Edward Seymour, 16th Duke of Somerset

Brigadier-General Edward Hamilton Seymour, 16th Duke of Somerset, KBE, CB, CMG (12 May 1860 – 5 May 1931) was the son of Reverend Francis Payne Seymour and Jane Margaret Dallas. His father was the great-grandson of Lord Francis Seymour. He was also a baronet.

Biography Education and career Seymour was educated at Blundell's School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and joined the Dublin Fusiliers in 1880.

Seymour transferred to the Army Ordnance Department in 1896, and was promoted to major (ordnance officer, 3rd class) on 7 April 1898. In 1900 he served at the Royal Army Clothing Depot, with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel (ordnance officer, 2nd class) from 4 January 1900. Within the Army Ordnance Department he rose through the ranks of Assistant Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores from 1909-14, before being promoted to Deputy Director in 1914 and later Inspector in 1918.

Personal life and family On 28 July 1881, Seymour married Rowena Wall, a daughter of George Wall, of Colombo, Ceylon. Together, they had one son:

Evelyn Francis Edward Seymour (1 May 1882 - 26 April 1954), who married Edith Mary Parker, only child of William Parker of Whittington Hall, on 3 January 1906.

Rowena, Duchess of Somerset died on 13 November 1950.

Duke of Somerset Following the death of Seymour's childless third-cousin-once-removed Algernon Seymour, 15th Duke of Somerset in 1923, Seymour was understood to be the likely successor to the Dukedom of Somerset; who ruled in his favour on 25 March 1925. Part of his claim required him to prove that his great-grandparents Col. Francis Compton Seymour and Leonora Hudson had been lawfully married before the birth of his grandfather Francis Edward Seymour on 21 September 1788. His claim was disputed by his sixth-cousin, George Seymour, 7th Marquess of Hertford, who sought to prove that Leonora Hudson's first husband John had not died in 1786, and was still living at the time of her second marriage.

Ancestry