On this day in history, 30th August 1548, Catherine Parr, Queen Dowager and wife of Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley, gave birth to her first and only child, a daughter, at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire.
The healthy baby girl was baptised ‘Mary’ after her godmother, the Lady Mary, eldest daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine’s stepdaughter. Unfortunately, Catherine was taken ill shortly after Mary’s birth and died on 5th September 1548, probably of puerperal fever, also known as childbed fever. Little Mary was orphaned when her father was executed for treason in March 1549.
Lady Mary Seymour’s story is a strange one, perfect for a novelist, because she disappears from the records before her second birthday. Click here to read more about this.
