Hugh Seymour, 8th Marquess of Hertford

Hugh Edward Conway Seymour, 8th Marquess of Hertford (29 March 1930 – 22 December 1997) was a British aristocrat. He was the son of Brig.-Gen. Lord Henry Charles Seymour and Lady Helen Grosvenor. He was the grandson of both Hugh Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford and Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster.

Early life

He was educated at Ludgrove School and Eton College. He inherited the title of Marquess of Hertford in 1940 at the age of 10, after the death of his flamboyant childless uncle, the 7th Marquess, described as a "gay young bachelor fond of fancy dancing".[1]

Marriage and family

On 10 July 1956, Hugh Seymour married Pamela Thérèse Louise de Riquet, Comtesse de Caraman-Chimay (daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Prince Alphonse de Chimay and Mary Hamilton, granddaughter of the Duke of Abercorn by his son Lord Ernest Hamilton). Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra of Kent, and Mary, Duchess of Beaufort attended their wedding at St James's Church, Piccadilly.[2][3]

They had four children:

His only sibling, Lady Margaret Hay, served as Lady-in-Waiting to HRH Princess Elizabeth from 1947–52, and then as a Woman of the Bedchamber to The Queen from 1953–75.[5]

He died at the age of 67 from a brain tumour.[6]

Legacy

Lord Hertford notably saved his family home, Ragley Hall, Warwickshire, from demolition after he inherited it in 1940.[7] In 1958 he was one of the first peers to open his country house to the paying public.[7] He also commissioned artist Graham Rust to paint an epic mural and ceiling painting over the grand staircase. Work started in 1969 and finished in 1983. The finished mural portrayed a view of the Mountain of Temptation on the ceiling and several of Lord Hertford's relatives and godparents to his children behind the trompe-l'œil balustrade of the trompe-l'œil landing.[8]

He was interviewed on film by the author Margaret Powell, who wrote the popular book Below Stairs that would lead to television shows such as Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey.

References

  1. ^ Moore, Clive (2001). Sunshine and Rainbows: The Development of Gay and Lesbian Culture in Queensland. Univ. of Queensland Press. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-0-7022-3208-4. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Marquess of Hertford and Comtesse Louise de Caraman-Chimay". The Times. 11 July 1956. p. 12.
  3. ^ "Death of Lady Ernest Hamilton". The Times. 13 May 1931. p. 18.
  4. ^ "Christenings". The Times. 12 September 1966. p. 12.
  5. ^ "Obituary: Lady Margaret Hay". The Times. 26 May 1975. p. 8.
  6. ^ "Grieving son's life sentence; Marquess's sudden death forced Earl into control of 6,000 acres and one of Britain's oldest titled families". Sunday Mercury. 29 March 1998.
  7. ^ a b "8th Marquess of Hertford Saved Ragley Hall House and Gardens". Warwickshire Life. 7 February 2010. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  8. ^ Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (1994), Great Houses of England & Wales, London: Laurence King Publishing, pp. 235–237, ISBN 1-85669-053-9
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Marquess of Hertford
1940–1997 		Succeeded by