Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset the pride of birth and rank amounted almost to a disease". Charles was the second son of Charles Seymour, 2nd Baron Seymour of Trowbridge (died 1665), of Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire, by his wife Elizabeth Alington (1635–1692). The 2nd baron was (in a junior line) a great-great-grandson of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (executed 1552), brother of Queen Jane Seymour, uncle of King Edward VI and Lord Protector of England. Charles was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where his portrait by Nathaniel Dance-Holland survives in the College's collection. In 1675, Charles's elder brother Francis Seymour, 5th
Algernon Seymour, 15th Duke of Somerset build. After leaving the Regular Army, he spent several years ranching in Western America. On accession to the Dukedom in 1894, he voted often in the House of Lords, although he seldom spoke there. He became president of Dr Barnardo's Homes, a charity which both he and the Duchess had supported for many years. When Somerset died in 1923, he left no son, and his brothers Lord Ernest and Lord Edward had both recently died childless, so his titles and estates were inherited by the nearest heir, his distant cousin Colonel Edward Seymour. The Duke was buried on Brimble Hill