Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort


Henry Charles Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, KG, styled Marquess of Worcester until 1803, was a British politician.

Background and education

Somerset was the son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. He was styled by the courtesy title Marquess of Worcester from his birth until his accession to the dukedom in 1803. He was educated at Westminster School, London and graduated from Trinity College, Oxford, on 28 June 1786 with a Master of Arts.

Political career

Worcester was a Tory Member of Parliament for Monmouth between 1788 and 1790, for Bristol between 1790 and 1796, and for Gloucestershire between 1796 and 1803, when he succeeded to his father's seat in the House of Lords. He was Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire and Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire from 1803, and Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire from 1810, until his death in 1835. He bore the Queen's Crown for the coronation of William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, 8 September 1831. He became Constable of St Briavel's Castle and Warden of the Forest of Dean in 1812, and High Steward of Bristol in 1834; he held all these posts for the rest of his life. He was nominated and invested as a Knight of the Garter on 17 January 1805, and was installed on 23 April the same year; since no Knight had been installed since 1801, there were seven vacancies at the time.

Family

Worcester married Lady Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower, daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, on 16 May 1791 at Lambeth Church, London. They had four sons and eight daughters:
Beaufort died at Badminton House, Gloucestershire, and was buried there in St Michael and All Angels Church on 2 December 1835, shortly before his 69th birthday.

Ancestry