The place of ballads in the drawing-rooms of the British aristocracy is well demonstrated by the involvement of Lord Henry Richard Charles Somerset. The second son of the 8th Duke of Beaufort, he was married at the age of 24 to the daughter of the third Earl of Somer. It was apparently a marriage of convenience and was not a success. While Lady Somerset, an heiress in her own right, devoted herself to philanthropic work, her husband pursued a variety of endeavours. These included the post of Comptroller of Her Majesty’s Household from 1874 to 1879, as well as song composition. Later he lived in Florence, where he died.
from notes by Andrew Lamb © 2003
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