Sir Charles Somerset (b1460?-1526)

2nd Captain of The Sovereign's Body Guard - 1486-1509

Charles Somerset the Earl of Worcester was an illegitimate son of Henry Beaufort, third Duke of Somerset.  During his childhood he was a exile in Flanders and was knighted by the Archduke Philip, himself a child, before the Battle of Bosworth Field.  Henry VII took a great deal of interest in Charles indeed he is mentioned in the accounts of the coronation 'three yards of cloth of gold fort the bastard Somerset'.  Early 1486 he was appointed Captain of the King's Yeomen of the Guard and on 1 March 1486 became keeper of the park of Posterna, Derby.  He was the King's Cup-Bearer and from 3 May 1486 until 25 Sep 1503 was a Knight of the Body.  He obtained the stewardship of Helmesley on 3 May 1487.  During troubled times between Brittany and France he attempted to gain the position of mediator.  To this end he fitted out a fleet of ships which he hired from Spanish merchants. He was placed in command of them as Admiral between Feb 1487 and 1488; the only time that an Admiral was Captain of the Sovereign's Body Guard. 

Following the death of  Francis II, Duke of Brittany, on 9 Sep 1488 Henry began to think about supporting the Duke's daughter Anne. Therefore on 1 Oct Somerset was once again commissioned to go to sea and on Aug 1489 he sailed.   In Sep 1490 Somerset was sent to invest Maximilian with the Order of the Garter when an understanding had been reached regarding the protection of Brittany.  On 23 Apr 1496 he himself became a Knight of the Order of the Garter and named Commissioner of Array for Wales and was made a Knight Banneret on 17 Jun 1497.  In 1498 Somerset was again in the position of diplomat, when Louis XII wished to continue the treaty of Ētaples on the death of Charles VIII of France.  He was also present when Henry and The Archduke Philip met outside Calais in 1500.  Because of his strong connection with Henry he was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Royal Household in 1501.  That Somerset was trusted and thoroughly relied upon is in little doubt and by 1503 had several valuable grants and was styled Baron Herbert. 

In 1504 he received the office of constable of Montgomery Castle and in 1505 became a privy councillor.  After the delicate negotiations regarding Henry's French Marriage he was rewarded for his long service to the Crown by the creation of Baron Herbert of Ragland (sic), Chepstow, and Gower in 1506 and to the position of Chamberlain to the Household in 1508.  On Henry VII's death Henry VIII continued the appointment of Chamberlain of the Household. He went of the expedition of 1513 landing at Calais on 10 June.  On 1 Feb 1513-4 he was created Earl of Worcester.  As Chamberlain of the Household he was a major contributor to the arrangements for the Field of the Cloth of Gold and on 13 Apr 1520 he landed at Calais to take charge of the preparations.  Worcester was present at the meeting between Henry VIII and Charles at Gravelines. In May 1521 he took part in Buckingham's trail and went with Wolsey to the congress at Calais.  In 1522 he Worcester was present at the reception of Charles V and was one of whom attested the Treaty of Windsor.  After the Battle of Pavia he took part in the treaty between England and France which was signed on 30 Aug 1525.  By now Worcester was old and his office was taken by William, Baron Sandys of The Vine on 27 Feb 1526.  On 15 Apr 1526 Worcester died and buried in the Beaufort chapel at Windsor.  back to index  

Sir Thomas Darcy (b1467 - 1537)

3rd Captain of The Sovereign's Body Guard - 1509 only

Thomas Darcy was a son of Sir William Darcy and belonged to a family which was seated at Templehurst in Yorkshire.  In early life he served, both as a soldier and a diplomatist, in Scotland and on the Scottish borders, where he was Captain of Berwick and in I505, having been created Baron Darcy,  was made Warden of the East Marches towards Scotland.  In 1511 Darcy led some troops to Spain to help Ferdinand and Isabella against the Moors, but he returned almost at once to England and was with Henry VIII on his French campaign two years later.  One of the most influential noblemen in the north of England, where he held several important offices, Darcy was also a member of the Royal Council, dividing his time between state duties in London and a more active life in the north.  He showed great zeal in preparing accusations against his former friend, Cardinal Wolsey; however, after the cardinal's fall his words and actions caused him to be suspected by Henry VIII.  Disliking the separation from Rome, Darcy asserted that matrimonial cases were matters for the decision of the spiritual power, and he was soon communicating with Eustace Chapuys, the ambassador of the emperor Charles V, about an invasion of England in the interests of the Roman Catholics.  Detained in London against his will by the King, he was not allowed to return to Yorkshire until late in 1535 and about a year after his arrival in the north for the rising known as the Pilgrimage of Grace.  For a short time Darcy defended Pontefract Castle against the rebels, but soon he surrendered to them this stronghold, which he could certainly have held a little longer, and was with them at Doncaster, being regarded as one of their leaders.  Upon the dispersal of the insurgents Darcy was pardoned, but he pleaded illness when Henry requested him to proceed to London.  He may have assisted to suppress the rising which was renewed under Sir Francis Bigod early in 1537 but the King believed, probably with good reason, that he was guilty of fresh treasons, and he was seized and hurried to London.  During his imprisonment he uttered his famous remark about Thomas Cromwell: "Cromwell, it is thou that art the very original and chief causer of all this rebellion and mischief, . . . and I trust that or thou die, though thou wouldst procure all the noblemen’s heads within the realm to be stricken off, yet shall there one head remain that shall strike off thy head".  Tried by his peers, Darcy was found guilty of treason and was beheaded on the 20th of June 1537.

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Sir Henry Marney (b1447-1523) 

4th and 7th Captain of The Sovereign's Body Guard 1509-1512 and 1516-1530 respectively 

The Marney family came over from Normandy in the wake of William the Conqueror. The earliest record of the family at Layer Marney dates from 1166, when they were under the over-lordship of the Bishop of London. Layer Marney Tower was built between 1515 and 1525 and is the tallest Tudor Gatehouse in the country.

Sir Henry Marney fought at the battles of Bosworth and Stoke, was knighted for his part in routing the pretender, Perkin Warbeck, and the Cornish rebels at Blackheath in 1497. A respected member of the Privy Council under both Henry VII and Henry VIII he was created a Knight of the Bath at Henry VIII’s Coronation. He was also appointed Lord Privy Seal, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Captain of the Yeomen of the guard. He was created a Knight of the Garter in 1510 and Lord Marney 14th by Henry VIII. Lord Marney died on 24 May 1523 and buried the same day at St Mary the Virgin, Layer Marney, England.  Still being researched.  back to index