John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset

Duke of Somerset (born 1952) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset

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.

Quick Facts Member of the House of Lords, Preceded by ...
The Duke of Somerset
Thumb
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as a hereditary peer
15 November 1984  11 November 1999
Preceded byThe 18th Duke of Somerset
Succeeded bySeat abolished[a]
as an elected hereditary peer
12 December 2014
Preceded byThe 2nd Baron Cobbold
Personal details
Born
John Michael Edward Seymour

(1952-12-30) 30 December 1952 (age 72)
Bath, Somerset, England
Spouse
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
Residence(s)Maiden Bradley House, Wiltshire
ProfessionChartered surveyor, politician
Known forLandowning, membership of the House of Lords
Other titlesBaron Seymour
Websitesomersetestates.co.uk
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Early life

The 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 (a daughter of William Steeves, one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation).[1]

He was educated at Hawtreys and Eton College.[2]

Career

Seymour qualified as a Chartered Surveyor[2] before succeeding to the dukedom in 1984 on the death of his father.[3] 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,[4] to sit as a crossbencher.[5]

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

In 2015, the Duke was involved in a dispute over a plan to build housing on ancestral land he owns in Totnes, Devon.[8]

Personal life

On 20 May 1978, Lord Seymour married Judith-Rose Hull, daughter of John Folliott Charles Hull, merchant banker, and Rosemarie Kathleen née Waring, at All Saints' church, Maiden Bradley. The Duke and Duchess have four children:[1]

  • Sebastian Edward Seymour, Lord Seymour (born 1982), who married Arlette Marie Léontine, a daughter of Daniel Lafayeedney ( Daniel Edney),[9][b] on 27 August 2006. They divorced in 2011.
  • Lady Sophia Rose Seymour (born 1987)[1]
  • Lady Henrietta Charlotte Seymour (born 1989)[1]
  • Lord Charles Thomas George Seymour (born 1992).[1]

The Duke's principal seat is Bradley House, Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire,[10] and he also owns Berry Pomeroy Castle in Devon. The Duke and his wife are patrons and official hosts of the Queen Charlotte's Ball.[11]

He was a patron of UKIP in the early 2000s.[12][13]

Arms

Coat of arms of John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset
Thumb
Coronet
A Coronet 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

Notes

  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."[9]

References

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