Poulett Somerset
Colonel Poulett George Henry Somerset CB 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, he was a younger half-brother to Elizabeth Somerset, Mary Georgiana Somerset, Lt.-Gen. Sir Henry Somerset, Charlotte Augusta Somerset, Lt.-Col. Charles Henry Somerset, and the Rev. Villiers Somerset. From his parents' marriage, he had two younger sisters, Mary Sophia Somerset and Augusta Anne Somerset.His paternal grandparents were Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort and the former Elizabeth Boscawen. His maternal grandparents were John Poulett, 4th Earl Poulett and the former Sophia Pocock.
Somerset was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Career
He was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1839. On 12 May 1851, Somerset was sentenced to 10 days’ imprisonment in Coldbath Fields Prison for horsewhipping a police constable who was on duty outside the Crystal Palace during the Great Exhibition. The police constable had attempted to stop Somerset from driving his carriage along a closed road, first by signalling, then a verbal warning, and finally by taking hold of the horse’s reins. Somerset responded by "lashing the constable with his whip over the head and face”. On sentencing, the magistrate commented “the law knows no distinction of persons … you, from your position, ought to have set an example of obedience to those in authority.”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 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, the daughter of John Mytton, by whom he had two sons and a daughter:- Cecily Mary Caroline Somerset, who died young.
- Vere Francis John Somerset, who married Annette Katherine Hill and had issue.
- Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, who married and had issue.
- Cecily Emily Poulett Somerset, who married Capt. William Francis Annesley Wallace in 1896.