The Selden family has a long history both in the United States and in England. The name originated from the ancient location of Selkeden in Eccleston, Sussex, England. The first known Selden in this family was John, born about 1210.
A subsequent John Selden, born in 1584, was a famous English jurist and member of the Long Parliament. John Milton referred to him as "the chief of learned men reputed in this Land."[1] He was confined by the Sheriff of London due to his involvement with the Protestation of 1621, which resulted in the dissolution of Parliament.[2] Several years later, because he helped draft and present the Petition of Right to the House of Lords in 1628, a document that objected to the overreach of authority by King Charles I of England and protested his infringement on the civil liberties of the people of England, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.[2] Selden published a number of scholarly works. His book "History of Tithes"[3] was an important and influential account of the history of English law, leading some to call him the "father of Legal History."[4] He also wrote "Mare Clausum," a significant treatise regarding the law of the sea.[5]
Seldens were numbered among the early settlers of the original American colonies. Dorothy Selden married Stephen Hosmer; their son settled in Connecticut, another son James lived in Concord, Massachusetts. The Selden name in America was carried by Thomas Selden (b. 1616/17; d. aft Aug 1655) and by Samuel Selden (b. 1662; d. 1720). The Selden family is among the First Families of Virginia.