- Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort
-
His Grace
The Duke of Beaufort
KGThe Duke of Beaufort by Henry Alken. Personal details Born 5 February 1792 Died 17 November 1853
Badminton House, GloucestershireNationality British Political party Tory Spouse(s) (1) Georgiana FitzRoy
(1792–1821)
(2) Emily Smith
(1800–1889)Major Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort KG (5 February 1792 – 17 November 1853), styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1803 and Marquess of Worcester between 1803 and 1835,[1] was a British peer, soldier and politician.
Contents
Background
Beaufort was the eldest son of Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, and Lady Charlotte Sophia, daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford. Lord Granville Somerset was his younger brother.
Military and political career
Beaufort was commissioned a cornet in the 10th Hussars on 18 June 1811. He was promoted to lieutenant in the 14th Light Dragoons on 21 August, but transferred back to the 10th Hussars on 6 September. Worcester also served as an aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington in Portugal and Spain between 1812 and 1814.[1]
In 1813, Beaufort was returned as Member of Parliament for the Monmouth Boroughs, as a Tory, and continued to hold the seat until 1831. On 26 October 1815, he transferred to the 7th Hussars. In the following year, he was appointed a Lord of the Admiralty under Lord Liverpool, serving on the Board until 1819. On 2 December 1819, he was made a captain in the 37th Foot, and on 30 December, was promoted to the rank of major.[1]
In the contentious election of 1831, Beaufort was defeated by Benjamin Hall at Monmouth Boroughs. While Hall's victory was overturned on petition and Beaufort regained the seat, he again lost to Hall in the 1832 election. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Gloucestershire Yeomanry in 1834.[1] In 1835, he successfully contested West Gloucestershire, but left the House when he succeeded as Duke of Beaufort that November. In 1836, he became High Steward of Bristol and was appointed a Knight of the Garter on 11 April 1842.[1]
Family
Beaufort married Georgiana Frederica Fitzroy (1792–1821), daughter of the Hon. Henry FitzRoy and Lady Anne Wellesley, on 25 July 1814. They had two daughters:
- Lady Charlotte Augusta Frederica Somerset (1816–1850), married, on 5 December 1844, Baron Philipp von Neumann (4 December 1781 – 14 January 1851) , an Austrian diplomat, by whom she had issue.
- Lady Georgiana Charlotte Anne Somerset (1817–1884), married, in 1836, Christopher Bethell-Codrington, MP (1805–1864) and had issue.
After the death of his wife in 1821, he married her younger half-sister, Emily Frances Smith, daughter of Charles Culling Smith, on 29 June 1822; they were both daughters of Lady Anne Smith, the Duke of Wellington's sister. (This marriage, in contravention of the canon laws of the Church of England, rendered his marriage potentially annullable for many years.) They had seven children, one son and six daughters:
- Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort (1824–1899), married Lady Georgiana Charlotte Curzon and had issue.
- Lady Emily Blanche Charlotte Somerset (1828–1895), married George Hay-Drummond, 12th Earl of Kinnoull and had issue.
- Lady Rose Caroline Mary Somerset (1829–1885), who eloped to marry Captain Francis Frederick Lovell.
- Lady Henriëtta Louisa Priscilla Somerset (1831–1863), married John Morant.
- Lady Geraldine Harriett Anne Somerset (1832–1915).
- Lady Katherine Emily Mary Somerset (1834–1914), married Arthur Walsh, 2nd Baron Ormathwaite.
- Lady Edith Frances Wilhelmina Somerset (1838–1915), married William Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough, and had issue.
Beaufort died and was buried in 1853, aged 61 at Badminton House, Gloucestershire. He is best known today for his two marriages, and his involvement, as a very young man, with the courtesan Harriette Wilson, to whom he apparently proposed marriage.
References
- ^ a b c d e Doyle, James E. (1886). The Official Baronage of England. Vol. I. Longmans, Green and Co.. p. 136. http://books.google.com/books?id=CFpmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA136. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Marquess of Worcester
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
Lord Charles SomersetMember of Parliament for Monmouth Boroughs
1813–1831Succeeded by
Benjamin HallPreceded by
Benjamin HallMember of Parliament for Monmouth Boroughs
1831–1832Succeeded by
Benjamin HallPreceded by
Hon. Grantley Berkeley
Hon. Augustus MoretonMember for Gloucestershire West
with Hon. Grantley Berkeley 1832–1852
1835Succeeded by
Hon. Grantley Berkeley
Robert Blagden HalePeerage of England Preceded by
Henry SomersetDuke of Beaufort
1835–1853Succeeded by
Henry SomersetCategories:- 1792 births
- 1853 deaths
- 10th Royal Hussars officers
- British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
- Dukes of Beaufort
- Barons Herbert
- Barons Botetourt
- Somerset family
- Knights of the Garter
- Lords of the Admiralty
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for Welsh constituencies
- Tory MPs (pre-1834)
- UK MPs 1812–1818
- UK MPs 1818–1820
- UK MPs 1820–1826
- UK MPs 1826–1830
- UK MPs 1830–1831
- UK MPs 1831–1832
- UK MPs 1835–1837
- 7th Queen's Own Hussars officers
- 14th King's Hussars officers
- Royal Hampshire Regiment officers
- Royal Gloucestershire Hussars officers
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