Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset

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Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset , KG PC , (born August 13, 1662 , † December 2, 1748 in Petworth House ) was an English peer and court and civil servant. He was Master of the Horse from 1702 to 1716 and Lord President of the Council from January 29 to July 9, 1702 .

Life

Charles was the second son of Sir Charles Seymour, 2nd Baron Seymour of Trowbridge , and Lady Elizabeth Bennett. After the 3rd and 4th Duke of Somerset died childless, the 4th Duke's cousin, Charles older brother Francis , inherited the title in 1675. After Francis was shot dead in 1678 during his Grand Tour at the age of twenty by the Genoese Horatio Botti, whose wife he is said to have dishonored in Lerici, the then 16-year-old Charles inherited the titles Duke of Somerset and Baron Seymour of Trowbridge . At that time he was still studying at Trinity College in Cambridge , which he later generously sponsored. Despite the fate of his brother, he also went on a grand tour to Italy between 1679 and 1681. In 1682 he married Elizabeth Thynne of Longleat , who was already twice widowed and heir to the Percy lands. It had been agreed before the wedding that he would take the name Percy, but to his relief his wife decided not to do so after the wedding. In 1682 he was Lord Lieutenant for the East Riding of Yorkshire and in 1683 for Somerset , in 1684 he was inducted into the Order of the Garter. In 1685 he became gentleman of the bedchamber of Jacob II and owner of a dragoon regiment . In 1687 he lost all his offices when he refused to bring the Apostolic Nuncio Ferdinando D'Adda to the court of Windsor . During the Glorious Revolution he sided with the Prince of Orange and was Lord Speaker of the House of Lords in 1689 . Friend of Princess Anne since 1692 , he became one of her favorite favorites after her accession to the throne and was given the post of Master of the Horse in 1702 . Also in 1702 he became a member of the Privy Council , in that year he held the office of Lord President of the Council . Little noticed by Marlborough , he befriended the Tories and was able to maintain the trust of the Queen, while his wife Elisabeth Percy replaced Sarah Churchill as Mistress of the Robes in 1711 .

In the memorable crisis of Queen Anne dying, Seymour acted in concert with Argyll , Shrewsbury, and other Whig nobles who, insisting on their right to attend Privy Council meetings , secured the successor to the House of Hanover . He kept the post of Master of the Horse until 1716, but under the rule of George I and George II he was unable to continue his previous position, so he withdrew to his estates, where he died in 1748 at the age of 86 .

The Duke of Somerset is portrayed as a remarkably handsome man who took a downright delight in playing prominent roles in court ceremonies. His vanity, which earned him the nickname "the proud duke" (dt. The proud duke), was proverbial even among contemporaries and the subject of numerous anecdotes. Macaulay's description of the Dukes as a man in whom pride in birth and rank rose almost pathologically is well known. The fortune of his first wife enabled him to expand his London city palace, Northumberland House, and the country estates of Syon and Petworth House . He also collected numerous paintings, including pictures by Lorrain , but also by contemporary painters such as John Laguerre , John Closterman , John Riley and John Wootton .

From 1688 until his death he was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge .

Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, around 1710

Family and offspring

His marriage to his first wife, Elizabeth, which all reports said was harmonious, resulted in four children:

Elisabeth Percy died on November 23, 1722 and Charles married Charlotte, daughter of Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham , in 1726 . He had 2 children with her,

  • Frances (1728–1761)
  • Charlotte (1730-1805).

His successor in the ducal office was his son from his first marriage, Algernon Seymour.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 450
  2. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 137

literature

  • Christopher Rowell: The Proud Duke. In: Petworth House. The National Trust, 1997, pp. 68-74.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Francis Seymour Duke of Somerset
1678-1748 		Algernon Seymour
personal data
SURNAME Seymour, Charles, 6th Duke of Somerset
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seymour, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British civil servant and civil servant
DATE OF BIRTH August 13, 1662
DATE OF DEATH December 2, 1748
Place of death Petworth House