Hugh Edward Conway Seymour, 8th Marquess of Hertford (29 March 1930 – 22 December 1997) was the son of Brig.-Gen. Lord Henry Charles Seymour and Lady Helen Grosvenor. He was the grandson of both

Hugh Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford Captain Hugh de Grey Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford (22 October 1843 – 23 March 1912), styled Earl of Yarmouth from 1870 to 1884, was a British soldier, courtier and Conservative politician. He notably served as Comptroller of the Hous ...

and

Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an ...

Early life

He was educated at

Ludgrove School Ludgrove School is an English independent boys preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed as a master at Elstree School, which sent b ...

and

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. He inherited the title of Marquess of Hertford in 1940 at the age of 10, after his uncle, the 7th Marquess, died without a direct heir.

Marriage and family

Hugh Seymour married Pamela Therese Louise de Riquet, Comtesse de Caraman-Chimay (daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Prince Alphonse de Chimay and Mary Brenda Hamilton), on 10 July 1956. They had four children: * Henry Jocelyn Seymour, 9th Marquess of Hertford (born 1958) * Lady Carolyn Mary Seymour (born 1960) * Lady Diana Helen Seymour (born 1963); married firstly, Timothy Verdon. She married secondly, Henry Beaumont, grandson of

Wentworth Beaumont, 2nd Viscount Allendale Wentworth Henry Canning Beaumont, 2nd Viscount Allendale, (6 August 1890 – 16 December 1956) was a British peer, Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, and army captain. Origins He was the son of Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Viscount Allendale ...

* Lady Anne Katherine Seymour (born 1966) His sister Lady Margaret Hay served as Lady-in-Waiting to HRH Princess Elizabeth from 1947–52, and then as a Woman of the Bedchamber to The Queen from 1953-75. He died at the age of 67 from a brain tumour.

Legacy

Lord Hertford notably saved his family home,

Ragley Hall Ragley Hall in the parish of Arrow in Warwickshire is a stately home, located south of Alcester and eight miles (13 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon. It is the ancestral seat of the Seymour-Conway family, Marquesses of Hertford. History ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, from demolition after he inherited it in 1940. In 1958 he was one of the first peers to open his country house to the paying public. He also commissioned artist

Graham Rust Graham Rust (born 1942, Hertfordshire, England) is a painter and muralist. Biography Graham Redgrave-Rust was born in Hertfordshire, England in 1942. He studied drawing and painting at the Regent Street Art School, the Central School of Arts an ...

to paint an epic mural and ceiling painting over the grand staircase. Work started in 1969 and finished in 1983. The finished mural portrayed a view of the Mountain of Temptation on the ceiling and several of Lord Hertford's relatives and godparents to his children behind the

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

balustrade of the trompe-l'œil landing. He was interviewed on film by the author

Margaret Powell Margaret Powell (1907 – April 1984) was an English writer. Her book about her experiences in domestic service, ''Below Stairs'', became a best-seller and she went on to write other books and became a television personality. ''Below Stair ...

, who wrote the popular book ''Below Stairs'' that would lead to television shows such as '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' and ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hertford, Hugh Seymour, 8th Marquess Of 1930 births 1997 deaths People educated at Eton College 20th-century British landowners

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

8 People educated at Ludgrove School