View source for Edward St Maur, 12th Duke of Somerset

{{Short description|British aristocrat and Whig politician (1804–1885)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[His Grace]]
| name = The Duke of Somerset
| honorific-suffix = [[Order of the Garter|KG]] [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|PC]]
| image = 12th Duke of Somerset.png
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = The Duke of Somerset, by [[Carlo Pellegrini (caricaturist)|Carlo Pellegrini]], 1869.
| order1 = [[Commissioners of Woods and Forests|First Commissioner of Woods <br />and Forests]]
| term_start1 = 17 April 1849
| term_end1 = 1 August 1851
| monarch1 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister1 = [[Lord John Russell]]
| predecessor1 = [[George Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle|The Earl of Carlisle]]
| successor1 = Office abolished
| order2 = [[First Commissioner of Works]]
| term_start2 = 1 August 1851
| term_end2 = 21 February 1852
| monarch2 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister2 = [[Lord John Russell]]
| predecessor2 = New office
| successor2 = [[Lord John Manners]]
| order3 = [[First Lord of the Admiralty]]
| term_start3 = 27 June 1859
| term_end3 = 26 June 1866
| monarch3 = [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]
| primeminister3 = [[The Viscount Palmerston]] <br /> [[The Earl Russell]]
| predecessor3 = [[John Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton|Sir John Pakington, Bt]]
| successor3 = [[John Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton|Sir John Pakington, Bt]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1804|12|20}}
| birth_place = [[Piccadilly]], [[City of Westminster|Westminster]], [[United Kingdom]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1885|11|28|1804|12|20}}
| death_place = [[Stover, Teigngrace|Stover Lodge]], [[Teigngrace]], [[Devon]], United Kingdom
| nationality = British
| party = [[Whig (British political faction)|Whig]]
| alma_mater = [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
| spouse = Jane Georgiana Sheridan <br />(d. 1884)
| children = 5, including [[Ferdinand Seymour, Earl St. Maur|Ferdinand]]
| parents = [[Edward St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset]]<br />Lady Charlotte Hamilton
}}

'''Edward Adolphus St Maur, 12th Duke of Somerset''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|PC|commas=on}} (20 December 1804{{snd}}28 November 1885), styled '''Lord Seymour''' until 1855, was a British [[Whig (British political faction)|Whig]] aristocrat and politician, who served in various cabinet positions in the mid-19th century, including that of [[First Lord of the Admiralty]].

==Background and education==
Somerset was the eldest son of [[Edward St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset]], and Lady Charlotte, daughter of [[Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=SEYMOUR, Edward Adolphus, Lord Seymour (1804–1885), of 18 Spring Gardens, Mdx. {{!}} History of Parliament Online |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/seymour-edward-1804-1885 |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org}}</ref> He was baptized on 16 February 1805 at [[St. George's, Hanover Square|St. George's]], [[Hanover Square, London|Hanover Square]], London.<ref>''The Complete Peerage''; vol. XII, pt. I, p. 86.</ref> He was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford]].<ref name="britannica">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Somerset, Earls and Dukes of|display=Somerset, Earls and Dukes of s.v. Edward Adolphus, 12th duke|volume=25|page=386|first=Ronald John|last=McNeill|authorlink=Ronald McNeill, 1st Baron Cushendun}}</ref>

He owned 25,000 acres, mostly in Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/greatlandownerso00bateuoft/page/414/mode/1up The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland]</ref>

==Political career==
Somerset sat as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] as Lord Seymour<ref name="britannica"/> for [[Okehampton (UK Parliament constituency)|Okehampton]] between 1830 and 1831<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ocommons.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Ochil to Oxford University |access-date=4 September 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816023438/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ocommons.htm |archive-date=16 August 2011 }}</ref> and for [[Totnes (UK Parliament constituency)|Totnes]] between 1834 and 1855.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Tcommons2.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Tipperary South to Tyrone West |access-date=4 September 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715143848/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Tcommons2.htm |archive-date=15 July 2018 }}</ref> He served under [[Lord Melbourne]] as a [[Lord of the Treasury]] between 1835 and 1839, as [[Joint Secretary to the Board of Control]] between 1839 and 1841 and as [[Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department]] between June and August 1841 and was a member of [[Lord John Russell]]'s [[Whig Government 1846–1852|first administration]] as [[First Commissioner of Woods and Forests]] between 1849 and 1851, when the office was abolished. He served on the [[Royal Commission on the British Museum]] (1847–49).<ref>''The Life of Sir Anthony Panizzi'', Volume 1, by Louis Alexander Fagan, p257</ref> In August 1851 he was appointed to the newly created office of [[First Commissioner of Works]] by Russell. In October of the same year, he entered the cabinet and was sworn of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21256 |date=24 October 1851 |page=2775 }}</ref> He remained First Commissioner of Works until the government fell in February 1852.

