View source for Hugh Somerville, 5th Lord Somerville

{{Short description|Scottish politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
'''Hugh Somerville''', 5th [[Lord Somerville]] (c. 1484 – 1549) was a lord of the [[Parliament of Scotland]]. He is sometimes reckoned to be the 4th Lord Somerville. He succeeded his brother, [[John Somerville, 4th Lord Somerville]]. Hugh and John were sons of William Somerville, Master of Somerville, and Marjory Montgomerie.<ref>See ''DNB'' (1904), on wikisource.</ref>
==Hugh and Sir James Hamilton of Finnart==
Hugh Somerville was in dispute with his uncle Sir John Somerville of Cambusnethan (known as Red-bag). John Somerville had forfeited his lands for his part in the fight in Edinburgh called '[[Cleanse the Causeway]].' Hugh, Lord Somerville, benefitted from John's loss. When Red-bag gained the upper hand in his legal struggle against him in 1528, Hugh asked [[James Hamilton of Finnart]] to be his backer.<ref>Cameron, Jamie, ''James V'' (Tuckwell: East Linton, 1998), pp. 55-56.</ref>
In April 1536, Hugh's son James married Agnes the daughter of James Hamilton of Finnart at [[Craignethan Castle]].<ref>Cameron (1998), 206.</ref> Later, Hugh sat on the assize that condemned Hamilton of Finnart to death for treason on 16 August 1540. By Finnart's death he gained the bailiary of [[Carstairs]].<ref>Cameron (1998), pp. 209, 218.</ref>
==Hugh and Regent Arran==
Hugh was captured by the English at the [[battle of Solway Moss]] in 1542, and released in 1543. [[Henry VIII of England]] gave several of the Scottish prisoners presents of money on 28 January 1543; Somerville got £200.<ref>''Letters & Papers Henry VIII'', vol. 18 part 1 (London, 1901), no. 436, item vii.</ref> The English soldiers who had captured him, Richard Greme and John Brisco of Crofton, took their dispute over ransom money to the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] which asked the [[Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk|Duke of Suffolk]] to arbitrate.<ref>Dasent, John Roche, ed., ''Acts of the Privy Council, 1542-1547'', vol. 1 (London, 1890), p. 137.</ref>
On his return to Scotland, Hugh became involved in a factional struggle against the Governor of Scotland, [[Regent Arran]], and was associated with the [[Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus|Earl of Angus]]. On 1 November 1543, Hugh was imprisoned with [[Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell|Lord Maxwell]] in [[Edinburgh Castle]]. The [[John Hamilton (archbishop)|Abbot of Paisley]] had kept the pair talking on the [[Royal Mile]] while waiting for a serjeant to arrest them in the name of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]] and the Regent. Somerville was then taken to [[Blackness Castle]]. The English diplomat [[Ralph Sadler]] thought they had been foolish to come to Edinburgh where their enemies the Regent and [[David Beaton|Cardinal Beaton]] had full control.<ref>''Letters and Papers Henry VIII'', vol. 18 part 2 (London, 1902), nos. 328, 343, 450.</ref>
Hugh's last letter of 21 March 1549 explains his position. He, and other Scottish lords captured at Solway Moss in 1542, had undertaken to promote the marriage of Mary to [[Edward VI of England|Prince Edward]]. In November 1543, he was planning to go to England with counsel for the marriage when Regent Arran captured him in Edinburgh. Hugh was writing in 1549 to [[Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton|Thomas Wharton]] for the return of his son James for 20 days, who was then a hostage in England in his father's place.<ref>''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), no. 344.</ref>
On 21 October 1545, Hugh's second son John wrote to the Queen Dowager, [[Mary of Guise]] from [[Cowthally Castle]]. He said that Hugh, the Earl of Angus, and [[George Douglas of Pittendreich|George Douglas]] and all their friends and favourers would resist the potential marriage of Regent Arran's son, [[James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran|James Hamilton]] to Queen Mary, despite rewards promised by the Hamiltons. He asked for her opinion which was sent to Cowthally and received by the Somerville's ally James Douglas of [[Drumlanrig]].<ref>Annie I. Cameron, ''Scottish Correspondence of Mary of Lorraine'' (SHS: Edinburgh, 1927), pp. 147-148.</ref>
Lord Somerville seems to have made his peace with Regent Arran, and spent Easter 1547 with him [[Linlithgow Palace]].<ref>Joseph Bain, ''Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1547-1563'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 27.</ref>
==Marriages and family==
He first married Anna Hamilton (d. 1516), a daughter of [[James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran]].
