Lord Granville Somerset Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
Lord Granville Somerset
Honorific-Suffix:PC
Order1:First Commissioner of Woods
and Forests
Term Start1:23 December 1834
Term End1:8 April 1835
Monarch1:William IV
Primeminister1:Sir Robert Peel, Bt
Predecessor1:Sir John Hobhouse, Bt
Successor1:Viscount Duncannon
Order2:Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Term Start2:3 September 1841
Term End2:June 1846
Monarch2:Victoria
Primeminister2:Sir Robert Peel, Bt
Predecessor2:Sir George Grey, Bt
Successor2:The Lord Campbell
Nationality:British
Spouse:Hon. Emily Smith (d. 1869)
Children:5, including Leveson
Parents:Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort
Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower

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, and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from September 1841 to July 1846 (with a seat in the cabinet from May 1844). In 1834 he was sworn of the Privy Council.

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:

He died in February 1848, aged 55, and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.[6] Lady Granville Somerset died in January 1869.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SOMERSET, Lord Granville Charles Henry (1792-1848), of Troy, Mon. | History of Parliament Online.
  2. http://www.thepeerage.com/p2467.htm#i24670 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. Web site: leighrayment.com House of Commons: Mitcham to Motherwell South . 3 October 2009 . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20090810231651/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Mcommons3.htm . 10 August 2009 .
  5. Web site: SOMERSET, Lord Granville Charles Henry (1792-1848), of Troy, Mon. And 8 Clarges Street, MDX. | History of Parliament Online.
  6. Book: Paths of Glory. 1997. Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery. 92.