Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester

The Marquess of Worcester
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Dormer Margaret O'Brien
Issue
Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester Anne Somerset Elizabeth Somerset Mary Somerset
Noble family	House of Beaufort
Father	Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester
Mother	Anne Russell
Born	1600s
Died	3 April 1667

Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester (1601? – 3 April 1667), styled Lord Herbert of Ragland from 1628–1644, was an English nobleman involved in royalist politics and an inventor. In 1655 he published The Century of Inventions, detailing more than 100 inventions, including a device that is one of the earliest steam engines.

Life

Edward Somerset graduated from Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, in 1627 with a Master of Arts (MA). In his day he was one of the richest Lords in England, funding his experiments, and later self-funding his military endeavours, and sending large amounts of money to the King during the Civil War. He was a Cavalier who supported Charles I in Wales and raised a regiment of horse for him. His campaigning in the West of England and in Wales did not go well. After a month with his force of over 2,000 troops encamped at Highnam, outside Gloucester, in March 1643 Herbert left them as he travelled to meet the king at Oxford. In his absence the entire force surrendered without any exchange of fire, earning it the title "The Mushroom Army". He was rewarded in 1644, however, with a peerage, being created Earl of Glamorgan and Baron Beaufort, of Caldecote. However, due to irregularities in the letters patent, these titles were not recognized after the Restoration.

Sent to Ireland, he made a false move in concluding a treaty, in great secrecy, on behalf of Charles that was considered to concede too much to the Catholics there; he himself was a Catholic. In extricating himself from that position, he became a close ally of Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, and a potential replacement for James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde as royalist leader. His plans to bring Irish troops over to England were overtaken by events, and he left for France with George Leyburn. He succeeded his father as Marquess of Worcester in 1646.

He was formally banished in 1649, but after four years in Paris returned to England in 1653. He was discovered, charged with high treason and sent to the Tower of London; he was treated leniently by the Council of State, and released on bail in 1654. That year he took up again his interest in engineering and inventions, leasing a house at Vauxhall where his Dutch or German technician Kaspar Kalthoff could work. After this he largely avoided politics, and did not press his claims to the various other titles of nobility.

Works

In 1655 he authored a book which consisted of textual descriptions of 100 separate inventions. It was eventually printed in 1663 and included a device described as his "Water-commanding Engine". Constructed from the barrel of a cannon, it was an obvious prototype design for what would later become the steam engine, which clearly anticipated the power and applications of that machine.

When Edward died he suggested that a model of his engine should be buried with him. Almost 200 years later in 1861, this prompted Victorian collector Bennet Woodcroft to mount an expedition, on behalf of The Science Museum, to the vault of Raglan church, to try to find a model of the invention in Somerset's tomb. Despite opening the coffin lid and searching thoroughly, no model was found. Woodcroft did, however, return with one of Edward's fingernails.

Family

He was the son of Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester and his wife Anne Russell. In 1628, he married Elizabeth Dormer (d. 31 May 1635), sister of Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon, by whom he had one son and two daughters:

• Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, his heir and successor, who later became 1st Duke of Beaufort;
• Lady Anne Somerset (1631?–1662), married Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk, and had issue;
• Lady Elizabeth Somerset (bef. 1635 – aft. c. 1680), married William Herbert, 1st Marquess of Powis, and had issue.

In 1639, after Elizabeth's death, Lord Herbert married Margaret O'Brien (d. 26 July 1681), daughter of Henry O'Brien, 5th Earl of Thomond. They had one daughter:

• Lady Mary Somerset, died young.

External links

Peerage of England
Preceded by Henry Somerset	Marquess of Worcester 1646–1667	Succeeded by Henry Somerset