I’ll name the majority of my sons after me.” Edward, probably.

Share
Sort by:
Best
Open comment sort options
u/IHaveALittleNeck avatar
Edited

I’m Larry. This is my brother Darryl. This is my other brother Darryl.

Thank you for making my day!

I’ll counter with Thomas Tup and Thomas Tup Too(Two).

LOL yup.

More replies

So it looks like the eldest Edward was not his actual son, and was the result of an affair. So then he names his son by his second wife Edward (since the first one wasn't his). That son died the same year the next Edward was born. It was really, really, REALLY common during this time to name children like this. It was also common to have a legitimate child and a bastard with the exact same name.

I understand that. However, he then had a third son Edward with that same wife, while he had the legitimate living Edward. So it’s older brother Edward and younger brother Edward. I just think that’s so weird, especially once you have a living son.

I wonder if that is just a mistake by historians, and that perhaps the last Edward was illegitimate by another woman.

Or perhaps the historical record was inaccurate and that wasn't his actual name.

Or the only other thing that makes sense to me is that this child was born right after Edward VI was crowned and it was just a weird ass-kissing move.

With the similar case of Thomas Culpeper and his brother Thomas Culpeper I've wondered if Thomas 1 was ill when Thomas 2 was born and it was a case of preemptively resuing the name and then a miraculous recovery occurred. Could it be something like that or is my speculative explanation wildly unlikely?

It's definitely weird. I do sometimes wonder though if records were simply wrong, or a mistake was made when writing a name down, or someone mistook the two brothers when they were writing about them. Those things happen all the time when researching historical figures.

In this case, the youngest Edward died unmarried and childless at the age of 26 and apparently did very little with his life. I do wonder if he was a bastard and has simply been assumed to be the son of Anne Stanhope.

More replies
More replies

Big Ted and Little Ted, like Play School

I don't watch the show, but the one episode I caught of Dr. Pol was where his brother came to the US to visit. All of the boys are named Jon Pol.

My grandfather was Richard. His father was Richard. Same exact name. No middle name. No Jr. No II.

It was still common in the early 1900's to do that.

In those days especially, children died at an alarming rate to modern eyes. If you REALLY wanted to name a child after you, you would stack the odds by naming every one after you until the eldest reached a less fragile age.

More replies

We actually don’t know if the affair actually happened. There is no evidence that his first wife had an affair with her father in law. Though he seemed to preference his children from his second marriage, the title Duke of somerset did eventually pass to the descendants of the one of the sons from the first marriage.

Really all that matters is that Edward believed an affair happened and believed that was not his son.

That's why he felt comfortable naming another son Edward.

Very true!!!

More replies
More replies
More replies

In modern times former boxer George Foreman has five sons named after himself. And a grill too!

I went to law school with a woman whose father named all his sons variations of Sam. Her name? Samantha.

u/fugensnot avatar

Knew a girl in high school called Davette. Her twin brother? Paul.

More replies

Lol, I was just going to mention George Foreman too!

Yep, I went to school with a family that had five sons named after the father. And they all went by their given name, not middle names or nicknames.

Did you ever get a glimpse into how that worked logistically in their home? I can sort of see it being workable at school if all the kids were in different classes and friend groups, but what happens when you’re a parent trying to organise a household? How do you call one particular son to come and pick up his school bag up off the floor, or tell your spouse that a particular son is sick? Must’ve been sustained chaos!

Apparently at home they went by first name + middle name

More replies
More replies

SF Giants infielder Wilmer Flores has a father and two brothers also named Wilmer Flores.

More replies

There are so many edwards; henrys; marys; anns; jane; katherines I get confused. Lol

Don't forget the Thomases and the Elizabeths! That's about 15% of the population of Tudor England there!

Ugh! What I wouldn't give for a michelle or Jason. 😂

More replies
u/Aggressive_FIamingo avatar

I can follow my family tree pretty far back, and once I get back to England all the names are either Henry, George, Edward, Katherine, Anne, and Mary. Just repeating over and over and over.

There is one Christian in there to spice things up a bit though. Thanks Grandpa Christian's parents.

In my father’s family, all the men were named George, Charlie, Fred, or William, for generations. It’s crazy!

More replies
More replies

There was a family in Glasgow not so many years ago where the father, his brother, their father, and five sons (two of them twins) where all called James Roberts. (I don't recall if that was the exact name.)

They didn't have middle names. Every single male in the family in three generations had given name James, surname Roberts.

Within the family, they had nicknames, but the NHS had a major problem with the twins. NHS records tell people apart by full name, address, and date of birth. The twins in this family had the same name, same address, and same DoB.

Reminds me of George Foreman naming all his kids “George” and coming off like a giant egohead. That is, you find out that he missed out on having a father in his life & never wanted his kids to forget he was there for them,

George Foreman…George Foreman…George Foreman

What a narcissist.

A Tudor George Foreman!

u/lozzadearnley avatar

Elizabeth Woodville had two sons named Richard - Richard Grey and Richard of York. It seems so strange to us to have half brothers given the same name but I guess it was more acceptable then, particularly if the siblings were of different social classes.

u/staffeylover avatar

Ed , Edd and Eddy !