Eric Douglas Saumarez, 7th Baron de Saumarez (born 13 August 1956), is a British

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsidi ...

Life

Born and brought up in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

, Saumarez is the son of James Victor Broke Saumarez, 6th Baron de Saumarez, by his marriage to Joan Beryl Charlton. He was educated at Milton Abbey School in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

, and the

Royal Agricultural College ;(from Virgil's Georgics)"Caring for the Fieldsand the Beasts" , established = 2013 - University status – College , type = Public , president = King Charles , vice_chancellor = Peter McCaffery , students ...

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

. He married, firstly, Christine Elizabeth Halliday, daughter of Bernard Neil Halliday, on 14 July 1982, and they had two children, Claire (born 23 February 1984) and Emily (born 14 June 1985). They were divorced in 1990. On 2 September 1991 Saumarez married secondly Susan Hearn, daughter of Joseph Hearn. Also in 1991 Saumarez succeeded to the title of

Baron de Saumarez Baron de Saumarez, on the Island of Guernsey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 15 September 1831 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir James Saumarez, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, ...

, of

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

, and was a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

until it was reformed by the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

. In 2003 he was living at the family estate of

Shrubland Park Shrubland Hall, Coddenham, Suffolk, is a historic English country house with planned gardens in Suffolk, England, built in the 1770s. The Hall was used as a health clinic in the second half of the 20th century and briefly reopened as a hotel ...

Coddenham Coddenham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located to the north of the A14 road (England), A14 road, 8 miles north of Ipswich, the parish also includes the hamlet of Coddenham Green. In 2005 ...

, but sold it in 2006. He later settled on the island of Guernsey, where his family originated.

Historical context

Baron de Saumarez, of the

Island of Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands, ...

, is a title in the

peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great ...

created on 15 September 1831 for the naval commander Admiral Sir James Saumarez, 1st Baronet. He was succeeded by his eldest son. James, the second Baron, a clergyman, who was succeeded by his younger brother, John, the third Baron. The ancestral family seat was at Le Guet, Castel, on the island of

, with a second seat from 1882 at

, near

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

. Shrubland Park was sold by the present Lord de Saumarez in 2006 after the death of his mother. The Saumarez Manor estate in Guernsey belongs to a senior line of the family from which the Barons de Saumarez are descended: Matthew de Sausmarez (1718–1778), father of the first baron, was the younger brother of John (1706–1774), of Sausmarez Manor.

Arms

Sources

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saumarez, Eric Saumarez, 7th Baron de 1956 births De Saumarez Eldest sons of British hereditary barons People educated at Milton Abbey School Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of the Royal Agricultural University

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

English twins Living people People from Coddenham de:Baron de Saumarez