He married, secondly, Jonet Maitland in 1516. She was the daughter of William Maitland, killed at the [[battle of Flodden]], and Margaret Seton, a daughter of [[George Seton, 2nd Lord Seton|Lord Seton]].
Their children included;<ref>''Register of the Great Seal, 1513-1546'' (Edinburgh, 1883), nos. 1328, 1775, 2313, 2384: ''Scots Peerage'', vol. 8, pp. 18-19.</ref>
* Agnes Somerville, who was betrothed to John [[Clan Tweedie|Tweedie]] younger of [[Drumelzier]] in 1533
* Elizabeth Somerville, who married John Carmichael, their eldest son was [[Sir John Carmichael]].
* [[James Somerville, 6th Lord Somerville]]
* Margaret Somerville, who married Charles Murray of Cockpool, and was the mother of [[John Murray, 1st Earl of Annandale]]
* John Somerville
* Hugh Somerville
* Michael Somerville
* William Somerville
The principal residence of Lord Somerville was [[Cowthally Castle]] which Hugh rebuilt in style after gaining possession in 1524.<ref>McKean, Charles, ''The Scottish Chateau'' (Sutton, 2001), pp. 160-161.</ref> Hugh Somerville died in 1549.<ref>''Court Book of Carnwath'' (SHS: Edinburgh, 1937), p. lxxviii, footnote citing ''Scots Peerage'', viii, pp. 15-18.</ref> He was buried in the Somerville aisle at [[Carnwath]] Church.
==Sources==
* {{DNB|inline=1|no-icon=1|prescript=|first=William Arthur Jobson |last=Archbold |wstitle=Somerville, Hugh|volume=53|pages=250,251}}
* Cameron, Jamie, ''James V'' (Tuckwell: East Linton, 1998).
* Dickinson, William Croft, ed., ''Court Book of the Barony of Carnwath: 1513-1542'' (Scottish History Society: Edinburgh, 1937).
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=862 Gairdner & Brodie, ed., ''Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic of Henry VIII'', vol. 18 part 2 (London, 1902)]
* Paul & Thomson, ed., ''Register of the Great Seal: 1513-1546'' (HM General Register House: Edinburgh, 1883).
* [[Charles McKean|McKean, Charles]], ''The Scottish Chateau'' (Sutton, 2001).
* [[Walter Scott|Scott, Walter]], ed., [https://books.google.com/books?id=RhAXAAAAYAAJ ''The Memorie of the Somervilles by James, 11th Lord Somerville'', vol. 1 (Ballantyne: Edinburgh, 1815).]
* Scott, Walter, ed., [[James Somerville (family historian)|James Somerville]], author,  [https://books.google.com/books?id=eBAXAAAAYAAJ ''The Memorie of the Somervilles by James, 11th Lord Somerville'', vol. 2 (Ballantyne: Edinburgh, 1815).]
==References==
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{{succession box | title=[[Lord Somerville]] | before=[[John Somerville, 4th Lord Somerville|John Somerville]] | after=[[James Somerville, 6th Lord Somerville|James Somerville]] | years= c.1523&ndash;1549}}
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[[Category:1480s births]]
[[Category:1549 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobility from South Lanarkshire]]
[[Category:Court of James V of Scotland]]
[[Category:16th-century Scottish peers]]
[[Category:Lords of Parliament (pre-1707)]]
[[Category:Scottish people of the Rough Wooing]]