Lord Henry Richard Charles Somerset, PC, DL, JP (7 December 1849 – 10 October 1932) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician and composer of popular music. He served as Comptroller of the Household under Benjamin Disraeli between 1874 and 1879.

Background

Somerset was the second son of

Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort KG, PC, DL (1 February 1824 – 30 April 1899), styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1835 and Marquess of Worcester from 1835 to 1853, was a British peer, soldier, and Conservative Party politic ...

, by his wife Lady Georgiana Charlotte Curzon, daughter of

Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (11 December 1796 – 12 May 1870), was a British peer and courtier. Background He was the third but eldest surviving son of The Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon (the eldest son of Assheton Curzon, 1s ...

. He was the brother of Henry Somerset, 9th Duke of Beaufort, and Lord Arthur Somerset.thepeerage.com Lord Henry Richard Charles Somerset
/ref>

Political career

Somerset was elected at a by-election in 1871 as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Monmouthshire, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1880 general election. When the Conservatives came to power in 1874 under Benjamin Disraeli, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Comptroller of the Household, a post he held until 1879. Apart from his political career he was also a Deputy Lieutenant of Monmouthshire and a justice of the peace for

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

and Monmouthshire.

Family

Somerset married

Lady Isabella Caroline Somers-Cocks Isabella Caroline Somerset, Lady Henry Somerset (née Somers-Cocks; 3 August 1851 – 12 March 1921), styled Lady Isabella Somers-Cocks from 5 October 1852 to 6 February 1872, was a British philanthropist, temperance leader and campaigner for w ...

, the eldest daughter and co-heir of

Charles Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers Charles Somers Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers (14 July 1819 – 26 September 1883), styled the Hon. Charles Cocks from 1819 to 1841 and Viscount Eastnor from 1841 to 1852, was a British Conservative Party and then Liberal politician. Somers was ...

, on 6 February 1872. They had one child, Henry Charles Somers Augustus (1874–1945), but their marriage collapsed after a few years because of Lord Henry's infatuation with a seventeen-year-old boy. As a result, he withdrew to Italy, while his wife was ostracised from society for having made public, contrary to the conventions of the time, why she had left him. She died in March 1921. Somerset remained a widower until his death in October 1932, aged 82. Somerset's only son, Henry Charles Somers Augustus Somerset (1874–1945), married twice. The first wife, Lady Katherine, was a daughter of

William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans, PC DL (15 April 1840 – 10 May 1898), styled Earl of Burford until 1849, was a British Liberal parliamentarian of the Victorian era. The Duke served in William Gladstone's ...

; their grandson,

David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort David Robert Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort GCC (23 February 1928 – 16 August 2017), known as David Somerset until 1984, was an English peer and major landowner. An important figure in the world of fox hunting, he was also chairman of Marl ...

, would succeed to the dukedom of Beaufort in 1984. The second wife, who he married on 28 January 1932, was Brenda, dowager Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, widow of Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 3rd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, and only daughter of Major Robert Woodhouse, of Orford House, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. They had no issue.

Poetry and Music

Somerset is the author of a book of poetry, ''Songs of adieu'' (1889), which the scholar Timothy D'Arch Smith has identified as "the first book of Uranian verse".Timothy d'Arch Smith, ''Love in Earnest: Some Notes on the Lives and Writings of English "Uranian" Poets from 1889 to 1930'' (1970), p. 24 He was also a composer of several songs including ''A song of sleep'' (Ricordi, 1903). His setting to music of

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including " Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Bri ...

's ''Echo'' enjoyed considerable success when it was published by Chappell & Co. c.1900.

References

External links

* 1849 births 1932 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 Younger sons of dukes H English justices of the peace Welsh justices of the peace {{Wales-Conservative-UK-MP-stub