John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset

{{Infobox UK legislation

| short_title = Restoration of Marquis of Hertford Act 1660

| type = Act

| parliament = Parliament of England

| long_title = An Act for the restoring of the Marquis of Hertford to the Dukedom of Somersett.

| year = 1660

| citation = 12 Cha. 2. c. 10

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| royal_assent = 13 September 1660

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He was a younger son of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and Lady Frances Devereux.{{Cite web |title=SEYMOUR, Lord John (c.1633-75) |first=John P. |last=Ferris |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/seymour-lord-john-1633-75 |website=History of Parliament Online |access-date=9 June 2022}} He was the only one of the second duke's still alive, when his father died and the title descended to his six-year-old nephew, William.{{cite book|title=A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire|first=John Bernard|last=Burke|date=1854|page=928}}

In 1661 he married Sarah, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Edward Alston and widow of George Grimston in exchange for a dowry of £10,000. Her father negotiated an independent income of £300 per year for his daughter and additional clauses to cover the possibility that she became a widow. The marriage was a financial success but otherwise it was a disaster. William liked drinking and gambling, but Sarah did not.{{Cite ODNB |last=Tomlinson |first=Howard |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-106715 |title=Seymour [née Alston; other married names Grimston; Hare], Sarah, duchess of Somerset (1631–1692), benefactor |date=2014-05-29 |volume=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/106715|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}

He was elected Member of Parliament for Marlborough in 1661. Although the voters of Marlborough usually accepted the Seymour family's nominee, on this occasion the seat was contested and he received only one more vote than his rival.{{cite web|title=Constituencies 1660-1690: Marlborough|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/constituencies/marlborough|publisher=History of Parliament|access-date=23 January 2025}} Unhappy in his marriage and having fallen out with his nephew's guardian and his mother, he entered Gray's Inn in 1666 in order to escape his creditors. He succeeded his nephew as the 4th Duke of Somerset in 1671, but much of the family estate was inherited by his niece Elizabeth, who subsequently married Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury.

He spent the last two separated from his wife after she petitioned the King concerning his behaviour. He died in 1675, childless and was buried in Salisbury Cathedral. He was succeeded in the dukedom by his cousin, Francis Seymour. The Marquessate of Hertford became extinct on his death.{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Somerset, Earls and Dukes of|volume=25|page=385}}

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{{succession box | before=The Duke of Ormonde | title=Lord Lieutenant of Somerset | years=1672–1675 | after=The Earl of Winchilsea}}

{{succession box | before=The Marquess of Worcester | title=Custos Rotulorum of Somerset | years=1672–1675 | after=The Viscount Fitzhardinge}}

{{s-bef | before=The Earl of Essex}}

{{s-ttl | title=Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire | years=1672–1675}}

{{s-aft | rows=2 | after=The 7th Earl of Pembroke}}

{{s-bef | before=The 6th Earl of Pembroke}}

{{s-ttl | title=Custos Rotulorum of Wiltshire | years=1674–1675}}

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{{s-bef|rows=2| before=William Seymour}}

{{s-ttl| title=Duke of Somerset | years=1671–1675}}

{{s-aft | after=Francis Seymour}}

{{s-break}}

{{s-ttl|title=Marquess of Hertford|years=1671–1675}}

{{s-non|reason=Extinct}}

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{{Dukes of Somerset}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerset, John Seymour, 4th Duke Of}}

Category:1640s births

Category:1675 deaths

504

Category:Members of Gray's Inn

Category:Lord-lieutenants of Somerset

Category:Lord-lieutenants of Wiltshire

Category:English MPs 1661–1679

John, 1675

Category:Marquesses of Hertford (1641 creation)

Category:Younger sons of dukes

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