John Michael Edward Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset, (born 30 December 1952), styled Lord Seymour between 1954 and 1984, is a British aristocratic landowner in Wiltshire and Devon, and a member of the House of Lords.

Early life

The Duke is the son of Percy Seymour, 18th Duke of Somerset, and Jane née Thomas (died 2005). His paternal grandmother, Edith Mary Parker, was a daughter of William Parker and Lucinda Steeves (a daughter of William Steeves, one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation). He was educated at Hawtreys and Eton College.

Career

Seymour qualified as a Chartered Surveyor before succeeding to the dukedom in 1984 on the death of his father. Having lost his seat in the House of Lords under the House of Lords Act 1999; he was elected at the December 2014 House of Lords by-elections, to sit as a crossbencher. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Wiltshire in 1993 and for Devon in 2003. In 2015, the Duke was involved in a dispute over a plan to build housing on ancestral land he owns in Totnes, Devon.

Personal life

On 20 May 1978, Lord Seymour married Judith-Rose Hull, daughter of John Folliott Charles Hull and Rosemarie Kathleen née Waring, at All Saints' church, Maiden Bradley. The Duke and Duchess have four children: The Duke's principal seat is Bradley House, Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire, and he also owns Berry Pomeroy Castle in Devon. The Duke and his wife are patrons and official hosts of the Queen Charlotte's Ball. He was a patron of UKIP in the early 2000s.

Arms

Family tree