The Duke of Beaufort | |
---|---|
Spouse(s) | Mary Sackville Rachel Noel Mary Osborne |
Issue | |
Noble family | House of Beaufort |
Father | Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester |
Mother | Rebecca Child |
Born | 2 April 1684 |
Died | 24 May 1714 (aged 30) |
Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort, KG PC (2 April 1684 – 24 May 1714) was the only son of Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, and Rebecca Child. He was styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1698, and Marquess of Worcester from 1698 until his grandfather's death on 21 January 1700, when he succeeded him as 2nd Duke of Beaufort.
Born at Monmouth Castle, he entertained Queen Anne and the Prince Consort with splendour at Badminton in August 1702. He held aloof from public affairs until the fall of Sunderland heralded the collapse of the Whig Junto in 1710, when he is said to have remarked to the queen that he could at length call her a queen in reality. A thorough-going Tory, he was, after some opposition from Jonathan Swift, admitted a member of the "Brothers’ Club" on 21 February 1711. He was made captain of the gentlemen pensioners in 1712, and appointed a Knight of the Garter in October 1712.
Dying at the age of thirty, on 24 May 1714, Beaufort was succeeded by his son Henry. The 2nd Duke is buried at St Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton.
He married three times:
With his second wife he had two sons:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.