John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

His Grace
The Duke of Somerset
FRICS DL
Official portrait of The Duke of Somerset crop 2.jpg
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
15 November 1984 – 11 November 1999
as a hereditary peer
Preceded byThe 18th Duke of Somerset
Succeeded bySeat abolished
Assumed office
10 December 2014
as an elected hereditary peer
Preceded byThe Lord Cobbold
Personal details
Born
John Michael Edward Seymour

(1952-12-30) 30 December 1952 (age 69)
Bath, Somerset, England
Spouse(s)
Judith-Rose Hull
​
(m. 1978)​
ChildrenSebastian Seymour, Lord Seymour
Lady Sophia Seymour
Lady Henrietta Seymour
Lord Charles Seymour
Parent(s)Percy Seymour, 18th Duke of Somerset
Jane Thomas
ResidenceMaiden Bradley House, Wiltshire
ProfessionFRICS
Known forLandowning, membership of the House of Lords
AwardsDL
Other titlesBaron Seymour
Websitesomersetestates.co.uk

John Michael Edward Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset FRICS DL (born 30 December 1952), styled Lord Seymour between 1954 and 1984, is a British aristocratic landowner in Wiltshire and Devon, and a member of the House of Lords.

Life[]

Educated at Hawtreys and Eton College, he qualified as a chartered surveyor[1] before succeeding to the dukedom in 1984 on the death of his father.[2] Having lost his seat in the House of Lords under the House of Lords Act 1999, he was elected at the December 2014 House of Lords by-elections,[3] to sit as a crossbencher.[4]

The Duke's principal seat is Bradley House, Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire,[5] and he also owns Berry Pomeroy Castle in Devon.

He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Wiltshire in 1993[6] and for Devon in 2003.[7]

The Duke and his wife are patrons and official hosts of the Queen Charlotte's Ball.[8]

In 2015, the Duke was involved in a dispute over a plan to build housing on ancestral land he owns at Totnes, Devon.[9]

Family[]

The present 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, daughter of William Steeves, one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation.

He married at All Saints' Church, Maiden Bradley, on 20 May 1978, Judith-Rose Hull, daughter of John Folliott Hull; the Duke and Duchess have four children:

  • Sebastian Edward, Baron Seymour (b. Queen Charlotte's Hospital, London, 3 February 1982), married on 27 August 2006 Arlette Marie Léontine, daughter of Daniel Lafayeedney (born Daniel Edney),[10][a] co-founder and Director of the Institute for Statecraft, and Régine Lafaye, of Lagrasse, France.[11] They divorced in 2011.
  • Lady Sophia Rose Seymour (b. 1987)
  • Lady Henrietta Charlotte Seymour (b. 1989)
  • Lord Charles Thomas George Seymour (b. 1992).[12]

Arms[]

Coat of arms of John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset
Coat of arms of the duke of Somerset.png
Coronet
That of a Duke
Crest
Out of a Coronet Or a Phoenix of the Last issuing from Flames Proper
Escutcheon
Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Or on a Pile Gules between six Fleurs-de-Lis Azure three Lions of England (being the Augmentation of Honour granted by King Henry VIII on his marriage with Jane Seymour); 2nd and 3rd, Gules two Wings joined in lure the tips downwards Or (Seymour)
Supporters
Dexter: a Unicorn Argent armed maned and tufted Or gorged with a Coronet per pale Azure and Or to which is affixed a Chain of the Last; Sinister: a Bull Azure gorged with a Coronet chained hoofed and armed Or
Motto
FOY POUR DEVOIR
Medieval French for: FAITH FOR DUTY

Family tree[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ www.rics.org
  2. ^ 'SOMERSET, 19th Duke of', in Who's Who 2012 (A. & C. Black, 2012); online edition (subscription required) by Oxford University Press, December 2011, accessed 8 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Crossbench Hereditary Peers' By-Election, December 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  4. ^ www.parliament.uk
  5. ^ "bradleyhouse.org". Archived from the original on 8 October 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  6. ^ www.wiltshire.gov.uk
  7. ^ www.lordlieutenantofdevon.org.uk
  8. ^ Smith, Julia Llewellyn (September 2013). "Why today's 'debutantes' are having a ball again".
  9. ^ "Totnes' Great Court Farm plans get the go-ahead despite demo". Torquay Herald Express. 14 January 2015. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  10. ^ a b 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.
  11. ^ "statecraft.org.uk". Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  12. ^ Mosley, Charles (ed.) (2003). Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 107th edn. London: Burke's Peerage & Gentry Ltd. p. 3678 (SOMERSET, D). ISBN 0-9711966-2-1. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ 13. Daniel Lafayeedney: "It appears that his surname was originally Edney, and that he took the middle name Lafaye on marriage to his first wife Regine Lafaye, some time before October 1978 when as Daniel Lafaye Edney aged 32 years, he was commissioned into the Territorial Reserve Special Air Service Regiment, Group A (23 SAS) as 2nd Lt. on probation. 19 months later, still holding the rank of 2nd Lt on probation and now known as Daniel Lafaye-Edney, he resigned his commission."[10]

External links[]

Peerage of England
Preceded by Duke of Somerset
1984–present
Member of the House of Lords
(1984–1999) 		Incumbent
Heir apparent:
Sebastian Seymour, Lord Seymour
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Elected hereditary peer to the House of Lords
under the House of Lords Act 1999
2014–present 		Incumbent
Order of precedence in England and Wales
Preceded byas Master of the Horse Gentlemen
The Duke of Somerset 		Succeeded by
Order of precedence in Scotland
Preceded by Gentlemen
The Duke of Somerset 		Succeeded by
Order of precedence in Northern Ireland
Preceded by Gentlemen
The Duke of Somerset 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from ""