Colonel Charles Josslyn Seymour Stewart-Seymour-Somerset, 16th Duke of Somerset KG MVO PC (18 May 1883 - 23 April 1980) was a British peer. He is known for being the father of William Stewart (the 17th Duke of Somerset), who served as the 35th President of the United States. He is also the grandfather of Henry Stewart-Seymour-Somerset, 18th Duke of Somerset and great-grandfather of Charles Stewart-Seymour-Somerset, 19th Duke of Somerset, both having served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Early life
He was the eldest son of Henry Stewart-Seymour-Somerset, 15th Duke of Somerset and his wife Lady Victoria Spencer, daughter of Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer. He was educated at Eton College and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
After having served for 6 years as the youngest British Ambassador to the United States, he became a Colonel in the Coldstream Guards, and he was stationed for much of his career in an office in the British military barracks in France. His automatic granting of rank after graduating from Sandhurst was attributed to his background and status as a Duke and the reduction of the officer class during war time.
Government
During the war, the Duke became famous for his attempt to persuade the British people that the Germans were natural allies. His diplomacy involved visits to meet Hitler, Hess, Goering, Himmler, von Papen, and other senior members of the German Government and the much-discussed two stays, of several days each, in 1936, of Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Ambassador to the Court of St. James, later the German foreign minister, at the principal ancestral homes of the Duke. They came to Marchmont House on 29 May – 2 June, and were at Encombe House on 13–17 November, and for subsequent briefings with government officials in London.
During the first two visits, prior to the abdication of Edward VIII (who the Nazis assessed as a supporter of their party), Galloway was considered an aristocrat of real influence by Hitler. The friendly regard in which the Duke was held in Berlin was reflected in Hitler indiscreetly informing his guest, in October 1936, of his intended moves both on Czechoslovakia and Poland years in advance of these two invasions being actioned.
In the end, Galloway's high-profile promotion of Anglo-German friendship marked him with a far greater slur than that which had led him to engage in appeasement in the first place.
Right: The Duke of Somerset and Adolf Hitler at Marchmont House in 1936.
Family
In 1914, he married Lady Eleanor Gascoyne-Cecil, daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury and his wife Lady Cicely Alice Gore. They had three children:
- William Henry Josslyn Stewart-Seymour-Somerset, 17th Duke of Somerset (2 July 1915 – 5 July 2015)
- Lady Beatrice Mary Sybil Stewart-Seymour-Somerset, Duchess of Argyll (26 March 1918 - 11 August 2016)
- Lord Nicholas Charles Norman Stuart Stewart-Seymour-Somerset (3 August 1921 - 4 May 2015)
The Duchess of Somerset died on the 24th of December 1988 aged 93.