George Seymour, 7th Marquess of Hertford
| The Most Honourable The Marquess of Hertford |
|
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
George Francis Alexander Seymour 20 October 1871 |
| Died |
16 February 1940 (aged 68) Torquay, Devonshire, England |
| Resting place | Westminster Abbey |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Cornelia Thaw (m. 1903; div. 1908) |
| Parents |
6th Marquess of Hertford Hon. Mary Hood |
| Residence | Ragley Hall |
George Francis Alexander Seymour, 7th Marquess of Hertford (20 October 1871 – 16 February 1940) was the son of Hugh Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford.
Seymour was born 20 October 1871. He was the second child and eldest son of eight children born to Hugh Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford (1843–1912) and the Hon. Mary Hood. His siblings were Lady Margaret Alice Seymour (1869–1901), Lady Emily Mary Seymour (1873–1948), Lady Victoria Frederica Wilhelmina Georgina Seymour (1874–1960), Lady Jane Edith Seymour (b. 1877), Lord Henry Charles Seymour (1878–1939), who married Lady Helen Grosvenor, a daughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster, Lord Edward Beauchamp Seymour (1879–1917), and Lord George Frederick Seymour (1881–1940).
His paternal grandparents were Francis Seymour, 5th Marquess of Hertford, and Lady Emily Murray, daughter of David Murray, 3rd Earl of Mansfield. His maternal grandparents were Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, a British Army officer, and Lady Mary Penelope, the daughter of Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire.
In the 1895, he was sent to Australia by his family "for the good of his health and the country", due to his blatant behaviour. He settled in Mackay, growing sugar cane and bananas, but quickly created great animosity, due to being a dishonest employer: he was sued by a labourer (who won the case) for underpayment, and boasted tricking kanakas who purchased his chickens into thinking gold sovereigns were less valuable than silver half crowns.
He was noted for all-male house parties at his isolated residence 'The Rocks' near Mackay, and achieved notoriety for "skirt dancing" in a sequinned outfit with butterfly wings, as one newspaper phrased it: "gyrating in the fluffy serpentine dance before a Kanaka audience... His legs being tough and skinny his audience show little inclination to pot him as long pig." When he returned to England in 1897, a Mackay newspaper noted the citizens were "more interested in his departure" than his arrival.
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