Mary Somerset

• Mary SOMERSET
• Died: AFT 1578
• Father: Henry SOMERSET (2º E. Worcester)
• Mother: Elizabeth BROWNE (C. Worcester)
• Married: Edward DALE
• From: http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/SOMERSET.htm#Mary SOMERSET1 _______________

There are a lot of questions about her, including whether she was the same "Mary Somerset" who married Edward Dale (who appears to have been Rev. Edward Dale of Alford, Lincolnshire). An Earl's legitimate daughter could be expected to make a far more brilliant marriage than an obscure country parson.

It needs to be noted that anyone with ancestors from Somersetshire might take the surname "Somerset".

The account in "A Who's Who of Tudor Women" is not trustworthy, because Governor Sir Thomas Dale must have been born by 1575 at the very latest in order for him to have been as active in the Low Countries for as long as he was. Therefore he cannot possibly have been Rev. Edward Dale's grandson. (It is of course quite possible that he wasn't related at all and the whole thing was just one of those historical fables.)