Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort

The Duke of Beaufort
Spouse(s)	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 1700

Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, KG, PC (1629 – 21 January 1700) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1667, when he succeeded his father as 3rd Marquess of Worcester. He was styled Lord Herbert from 1644 until 3 April 1667. The Dukedom of Beaufort was bestowed upon him by King Charles II in 1682.

Henry Somerset was born at Raglan Castle in 1629, and from 1644 was styled Lord Herbert of Raglan. As a reward for the services of his father Edward, he was promised, on 1 April 1646, the hand of Princess Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of King Charles I. He left the country during the First English Civil War, but returned by 1650.

His father's estates had been forfeited, and those in Monmouthshire were held by Oliver Cromwell, but Herbert was given an allowance. Having renounced the Roman Catholic faith, to which his father had held, he became acceptable to Cromwell, and was known as plain Mr. Herbert. He adopted the "republican" form of marriage before a justice of the peace in 1657. He sat in the First Protectorate Parliament as Member of Parliament for Breconshire in 1654–5.

After Cromwell's death Herbert then joined the party that demanded a "full and free parliament", in practical terms demanding the Restoration of the House of Stuart. He was involved in the royalist plot of July 1659, and was committed to the Tower of London, whence he wrote to his wife on 20 August 1659 a letter taking a justly sanguine view of his situation. He was released on 1 November 1659, and was elected MP for Monmouthshire and for Wootton Basset in 1660; he chose to sit for Monmouthshire in the Convention Parliament. In 1661 he was re-elected MP for Monmouthshire in the Cavalier Parliament and sat until 1667 when he inherited a peerage.