His Grace The Duke of Beaufort KGPC
The Duke of Beaufort,c. 1865–1875
Master of the Horse
In office 26 February 1858 – 11 June 1859
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby
Preceded by	The Duke of Wellington
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Ailesbury
In office June 1866 – 1 December 1868
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Marquess of Ailesbury
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Ailesbury
Personal details
Born	1 February 1824 (1824-02) Paris, France
Died	30 April 1899(1899-04-30) (aged 75) Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire, England
Party	Conservative
Spouse	Lady Georgiana Curzon (1825–1906)
Children	6, includingHenry Adelbert,Henry Richard, andHenry Arthur
Parent(s)	Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort Emily Culling Smith

Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort (1 February 1824 – 30 April 1899), styledEarl of Glamorgan until 1835 andMarquess of Worcester from 1835 to 1853,^[1] was a British peer, soldier, andConservative politician. He served asMaster of the Horse,Member of Parliament forEast Gloucestershire, andLord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire.

Born inParis, Beaufort was the only son ofHenry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort by his second wife Emily Frances (1800–1889), daughter ofCharles Culling Smith and his wifeLady Anne Wellesley (the sister ofArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington).^[2] He was educated atEton College.

Throughout his life he was known as 'Charles Beaufort' to distinguish him from his father; his sons, all given the first name Henry, also went by their middle names.^{[citation needed]}

Beaufort was commissioned a Cornet and Sublieutenant in the1st Life Guards on 17 August 1841. From 1842 to 1852, he was anaide-de-camp to theDuke of Wellington, thenCommander-in-Chief of the Forces^[2] (Beaufort's father had also been Wellington's aide-de-camp during thePeninsular War). He was promoted lieutenant on 7 July 1843. On 13 August 1847, he purchased a captaincy in the7th Hussars.^[3]

On 15 June 1852, Beaufort was appointed adeputy lieutenant ofGloucestershire, and after the death of Wellington in September, he continued to serve as aide-de-camp to the new Commander-in-Chief,Viscount Hardinge, until the latter's death in 1856.^[2]

On 21 April 1854, Beaufort purchased a commission as an unattached major,^[4] and on 5 May, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of theRoyal Gloucestershire Yeomanry, replacing his late father.^[5] During this time it was proposed to start "a cattle show" inMonmouth, and in 1857 Beaufort andJohn Etherington Welch Rolls each put money into a fund to start the show. Rolls was the greater financial contributor and he became President of the show.^[6] This cattle show is now known as theMonmouthshire Show.

Beaufort was breveted lieutenant colonel on 26 October 1858,^[7] but sold his commission and left the Army on 11 June 1861.^[8] On 16 September 1863, he was made adeputy lieutenant ofMonmouthshire. He was also appointed Honorary Colonel of the1st Gloucestershire Engineer Volunteer Corps on 20 November 1867. On 29 April 1874, he resigned the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Gloucestershire Yeomanry and became Honorary Colonel of the regiment.^[9] He resigned that commission on 2 July 1887.^[10] He also resigned the honorary colonelcy of the 1st Gloucestershire Engineer Volunteers on 2 December 1888.^[11]

In 1846, Beaufort was returned as aMember of Parliament (MP) forEast Gloucestershire, holding the seat until succeeding his father in the dukedom in November 1853. He was appointedMaster of the Horse on 26 February 1858, as part ofLord Derby'ssecond government and was made aPrivy Counsellor the same day. He left office in 1859, when Derby's ministry fell.^[1] Beaufort was again appointed Master of the Horse inDerby's third government in 1866. On 19 March 1867, he was made aKnight of the Garter and appointedLord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire later that year. He lost the Mastership of the Horse in 1868 when the government fell, but remained Lord Lieutenant for the remainder of his life.^[1]

Beaufort conceived and planned theBadminton Library series of sporting books, the publication of which began in 1885 with a volume onHunting,^[12] and acted as its overseeing editor.

Beaufort married Lady Georgiana Charlotte Curzon (29 September 1825 – 14 May 1906), daughter ofRichard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe, on 3 July 1845. They had eight children:

• Henry Arthur Fitzroy Somerset, Earl of Glamorgan (born and died 28 May 1846), survived only two hours after a difficult labour^[13]
• Henry Adelbert Wellington FitzRoy Somerset, 9th Duke of Beaufort (1847–1924); married Louise Emily Harford and had issue.
• Lord Henry Richard Charles Somerset (1849–1932); marriedLady Isabella Caroline Cocks and had issue.
• Major Lord Henry Arthur George Somerset (1851–1926); died unmarried.
• Major Lord (Henry) Edward Brudenell Somerset (1853–1897); married Fanny Julia Dixie, daughter of Sir Alexander Dixie,10th Baronet, and had issue.
• Lord (Henry) FitzRoy Francis Somerset (9 February 1855^[14] – 23 July 1881), died aged 26, suddenly, of a heart attack while playingcricket nearTetbury,Gloucestershire^[15]
• Lady Blanche Elizabeth Adelaide Somerset (26 March 1856^[16] – 1897); marriedJohn Beresford, 5th Marquess of Waterford and had issue.

Somerset died in 1899, aged 75 atStoke Gifford,Gloucestershire, fromgout and was buried on 5 May 1899 atSt Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton.

He owned 51,000 acres, mostly in the counties of Monmouth and Gloucester.^[17]

• Emily Rowland (1841 - 1907) ; Henry Charles Somersets "spouse". They had two children, Jesse Thomas Rowland ( 1866 - 1950 ) and Elizabeth Jane Rowland ( 1860 - 1931 ). They split up not long after they had the two children and Henry cut ties with the children. Emily Frances Culling Smith were Jesse's and Elizabeth's grandmother (paternal) and gave them a monthly allowance ≈£300 as she didn't cut ties with them.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toHenry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort.

• Hansard 1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Beaufort

• 1824 births
• 1899 deaths
• 1st Regiment of Life Guards officers
• 7th Queen's Own Hussars officers
• Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
• Deputy lieutenants of Gloucestershire
• Deputy lieutenants of Monmouthshire
• Dukes of Beaufort
• Barons Herbert
• Barons Botetourt
• Somerset family
• British Knights of the Garter
• Lord-lieutenants of Monmouthshire
• English people of Irish descent
• Masters of foxhounds in England
• Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
• People educated at Eton College
• UK MPs 1841–1847
• UK MPs 1847–1852
• UK MPs 1852–1857
• UK MPs who inherited peerages
• Royal Gloucestershire Hussars officers
• Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club
• 19th-century British landowners
• 19th-century British businesspeople

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from March 2022
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2024
• Commons category link is on Wikidata