Somerset succeeded his father in the dukedom in 1855 and entered the [[House of Lords]]. He did not serve in [[Lord Palmerston]]'s [[Palmerston Government 1855–1858|first administration]], but when Palmerston became Prime Minister for the second time in 1859, Somerset was appointed [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], with a seat in the cabinet.<ref name="britannica"/> He held this post until 1866, the last year under the premiership of Russell. He refused to join [[William Ewart Gladstone]]'s [[Liberal Government 1868–1874|first ministry]] in 1868, but gave independent support to the chief measures of the government.<ref name="britannica"/>

He was made a [[Knight of the Garter]] in 1862<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22628 |date=23 May 1862 |page=2672 }}</ref> and in 1863 he was created '''Earl St. Maur''', of [[Berry Pomeroy]] in the [[Devon|County of Devon]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22746 |date=19 June 1863 |page=3132 }}</ref> "St. Maur" was supposed to have been the original form of the family name and "Seymour" a later corruption. From some time in the early 19th century until 1923, "St. Maur" was used as the family name, but since 1923 the dukes have again used the familiar "Seymour".

Somerset was also the author of ''Christian Theology and Modern Scepticism'' (1872), and ''Monarchy and Democracy'' (1880).<ref name="britannica"/> Between 1861 and 1885 he served as [[Lord Lieutenant of Devon]].<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080608023745/http://www.leighrayment.com/peers/peersS4.htm leighrayment.com Peerage: Slim to Sramfordham]}}</ref>

==Family==
Somerset married in [[Grosvenor Square]], London, on 10 June 1830, [[Jane Georgiana Sheridan]], who was the "Queen of Beauty" at the [[Eglinton Tournament of 1839]].<ref name="britannica"/> The Somersets had two sons and three daughters:
*[[Lady Jane Hermione Seymour]] (1 January 1832{{snd}}4 April 1909) she married [[Sir Frederick Ulric Graham, 3rd Baronet]], of [[Netherby, Cumbria|Netherby]], on 26 October 1852. They had eight children, including the [[James Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam|Countess of Verulam]] and the [[Violet Graham, Duchess of Montrose|Duchess of Montrose]].
*Lady Ulrica Frederica Jane Seymour (12 January 1833{{snd}}26 or 28 January 1916) she married the [[Rt Hon.]] [[Lord Henry Frederick Thynne]] on 1 June 1858. They had six children.
*[[Edward Adolphus Ferdinand Seymour, Earl St. Maur]] (17 July 1835{{snd}}30 September 1869) he had two illegitimate children by Rosina Swan.
*Lord Edward Percy Seymour (19 August 1841{{snd}}20 December 1865) was a diplomat and died after being mauled by a bear.<ref>[[The Complete Peerage]] vol. XIII, p.87, note b.</ref>
*Lady Helen Guendolen Seymour (14 November 1846{{snd}}14 August 1910) she married [[Sir John William Ramsden, 5th Baronet]] on 2 August 1865. They had four children. Lady Guendolen Ramsden inherited the [[Bulstrode Park|Bulstrode]] [[Estate (land)|estate]].

Her Grace died on 14 December 1884. The Duke of Somerset survived her by less than a year and died on 28 November 1885, aged 80, and was buried with her in St James's Churchyard at [[Gerrards Cross]], Buckinghamshire. As his two sons both died in his lifetime, the family titles (except the [[List of earldoms|Earldom of St. Maur]], which became extinct) devolved on his younger brother, [[Archibald Seymour, 13th Duke of Somerset]].<ref>[https://www.burkespeerage.com/ www.burkespeerage.com]</ref>

The 12th Duke left his London residence, [[Somerset House, Park Lane|Somerset House]] in [[Park Lane]], to his eldest daughter Lady Hermione Graham.<ref>''[[Notes & Queries]]'', vol. 133 (1916), [https://books.google.com/books?id=2WIEAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Murray+Smith%22 p. 318 (snippet)]</ref>

==Ancestry==

{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= '''Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset'''
|2= [[Edward Adolphus St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset]]
|3= Lady Charlotte Douglas-Hamilton
|4= [[Webb Seymour, 10th Duke of Somerset]]
|5= Anna Maria/Mary Anne Bonnell
|6= [[Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton]]
|7= Harriet Stewart
|8= [[Edward Seymour, 8th Duke of Somerset]]
|9= [[Mary Seymour, Duchess of Somerset|Mary Webb]]
|10= John Bonnell
|11= 
|12= [[James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton]]
|13= Anne Spencer
|14= [[Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway]]
|15= Lady Catherine Cochrane
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Hansard-contribs | lord-seymour | the Duke of Somerset }}
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{{s-non|reason=Extinct}}
{{S-end}}

{{Dukes of Somerset}}
{{First Lords of the Admiralty}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerset, Edward Seymour, 12th Duke Of}}
[[Category:1804 births]]
[[Category:1885 deaths]]
[[Category:Dukes of Somerset|512]]
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