Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort

The Duke of Beaufort
Spouse	Mary Capell
Issue
Henry Somerset, Lord Herbert Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester Arthur Somerset Mary Somerset Henrietta Somerset Anne Somerset
Noble family	House of Beaufort
Father	Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester
Mother	Elizabeth Dormer
Born	1629
Died	21 January 1699

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

The new English dukedom was bestowed upon him by King Charles II on 2 December 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 22 April 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 17 August 1657, he married Mary Capell, who was the daughter of Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham, sister of Arthur Capell, 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 – 13 July 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 the 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 married Thomas Coventry, 2nd Earl of Coventry, and became the 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.

References

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