Edward Arthur Somerset


Lieutenant-General Edward Arthur Somerset CB was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician, the son of Lord Robert Somerset.

Biography

He joined the Rifle Brigade as a second lieutenant on 29 January 1836, becoming a lieutenant on 9 July 1840 and a captain on 31 January 1845. Somerset unsuccessfully contested Monmouthshire in 1847, but was returned at its Member of Parliament in 1848, and continued to represent it as a Conservative until accepting the Stewardship of the Manor of Hempholme on 23 June 1859.
Somerset married Agatha Miles, daughter of Sir William Miles, on 13 September 1849. They had one son and eight daughters:
Somerset served in the 8th Xhosa War, and then in the Crimean War. He saw action the Alma, Balaclava, and Inkermann. Shortly after, he was promoted major on 12 November 1854, and served at the Siege of Sevastopol, being promoted lieutenant-colonel on 23 March 1855. He was afterwards made a Knight 5th Class of the Medjidie, and awarded the CB in 1857.
He was promoted colonel on 29 May 1858, and major general on 6 March 1860. He was returned as Member of Parliament for West Gloucestershire in 1867, but was defeated the following year. Somerset served as acting Governor of Gibraltar from 1875 to 1876, and in 1878. On 1 October 1877, he was made lieutenant general. On 19 December 1881, he was appointed colonel of the 1st Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. He resigned the colonelcy in 1883 when he went on the retired list, but was colonel-commandant of the 1st Battaltion, King's Royal Rifle Corps from 1884 until his death in 1886.