Henry Somerset , 8th Duke of Beaufort Captain Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset , 8th Duke of Beaufort KG , PC , DL ( 1 February 1824 – 30 April 1899 ) , styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1835 and Marquess of Worcester from 1835 to 1853 , was a British peer , soldier and Conservative politician . He served as Master of the Horse between 1858 and 1859 and again between 1866 and 1868 . Background and education . Born at Paris , he was the only son of Henry Somerset , 7th Duke of Beaufort by his second wife Emily Frances , daughter of Charles Culling Smith and his wife Lady Anne Wellesley . He was educated at Eton College . Military career . Beaufort was commissioned a Cornet and Sublieutenant in the 1st Life Guards on 17 August 1841 . From 1842 to 1852 , he was an aide - de - camp to the Duke of Wellington , then Commander - in - Chief of the Forces ( Beaufort ' s father had also been Wellington ' s aide - de - camp during the Peninsular War ) . He was promoted lieutenant on 7 July 1843 . On 13 August 1847 , he purchased a captaincy in the 7th Hussars . On 15 June 1852 , Beaufort was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Gloucestershire , and after the death of Wellington in September , he continued to serve as aide - de - camp to the new Commander - in - Chief , Viscount Hardinge , until the latter ' s death in 1856 . On 21 April 1854 , Beaufort purchased a commission as an unattached major , and on 5 May , he was appointed Lieutenant - Colonel Commandant of the Royal Gloucestershire Yeomanry ( Royal Gloucestershire Hussars ) , replacing his late father . During this time it was proposed to start " a cattle show " in Monmouth , and in 1857 Beaufort and John Etherington Welch Rolls each put money into a fund to start the show . Rolls was the greater financial contributor and he became President of the show . This cattle show is now known as the Monmouthshire Show . Beaufort was breveted lieutenant colonel on 26 October 1858 , but sold his commission and left the Army on 11 June 1861 . On 16 September 1863 , he was made a deputy lieutenant of Monmouthshire . He was also appointed Honorary Colonel of the 1st Gloucestershire Engineer Volunteers on 20 November 1867 . On 29 April 1874 , he resigned the lieutenant - colonelcy of the Gloucestershire Yeomanry and became Honorary Colonel of the regiment . He resigned that commission on 2 July 1887 . He also resigned the honorary colonelcy of the 1st Gloucestershire Engineer Volunteers on 2 December 1888 . Political career . In 1846 , Beaufort was returned as Member of Parliament for East Gloucestershire as a Conservative , holding the seat until succeeding his father in the dukedom in November 1853 . He was appointed Master of the Horse on 26 February 1858 , as part of Lord Derby ' s second government and was made a Privy Counsellor the same day . He left office in 1859 , when Derby ' s ministry fell . Beaufort was again appointed Master of the Horse in Derby ' s third government in 1866 . On 19 March 1867 , he was made a Knight of the Garter and appointed Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire later that year . He lost the Mastership of the Horse in 1868 when the government fell , but remained Lord Lieutenant for the remainder of his life . Beaufort conceived and planned the Badminton Library series of sporting books , the publication of which began in 1885 with a volume on " Hunting " , and acted as its overseeing editor . Family . Beaufort married Lady Georgiana Charlotte Curzon ( 29 September 1825 – 14 May 1906 ) , daughter of Richard Curzon - Howe , 1st Earl Howe , on 3 July 1845 . They had five children : Somerset died in 1899 , aged 75 at Stoke Gifford , Gloucestershire , from gout and was buried on 5 May 1899 at St Michael and All Angels Church , Badminton .