Lord Granville Somerset

The Right Honourable
Lord Granville Somerset
PC
First Commissioner of Woods
and Forests
In office
23 December 1834 – 8 April 1835
MonarchWilliam IV
Prime MinisterSir Robert Peel, Bt
Preceded bySir John Hobhouse, Bt
Succeeded byViscount Duncannon
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
3 September 1841 – June 1846
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterSir Robert Peel, Bt
Preceded bySir George Grey, Bt
Succeeded byThe Lord Campbell
Personal details
Born27 December 1792 (1792-12-27)
Died23 February 1848 (1848-02-24) (aged 55)
NationalityBritish
Political partyTory
SpouseHon. Emily Smith (d. 1869)
Children5, including Leveson
Parent(s)Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort
Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Lord Granville Charles Henry Somerset PC (27 December 1792 – 23 February 1848) was a British Tory politician. He held office under Sir Robert Peel as First Commissioner of Woods and Forests between 1834 and 1835 and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1841 and 1846.[1]

Background and education

Somerset was the second son of Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, and Lady Charlotte Sophia, daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford. Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort, was his elder brother.[2] He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford (2nd class classics 1813).[3]

Political career

Somerset sat as Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire from 20 May 1816 until his death.[4] He was a Lord of the Treasury under Lord Liverpool in 1820,[5] and served under Sir Robert Peel First Commissioner of Woods and Forests from December 1834 to April 1835,[6] and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from September 1841 to July 1846 (with a seat in the cabinet from May 1844).[7] In 1834 he was sworn of the Privy Council.[8]

In private life he was a member of the Carlton Club.[5]

Family

Somerset married the Hon. Emily Smith, daughter of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington, in 1822. They had five children:

  • Granville Robert Henry Somerset (7 January 1824 – 3 March 1881), married Emma Philadelphia, daughter of Sir George Dashwood, 4th Baronet, without issue
  • Emily Katherine Anne Somerset (29 January 1826 – 15 June 1908), married Col. Henry Ayshford Sanford on 10 May 1859, without issue
  • Constance Henrietta Sophia Louisa (c.1827 – 1 September 1893), married Rowland Smith on 20 August 1857 and had issue
  • Adm. Leveson Eliot Henry Somerset (29 August 1829 – 7 February 1900), married Efah, daughter of Col. Hon. Richard Thomas Rowley, without issue
  • Raglan George Henry Somerset (17 December 1831 – 2 September 1924)

He died in February 1848, aged 55, and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.[9] Lady Granville Somerset died in January 1869.[2]

References

  1. ^ "SOMERSET, Lord Granville Charles Henry (1792-1848), of Troy, Mon. | History of Parliament Online".
  2. ^ a b thepeerage.com Rt. Hon. Lord Granville Charles Henry Somerset
  3. ^ Margaret Escott, ‘Somerset, Lord Granville Charles Henry (1792–1848)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 accessed 14 Dec 2015
  4. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Mitcham to Motherwell South". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
  5. ^ a b "SOMERSET, Lord Granville Charles Henry (1792-1848), of Troy, Mon. And 8 Clarges Street, MDX. | History of Parliament Online".
  6. ^ "No. 19223". The London Gazette. 23 December 1834. p. 2309.
  7. ^ "No. 20014". The London Gazette. 3 September 1841. p. 2225.
  8. ^ "No. 19223". The London Gazette. 23 December 1834. p. 2307.
  9. ^ Paths of Glory. Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery. 1997. p. 92.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire
1816–48
With: Sir Charles Morgan, Bt 1816–31
William Addams Williams 1831–41
Octavius Morgan 1841–48 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by First Commissioner of Woods and Forests
1834–1835 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1841–1846 		Succeeded by