Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort (16 October 1744 – 11 October 1803) was an English courtier and politician. He was the only son of

Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort (12 September 1709 – 28 October 1756) was a British Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1731 until 1745 when he succeeded to the peerage as Duke of Beaufort. Life Somerset was the ...

and

Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (''née'' Berkeley; 9 April 1799) was born in Stoke Gifford in Gloucestershire to John Symes Berkeley and Elizabeth Norborne.G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warr ...

. Styled Marquess of Worcester from 1746, at his father's death on 28 October 1756, he succeeded him as 5th

Duke of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of So ...

, 7th Marquess of Worcester, 11th Earl of Worcester, and 13th Baron Herbert.G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 55.

Life

On 18 October 1760, he began his studies at

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, graduating on 7 July 1763 with a Doctor of Civil Laws (DCL) degree. He held the office of Grand Master of the

Premier Grand Lodge of England The organisation now known as the Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster. Originally concerned with the practice of Freemasonry in London and Westminster, it soon became known as ...

between 1767 and 1772. From 1768 to 1770, he was Master of the Horse to the Queen Consort. He was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Monmouthshire in 1771 and Lord-Lieutenant of Brecknockshire in 1787, holding both offices until his death in 1803, as well as that of Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire from 1787 to 1799. He was invested as a Knight of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

(KG) on 2 June 1786. His last will was dated from 21 June 1789 to 11 September 1800. On 4 June 1803, shortly before his death, he succeeded to the title of 5th Lord Botetourt. The 5th Duke of Beaufort is buried at

St Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton St Michael and All Angels is a Grade I listed church on the estate of the Duke of Beaufort in the village of Great Badminton, Gloucestershire, England. Attached to the Duke of Beaufort's residence, Badminton House, it is an active Anglican pari ...

Family

On 2 January 1766, he married Elizabeth Boscawen, daughter of Hon.

Edward Boscawen Admiral of the Blue Edward Boscawen, PC (19 August 171110 January 1761) was a British admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall, England. He is known principally for his various naval commands during ...

Admiral of the Blue The Admiral of the Blue was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the White (see order of precedence below). From 1688 to 1805 this rank was in order of precedence third; after 1805 ...

, and sister to

George Boscawen, 3rd Viscount Falmouth George Boscawen, 3rd Viscount Falmouth, PC (6 May 1758 – 11 February 1808), was a British army officer and statesman in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This included service as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms ...

. Elizabeth died 15 June 1828. Together they had four daughters and nine sons: #

Henry Charles Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort Henry Charles Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, KG (22 December 1766 – 23 November 1835), styled Marquess of Worcester until 1803, was a British politician. Background and education Somerset was the son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort ...

, his heir and successor #

Lord Charles Henry Somerset Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC (12 December 1767 – 18 February 1831), born in Badminton, England, was a British soldier, politician and colonial administrator.Charles Mosley, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volu ...

(2 December 1767 – 18 February 1831) # Lord Edward Somerset (1768–1769) # Lord Norborne Berkeley Henry Somerset (4 May 1771 – 1838) # Lady Elizabeth Somerset (11 February 1773 – 5 May 1836), who married, on 27 June 1796, Very Reverend Charles Talbot, Dean of Salisbury, grandson of

Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, (168514 February 1737) was a British lawyer and politician. He was Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain from 1733 to 1737. Life Talbot was the eldest son of William Talbot, Bishop of Durham, a descendant ...

, with whom she had three daughters and three sons # Lady Frances Elizabeth Somerset (3 April 1774 – 24 May 1841) # Lady Harriet Isabella Elizabeth Somerset (9 July 1775 – 1 June 1855), married Colonel

Hugh Henry Mitchell Colonel (UK), Colonel Hugh Henry Mitchell, Order of the Bath, CB (9 June 1770 – 20 April 1817) was a British military leader, of Irish birth, who fought in several decisive battles during the Napoleonic Wars, including the Battle of Salamanca a ...

and had two daughters and one son # Lord Robert Edward Henry Somerset (19 December 1776 – 1 September 1842) #

Lord Arthur John Henry Somerset Lord Arthur John Henry Somerset (12 February 1780 – 18 April 1816), English politician, was the sixth son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. Early years He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, taking a BA in 1799 and an MA in 18 ...

(1780–1816) # Rev. Lord William George Henry Somerset (2 September 1784 – 14 January 1861), Prebendary of Bristol, who was married twice; on 29 June 1813 to Elizabeth Molyneux (d.1843), daughter of Lt.-Gen. Sir Thomas Molyneux, 5th Baronet, with whom he had five sons, and in 1844 to Frances Westby Brady (d. 31 August 1854). They had no children. # Lady Anne Elizabeth Somerset (7 June 1786 – 22 September 1803) # Col. Lord John Thomas Henry Somerset (30 August 1787 – 3 October 1846) # Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (30 September 1788 – 28 June 1855)

Ancestry

Henry Somerset and

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

were both male-line descendents of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

, Henry through Edward's 4th son

John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...

and Richard through Edward's 5th son

Edmund of Langley Edmund of Langley, Duke of York (5 June 1341 – 1 August 1402) was the fourth surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Like many medieval English princes, Edmund gained his nickname from his birthplace: Kings Langle ...

. But Y-DNA of Henry's descendants did not match Richard III, meaning that somewhere in one of their pedigrees, there was a

false paternity Paternity fraud, also known as misattributed paternity or paternal discrepancy, occurs when a man is incorrectly identified as the biological father of a child. The underlying assumption of "paternity fraud" is that the mother deliberately miside ...

event.Richard III DNA results
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaufort, Henry Somerset, 5th Duke Of 1744 births 1803 deaths British Militia officers *13 *05 105 Knights of the Garter Lord-Lieutenants of Brecknockshire Lord-Lieutenants of Leicestershire Lord-Lieutenants of Monmouthshire Masters of foxhounds in England Henry Somerset, 05th Duke of Beaufort Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Grand Masters of the Premier Grand Lodge of England