Misplaced Pages

General The Right HonourableLord Charles SomersetPC
Governor of the Cape Colony
In office 1814–1826
Monarchs	George III George IV
Preceded by	John Cradock
Succeeded by	Richard Bourke (acting)
Personal details
Born	12 December 1767 (1767-12-12)
Died	18 February 1831 (1831-02-19) (aged 63)
Nationality	British
Spouses	Lady Elizabeth Courtenay ​ ​(m. 1788; died 1815)​ Lady Mary Poulett ​(m. 1821)​
Children	9, including Henry and Poulett
Parents	Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort Elizabeth Boscawen

Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC (12 December 1767 – 18 February 1831), born in Badminton, England, was a British soldier, politician and colonial administrator. He was governor of the Cape Colony, South Africa, from 1814 to 1826.

Early life

Somerset was the second son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, and Elizabeth, daughter of Admiral the Hon. Edward Boscawen. He was the brother of Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, General Lord Robert Somerset, Lord Arthur Somerset and Field Marshal FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan.

Career

Somerset sat as member of parliament for Scarborough between 1796 and 1802 and for Monmouth Boroughs between 1802 and 1813. He served as Comptroller of the Household between 1797 and 1804 and as Joint Paymaster of the Forces between 1804 and 1806 and 1807 and 1813 and was sworn of the Privy Council on 26 April 1797. In 1814 he was appointed Governor of the Cape Colony, a post he held until 1826. The towns of Somerset West and Somerset East in South Africa are named after him.

Personal life

Somerset married firstly Lady Elizabeth Courtenay (1766–1815), on 7 June 1788, following their elopement. She was the daughter of the 8th Earl of Devon. They had six children:

1. Elizabeth Somerset (1790–1872), who married Gen. Hon. Sir Henry Wyndham in 1812.
2. Mary Georgiana Somerset (1793–1856), who married Lt-Col. Stirling Freeman Glover in 1833.
3. Sir Henry Somerset (1794–1862), a Lieutenant-General.
4. Charlotte Augusta Somerset (1799–1864), who married Herbert Cornewall in 1822.
5. Charles Henry Somerset (1800–1835), a Lieutenant-Colonel.
6. Villiers Somerset (1803–1855), a Reverend who married Frances Dorothy Ley in 1844 and had issue.

After the death of Lady Elizabeth, he married secondly Lady Mary Poulett, daughter of John Poulett, 4th Earl Poulett, on 9 August 1821. They had three children:

1. Poulett George Henry Somerset (1822–1875), a Colonel who married Barbara Augusta Norah Mytton, daughter of John Mytton, in 1847. After her death in 1870, he married Emily Moore.
2. Mary Sophia Somerset (1823–1869)
3. Augusta Anne Somerset (1824–1881), who married Sir Henry Barron, 1st Baronet in 1863.

Somerset died in February 1831, aged 63. His second wife died in June 1860, aged 72.

Ancestry

References

1. ^ Charles Mosley, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, page 221 – 223.
2. Anonymous (16 March 2011). "Lord Charles Henry Somerset, governor of the Cape Colony, is born in Badminton, England". South African History Online. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
3. Millar, Anthony Kendal (1965). PLANTAGENET IN SOUTH AFRICA. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780196370774.
4. "Elizabeth Courtenay, Lady Charles Somerset, d. 1815". National Galleries Scotland.
5. Charles Mosley, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, pp. 221–223.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Charles Somerset

v t e Governors of the Cape Colony
British occupation 1806–1814	David Baird Henry George Grey Du Pre Alexander Henry George Grey John Cradock Robert Meade
British colony 1814–1910	Charles Somerset Rufane Shaw Donkin Richard Bourke Galbraith Lowry Cole Thomas Francis Wade Benjamin D'Urban George Thomas Napier Peregrine Maitland Henry Pottinger Harry Smith George Cathcart Charles Henry Darling George Grey Robert Wynyard Philip Wodehouse Charles Craufurd Hay Henry Barkly Henry Bartle Frere Henry Hugh Clifford George Strahan Hercules Robinson Leicester Smyth Henry Torrens Henry Augustus Smyth Henry Loch William Gordon Cameron Hercules Robinson William Howley Goodenough Alfred Milner William Butler Walter Hely-Hutchinson Harry Scobell Those in italics were acting governors
State President of the South African Republic State President of the Orange Free State Prime Minister of the Cape Colony Prime Minister of Natal

• 1767 births
• 1831 deaths
• Younger sons of dukes
• Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
• British MPs 1796–1800
• Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies
• UK MPs 1801–1802
• UK MPs 1802–1806
• UK MPs 1806–1807
• UK MPs 1807–1812
• UK MPs 1812–1818
• Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
• Paymasters of the Forces
• Governors of the Cape Colony
• Somerset family
• People from Badminton, Gloucestershire