Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 51.djvu/323

  Macaulay's Hist. of England; Ranke's Hist. of England; Wyon's Hist. of Queen Anne, i. 301; Coxe's Life of Marlborough, ii. 307; Cook's Hist. of Parties; Townsend's Hist. of the House of Commons; Mrs. Pilkington's Memoirs, i. 7–11; Dalton's English Army Lists; Hist. MSS. Comm. 7th Rep. App. p. 301, 12th Rep. app. vii. passim.]

 SEYMOUR, EDWARD ADOLPHUS, eleventh (1775–1855), born on 24 Feb. 1775 at Monckton Farley in Wiltshire, was the third but eldest surviving son of Webb Seymour, tenth duke, by his wife Anna Maria, daughter and heir of John Bonnell of Stanton-Harcourt in Oxfordshire. His grandfather, Edward (1695–1757), who came of the elder branch of the Seymour family, succeeded as eighth Duke of Somerset on the failure of the younger line in 1750 [see, first ]. Edward was educated at Eton and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on 31 Jan. 1792. He succeeded to the peerage on the death of his father on 15 Dec. 1793. He was created M.A. at Oxford on 2 July 1794, and received the honorary degree of D.C.L. on 3 July 1810. From an early age he devoted himself to science and mathematics, displaying genuine aptitude for both studies. He was equally well versed in historical and antiquarian knowledge, and Patrick Fraser Tytler [q. v.] the historian valued his judgment in these matters highly. In 1797 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, in 1816 a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and in 1820 a fellow of the Linnean Society. He was also a member of the Royal Asiatic Society. He took an interest in the Royal Institution, of which he was president for some years, and from 1801 to 1838 he was president of the Royal Literary Fund. From 1826 to 1831 he was vice-president of the Zoological Society, and in 1834 he was chosen president of the Linnean Society, and held the office till 1837. He was bearer of the orb at the coronation of William IV in 1831 and of Victoria in 1838. On 19 April 1837 he was elected a knight of the Garter. He was esteemed an excellent landlord, and, unlike most large landowners, supported the repeal of the corn laws. In the period of agricultural depression which followed he showed his confidence in the measure by making large purchases of land. He died in London at Somerset House, Park Lane, on 15 Aug. 1855, and was buried at Kensal Green cemetery.

He was twice married: first, to Charlotte, second daughter of Archibald, ninth duke of Hamilton; she died on 10 June 1837, leaving three surviving sons and four daughters. The sons, Edward Adolphus Seymour, twelfth duke [q. v.], Archibald Henry Algernon, and Algernon Percy Banks (father of the present duke), all succeeded in turn to the title. The second wife of the eleventh duke of Somerset was Margaret, eldest daughter of Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart of Blackhall, Renfrewshire. She died at Somerset House on 18 July 1880.

The duke was the author of: 1. ‘The Elementary Properties of the Ellipse deduced from the Properties of the Circle,’ London, 1842, 8vo. 2. ‘Alternate Circles and their Connexion with the Ellipse,’ London, 1850, 12mo.

[Times, 16 Aug. 1855, 1st ed.; Gent. Mag. 1855, ii. 425; Michell's Tour of the Duke of Somerset through parts of England, Wales, and Scotland in 1795, published 1845; Foster's Alumni Oxon., 1715–1886; G. E. C.'s Peerage; Foster's Peerage.]

 SEYMOUR, EDWARD ADOLPHUS, twelfth (1804–1885), statesman and author, born on 20 Dec. 1804, was eldest son of Edward Adolphus Seymour, eleventh duke of Somerset [q. v.], by his first wife, and was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating on 11 Oct. 1823, but leaving the university without a degree. He then travelled abroad, visiting Russia among other countries. He married, on 10 June 1830, Jane Georgiana, the youngest of the three beautiful daughters of Thomas, only son of Richard Brinsley Sheridan [q. v.], by his marriage with Miss Linley. Her two elder sisters married respectively Price Blackwood, fourth baron Dufferin, and the Hon. G. C. Norton [see ]. Lord Seymour, as he was commonly called, fought a duel in 1835 with Sir Colquhoun Grant, who challenged him because he would not deny having been privy to the elopement of Sir Colquhoun's only daughter and heiress with his wife's brother, R. B. Sheridan. After shots had been exchanged without injury to either combatant, Seymour avowed his ignorance of the transaction. His wife had helped her brother to obtain the hand of the heiress, and she did so without informing her husband. In August 1839 his wife presided as ‘Queen of Beauty’ over the tournament at Eglinton Castle [see, thirteenth ].

Seymour entered the House of Commons as member for Okehampton in 1830, and for twenty-one years, from 1834 to 1855, was member for Totnes. He was a consistent liberal. In 1835 he was appointed a lord of the treasury in Melbourne's administration. In 1839 he was promoted to be secretary to