John Michael Edward Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset, (born 30 December 1952), styled Lord Seymour between 1954 and 1984, is a British aristocratic landowner in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

and

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, and a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Early life

The Duke is the son of Percy Seymour, 18th Duke of Somerset, and Jane ''née'' Thomas (died 2005). His paternal grandmother, Edith Mary Parker, was a daughter of William Parker and Lucinda Steeves (a daughter of

William Steeves William Henry Steeves (May 20, 1814 – December 9, 1873) was a merchant, lumberman, politician and Father of Canadian Confederation. Early life and education William Henry Steeves was born on May 20, 1814, in Hillsborough, New Brunswic ...

, one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation). He was educated at Hawtreys and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

Career

Seymour qualified as a

Chartered Surveyor Chartered Surveyor is the description (protected by law in many countries) of Professional ''Members'' and ''Fellows'' of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) entitled to use the designation (and a number of variations such as " Char ...

www.rics.org
/ref> before succeeding to the dukedom in 1984 on the death of his father. Having lost his seat in the

under 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 ...

; he was elected at the December 2014 House of Lords by-elections, to sit as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for

in 1993 and for

in 2003. In 2015, the Duke was involved in a dispute over a plan to build housing on ancestral land he owns in

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and ab ...

, Devon.

Personal life

On 20 May 1978, Lord Seymour married Judith-Rose Hull, daughter of John Folliott Charles Hull, merchant banker, and Rosemarie Kathleen née Waring, at All Saints' church, Maiden Bradley. The Duke and Duchess have four children: * Sebastian Edward Seymour, Lord Seymour (born 1982), who married Arlette Marie Léontine, a daughter of Daniel Lafayeedney ( Daniel Edney),Paul McKeigue, David Miller, Jake Mason, Piers Robinson
''"Briefing note on the Integrity Initiative" – Working Group on Syria Propaganda and Media''
fdik.org, 21 December 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2021. on 27 August 2006. They divorced in 2011. * Lady Sophia Rose Seymour (born 1987) * Lady Henrietta Charlotte Seymour (born 1989) * Lord Charles Thomas George Seymour (born 1992). The Duke's principal

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

is Bradley House,

Maiden Bradley Maiden Bradley is a village in south-west Wiltshire, England, about south-west of Warminster and bordering the county of Somerset. The B3092 road between Frome and Mere, Wiltshire, Mere forms the village street. Bradley House (Wiltshire), Brad ...

, Wiltshire, and he also owns

Berry Pomeroy Castle Berry Pomeroy Castle, a Tudor period, Tudor mansion within the walls of an earlier castle, is near the village of Berry Pomeroy, in South Devon, England. It was built in the late 15th century by the Pomeroy family which had held the land since t ...

in Devon. The Duke and his wife are patrons and official hosts of the

Queen Charlotte's Ball The Queen Charlotte's Ball is an annual British debutante ball. The ball was founded in 1780 by George III as a birthday celebration in honour of his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, for whom the ball is named. The Queen Charlotte's Ball ...

. He was a patron of

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

in the early 2000s.

Arms

Family tree

Notes

References

External links

* ''Burke's Peerage & Baronetage''
''Cracroft's Peerage'' online
* ''The Duke of Somerset'', Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', Saturday, 17 November 1984
www.duchyofsomerset.co.uk
*
John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerset, John Seymour, 19th Duke of 1952 births Living people People educated at Hawtreys People educated at Eton College Crossbench hereditary peers 519 Deputy lieutenants of Devon Deputy lieutenants of Wiltshire 21st-century British landowners

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

UK Independence Party people British surveyors

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

Chartered Surveyors