Poulett Somerset

Colonel Poulett George Henry Somerset (19 June 1822 – 7 September 1875) was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician.

Early life Somerset was born on 19 June 1822. He was the eldest son of Lord Charles Somerset by his second wife, Lady Mary Poulett. From his father's first marriage to Lady Elizabeth Courtenay (daughter of the 8th Earl of Devon), he was a younger half-brother to Elizabeth Somerset (wife of Gen. Hon. Sir Henry Wyndham), Mary Georgiana Somerset (wife of Lt-Col. Stirling Freeman Glover), Lt.-Gen. Sir Henry Somerset, Charlotte Augusta Somerset (wife of Herbert Cornewoll), Lt.-Col. Charles Henry Somerset, and the Rev. Villiers Somerset (who married Frances Dorothy Ley). From his parents' marriage, he had two younger sisters, Mary Sophia Somerset and Augusta Anne Somerset (wife of Sir Henry Barron, 1st Baronet). His maternal grandparents were John Poulett, 4th Earl Poulett and the former Sophia Pocock (a daughter of Admiral Sir George Pocock).

Somerset served as an aide-de-camp to his uncle, Lord Raglan, during the Crimean War. He fought at the Alma, Balaclava, and Inkermann. At Inkermann, his horse was killed under him by a shell. He served at the Siege of Sevastopol and was made a CB for his Crimean services in 1855, as well as a Knight of the Order of the Medjidie, 4th Class.

Political career In 1859, he was returned as Member of Parliament (MP) for Monmouthshire after his first cousin Edward Arthur Somerset resigned. He held the seat until 1871, when he became Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.

Personal life On 15 April 1847, he married Barbara Augusta Norah Mytton (d. 4 June 1870), the daughter of John Mytton, by whom he had two sons and a daughter:

Cecily Mary Caroline Somerset (1852–1862), who died young.