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George Seymour, 7th Marquess of Hertford

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The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Hertford
Personal details
Born
George Francis Alexander Seymour

(1871-10-20)20 October 1871
Knightsbridge, London, England[1]
Died16 February 1940 (1940-02-17) (aged 68)
Torquay, Devonshire, England
Resting placeWestminster Abbey
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1903; ann. 1908)​
Parent(s)6th Marquess of Hertford
Hon. Mary Hood
ResidenceRagley Hall

George Francis Alexander Seymour, 7th Marquess of Hertford (20 October 1871 – 16 February 1940) was a British aristocrat best remembered as a cross-dressing theatrical dancer, actor and ruthless fortune hunter. A member of the ancient House of Seymour, he was the son of Hugh Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford.[2] From 1884 to 1912 he was known as Earl of Yarmouth.

Early life

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Seymour was born on 20 October 1871. He was the second child and eldest son of eight children born to Hugh Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford (1843–1912) and the Hon. Mary Hood.[3] His siblings were Lady Margaret Alice Seymour (1869–1901) whose married name became Ismay, Lady Emily Mary Seymour (1873–1948), Lady Victoria Frederica Wilhelmina Georgina Seymour (1874–1960), Lady Jane Edith Seymour (b. 1877), Lord Henry Charles Seymour (1878–1939), who married Lady Helen Grosvenor, a daughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster, Lord Edward Beauchamp Seymour (1879–1917), and Lord George Frederick Seymour (1881–1940).[2][4]

His paternal grandparents were Francis Seymour, 5th Marquess of Hertford, and Lady Emily Murray, daughter of David Murray, 3rd Earl of Mansfield.[5] His maternal grandparents were Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, a British Army officer, and Lady Mary Penelope, the daughter of Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire.[6]

Career

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Yarmouth was commissioned into the Militia as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, the Black Watch in 1891.[7] He was promoted to lieutenant in 1894[8] and resigned his commission in 1896.[9] He was appointed a deputy lieutenant for Warwickshire in 1893.[10]

In 1895,[11] he was sent to Australia by his family "for the good of his health and the country", due to his blatant behaviour.[12] Under the stage name of ‘Mademoiselle Roze’ he performed a number of dances, including an imitation of Loie Fuller, in theatres in Hobart and Melbourne.[13]

He settled in Mackay, growing sugar cane and bananas, but quickly created great animosity, due to being a dishonest employer:[14] he was sued by a labourer (who won the case) for underpayment, and boasted tricking kanakas who purchased his chickens into thinking gold sovereigns were less valuable than silver half-crowns.[12]

He was noted for all-male house parties at his isolated residence 'The Rocks' near Mackay, and achieved notoriety for "skirt dancing" in a sequinned outfit with butterfly wings,[11] as one newspaper phrased it: "gyrating in the fluffy serpentine dance before a Kanaka audience... His legs being tough and skinny his audience show little inclination to pot him as long pig."[15][16] When he returned to England in 1897, a Mackay newspaper noted the citizens were "more interested in his departure" than his arrival.[12]

In 1904 Yarmouth joined the Warwickshire Imperial Yeomanry as a second lieutenant.[17] He transferred to the Territorial Force on its creation in 1908[18] and was promoted to lieutenant that year,[19] resigning his commission in 1911.[20] He was also a Justice of the Peace for Warwickshire.[21]

He appeared on stage in the United States in one of Charles Frohman's companies under the name of Eric Hope.[3]

He filed for bankruptcy in 1909 and 1910, shortly before inheriting his father's titles and estate, Ragley Hall.[11]

Peerage

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After his father's death on 23 March 1912,[3] he succeeded as the 7th Earl of Hertford, the 7th Earl of Yarmouth, the 8th Baron Conway of Ragley, the 7th Viscount Beauchamp, the 7th Marquess of Hertford, and the 8th Baron Conway and Killultagh.[22][23]

Personal life

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On 27 April 1903, he married heiress Alice Cornelia Thaw (1880–1955).[24] She was the daughter of William Thaw Sr.[25] At the wedding he extorted her parents to increase the dowry under the threat he would not go through the marriage.[26] The marriage was annulled in 1908 due to non-consummation.[27][28] As part of the divorce, all financial interests were returned to Thaw,[29][30] and she resumed using her maiden name.[31][32]

In May 1913, he was briefly engaged to the much older Mrs. Moss-Cockle, who'd received $3,250,000 from her former husband.[33]

