Name David 11th | ||
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Born 23 February 1928 ( 1928-02-23 ) Issue Henry John FitzRoy Somerset, Marquess of WorcesterAnne Mary SomersetEdward Alexander SomersetJohn Robert Somerset Spouse Lady Caroline Jane Thynne (m. 1950–1995) Parents Henry Robert Somers Fitzroy de Vere Somerset Children Henry Somerset, Marquess of Worcester Grandchildren Isabella Elsa Somerset, Robert, Earl of Glamorgan, Alexander Somerset Grandparents Henry Charles Somers Augustus Somerset Similar People Henry Somerset - Marquess, Lord Edward Somerset, John Beaufort - 1st Earl of, Tracy Louise Ward | ||
David Robert Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort (23 February 1928 – 16 August 2017), known as David Somerset until 1984, was a British peer.
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Early life
He was educated at Eton College. His father was the grandson of Lord Henry Somerset, second son of the 8th Duke of Beaufort, and the temperance activist Lady Isabella Somers-Cocks. He and his family descended in the male line from Edward III of England; the first Somerset was a legitimized son of Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, whose grandfather was a legitimized son of John of Gaunt. He was therefore considered to be the senior representative of the House of Plantagenet, through a legitimized line.
He was a fifth cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II, through their common ancestor, Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington.
He was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards on 6 September 1946 as a second lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 January 1949.
Career
He held the office of Hereditary Keeper of Raglan Castle, was President of the British Horse Society between 1988 and 1990, and was chairman of Marlborough Fine Art. He ranked 581st in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008, with an estimated wealth of £135m in land. The Duke was nominated to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1988.
River Tawe footbridge
The Duke was criticised in January 2009 when a Swansea councillor, Ioan Richard, discovered via the Freedom of Information Act that the duke had been paid £281,431 for a 70 ft bridge to be built over the River Tawe near Swansea. The dukedom was granted the ownership of the river bed 400 years ago, so when the local council wanted to build a bridge linking a shopping centre to the Liberty Stadium, home of Swansea City football club and the Ospreys rugby team, the council had to pay the duke for the right to build it. Richard stated that he was "furious that public money had to be used to pay one of Britain's richest estates. For centuries Swansea folk have paid rents to the Duke of Beaufort and we don't owe this powerful and wealthy family anything." A spokesman for the duke's estate at Badminton House responded: "We do not want to comment about a private transaction."
Death
Somerset died on 16 August 2017 at his estate at Badminton House in Badminton, Gloucestershire, England at the age of 89.
Family
He married, firstly, Lady Caroline Jane Thynne (28 August 1928 – 22 April 1995), daughter of Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath, on 5 July 1950. The marriage took place at St Peter's Church, Eaton Square, in the presence of the King and Queen and members of the royal family.
They had four children:
The Duke married, secondly, Miranda Elisabeth Morley (born 1947), on 2 June 2000. She is a daughter of Brigadier General Michael Frederick Morley.