Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort

Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, KG, PC (1629 – January 21, 1699/1700) was an English peer. He was styled Lord Herbert from 1646 until April 3, 1667, when he succeeded his father as 3rd Marquess of Worcester.

The new English dukedom was bestowed upon him by King Charles II on December 2, 1682, in recognition of his "having been eminently serviceable for the king since his most happy restoration, in consideration thereof and of his most noble descent from King Edward III by John de Beaufort, eldest son of John of Gaunt by Katherine Swynford"[1].

Beaufort was invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1672; on April 22nd, 1679 he became a Privy Councillor; and he held the office of Lord President of Wales.

Beaufort later refused to swear allegiance to King William III.

On August 17, 1657, he married Mary Capel, who was the daughter of Arthur Capel, 1st Baron Capel of Hadham, sister of Arthur Capel, 1st Earl of Essex, and widow of Henry Seymour, Lord Beauchamp. They had three sons and four daughters. The sons were:

Henry Somerset, Lord Herbert, who died as an infant;
Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester (December, 1660 – July 13, 1698), who had a military and political career;
Lord Arthur Somerset.

Three of the daughters were:

Lady Mary Somerset, Lady of the Bedchamber, who was married to James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde as his second wife, and became mother of one son and two daughters;
Lady Henrietta Somerset, who was married twice, to Henry Horatio O'Brien, Lord O'Brien, with whom she had one son, the 8th Earl of Thomond, and three daughters, and to Henry Howard, 6th Earl of Suffolk as his second wife;
Lady Anne Somerset, who was married to Thomas Coventry, 2nd Earl of Coventry, and became mother of one son.

The fourth daughter — bearing an unknown name — might have died young.

Beaufort's son Charles died before he could inherit the dukedom, so on the duke's death it passed to Charles's son Henry.

[edit] References

Burke's Peerage & Baronetage (106th edition, 1999) edited by Charles Mosley
[1] Page on the Dukedom of Beaufort from Michael Moore's website HereditaryTitles.com

Parliament of England
Preceded by John Nicholas William Morgan	Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire with William Morgan 1660–1667	Succeeded by William Morgan Sir Trevor Williams, Bt
Honorary titles
English Interregnum	Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire 1660–1689	Succeeded by The Earl of Macclesfield
English Interregnum	Custos Rotulorum of Monmouthshire 1660–1689
Preceded by The Viscount Scudamore	Custos Rotulorum of Herefordshire 1671–1689
Preceded by The Earl of Carbery	Lord President of Wales Lord Lieutenant of Wales 1672–1689
Preceded by The Viscount Fitzhardinge	Custos Rotulorum of Somerset 1668–1672	Succeeded by The Duke of Somerset
Preceded by Sir Thomas Williams, Bt	Custos Rotulorum of Brecknockshire 1679–1689	Succeeded by Sir Rowland Gwynne
Peerage of England
New title	Duke of Beaufort 1682–1700	Succeeded by Henry Somerset
Preceded by Edward Somerset	Marquess of Worcester 1667–1700	Succeeded by Henry Somerset