Lord Hertford died at his home in Torquay, Devonshire in 1940, aged 68 and childless. His titles passed to his nephew, Hugh Seymour.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Births". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 21 October 1871. p. 1.
  2. ^ a b c "MARQUESS OE HERTFORD; Former Husband of Alice Thaw Dies in Devonshire at 68". The New York Times. 17 February 1940. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "MARQUIS OF HERTFORD DEAD. His Heir Is the Earl of Yarmouth, Who Married Alice Thaw". The New York Times. 24 March 1912. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  4. ^ Linzee, John William (1917). The Lindeseie and Limesi Families of Great Britain: Including the Probates at Somerset House, London, England, of All the Spellings of the Name Lindeseie from 1300 to 1800. Priv. Print. [The Fort Hill Press]. p. 747. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  5. ^ Urban, Sylvanus (1848). The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 183. E. Cave. p. 657. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  6. ^ "GREAT FAMILIES; Special Histories That Reach to the Present Day THE HOUSE OF CECIL. By G. Ravenscroft Dennis. THE SEYMOUR FAMILY. By A. Audrey Locke. THE CAVENDISH FAMILY. By Francis Bickley. LA TREMOILLE FAMILY. By Winifred Stephens, Illustrated. Houghton Mifflin Company. $2.50". The New York Times. 18 October 1914. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  7. ^ "No. 26183". The London Gazette. 17 July 1891. p. 3785.
  8. ^ "No. 26530". The London Gazette. 10 July 1894. p. 3941.
  9. ^ "No. 26747". The London Gazette. 9 June 1896. p. 3384.
  10. ^ "No. 26364". The London Gazette. 17 January 1893. p. 266.
  11. ^ a b c Aldrich, Robert; Wotherspoon, Garry (2005). Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History Vol.1: From Antiquity to the Mid-Twentieth Century. Routledge. p. 403. ISBN 9781134722150. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  12. ^ a b c Moore, Clive "Sunshine And Rainbows", University of Queensland Press, 2001, pp46-48
  13. ^ Jordaan, Peter A Secret Between Gentlemen: Lord Battersea’s hidden scandal and the lives it changed forever, Alchemie Books, Sydney 2022, pp104-106, ISBN 978-0-6456178-0-1
  14. ^ "THE EARL OF YARMOUTH ON THE WITNESS STAND; Gave His Pedigree and Said that He Was a Real Earl. Valet Testified that Whenever His Master Paid His Wages, He Borrowed Part of It Back". The New York Times. 10 May 1901. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  15. ^ The Clipper, Hobart, Tas, Sat 11 Apr 1896
  16. ^ "LORD YARMOUTH MADE JUDGE AND JURY LAUGH; Said He Was Libeled in Australia, and Told Why He Did Not Sue. Drew a Funny Picture to Show How He Looked In Ballet Costume -- To Continue His Testimony Monday". The New York Times. 11 May 1901. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  17. ^ "No. 27669". The London Gazette. 22 April 1904. p. 2588.
  18. ^ "No. 28189". The London Gazette. 27 October 1908. p. 7756.
  19. ^ "No. 28178". The London Gazette. 18 September 1908. p. 6766.
  20. ^ "No. 28532". The London Gazette. 19 September 1911. p. 6884.
  21. ^ Mosley, Ed., Charles (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  22. ^ "Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page". leighrayment.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ Dismore, Jane (2014). Duchesses: Living in 21st Century Britain. Bonnier Publishing Ltd. p. 36. ISBN 9781905825752. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  24. ^ "Mrs. Geoffrey Whitney, Broker's Widow And Member of Thaw Family, Dies at 75". New York Times. 10 May 1955. Retrieved 9 October 2010. Alice Cornelia Thaw Whitney, the widow of Geoffrey G. Whitney, Boston stockbroker, and sister of the late Harry K. Thaw, died here yesterday in her home of ...
  25. ^ "EARL OF YARMOUTH'S WEDDING; Arrangements for the Marriage of the British Nobleman to Miss Thaw Are Announced". The New York Times. 5 April 1903. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  26. ^ "EARL OF YARMOUTH WINS MISS THAW; Titled English Actor and American Heiress Will Wed. Acquaintance Began Three Months Ago -- Bride-Elect Worth $1,000,000, and Will Inherit More Millions". The New York Times. 18 February 1903. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  27. ^ MacColl, Gail; Wallace, Carol (2012). To Marry an English Lord. Workman Publishing. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-761-17198-0.
  28. ^ "MRS. COPLEY THAW ENGAGED.; Former Countess of Yarmouth to Marry Boston Broker in Spring". The New York Times. 19 December 1912. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  29. ^ "LADY YARMOUTH KEPT HER MONEY; Gave Only a Monthly Allowance to the Earl, and That May Stop. EARL WILL MAKE A FIGHT Mrs. Thaw, Suffering from Rheumatism, Will Not Attend the Opening of Her Son's Trial". The New York Times. 5 January 1908. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  30. ^ "EARL LOSES THAW MONEY.; All Financial Interests Extinguished by Annullment of Yarmouth's Marriage". The New York Times. 13 October 1908. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  31. ^ "YARMOUTH DECREE ABSOLUTE; Countess, Who Was Miss Alice Thaw, May Resume Maiden Name". The New York Times. 13 August 1908. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  32. ^ "EX-LADY YARMOUTH RETURNS.; Now Known as Mrs. Copley Thaw -- Has Taken House in London". The New York Times. 19 November 1908. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  33. ^ "HERTFORD TO MARRY AGAIN.; Former Earl of Yarmouth Engaged to a Widow with $3,250,000". The New York Times. 9 May 1913. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
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Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Marquess of Hertford
1912–1940 		Succeeded by
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