Notes |
- Lord Raglan was patron of a number of charities, heavily involved in the Usk community, and renowned for his love of vintage racing cars, including his own Bugatti.
He was described by friend Peter Woodiwiss as a "true gentleman" who shied away from the limelight.
Lord Raglan was patron of the Bugatti Owners Club and he kept his Bugatti in his stable of his Cefntilla Court home .
He often allowed charities to use his home and gardens near Usk for events and was involved with the Usk Open Gardens weekend, which raises money for charities.
Lord Raglan served as a Welsh Guard and was the election agent for former Blaenau Gwent MP Michael Foot.
Lord Raglan was also involved in Usk Civic Society, Usk Rural Life Museum and many other organisations.
Mr Woodiwiss said his friend frequently visited his home to eat with him and his wife Betty, and described Lord Raglan as a man with a big heart who was generous with his time."He could be stubborn, but was always fair and generous," said Mr Woodiwiss. "He did a huge amount behind the scenes and didn't want to be in the limelight.
"He was a very well liked, humorous man who can never be replaced. He was part of a generational way of life that has now gone."
Born FitzRoy John Somerset on November 8 1927, Lord Raglan was the son of the Fourth Baron Raglan and the Honourable Julia Hamilton.
He married Alice Baily, daughter of Peter Baily, in 1973. The couple had no children and were divorced in 1981.
The former Welsh Guard lived alone at Cefntilla, employing a housekeeper.
The First Baron Raglan commanded British troops in the Crimea and was responsible for the Charge of the Light Brigade, although he didn't actually join the charge, instead observing it through a telescope from a nearby hill.
The title passed to his brother, Geoffrey.
THE title, Baron Raglan, was created in 1852 for the military commander Lord Fitzroy Somerset, chiefly remembered as later commander of the British troops during the Crimean War.
Somerset was the youngest son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort. Cefntilla Court was given to the family for his services to the nation.
In the 16th century, the Somerset family also owned Raglan Castle.
In the 17th century, after Parliamentary forces took the castle in the English Civil War, Cromwell ordered that it be demolished, and it was left to go to ruin.
It is now run by Welsh historic monuments body Cadw.
One of Wales' foremost aristocratic families has been split in two by a dispute over a will.
The division has opened up in the Somerset family, whose origins go back to the first Lord Raglan, the commander of British troops during the Crimean War forever associated with the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade.
The dispute began when the fifth Lord Raglan, Fitzroy Somerset, wrote his nephew Arthur Somerset out of his will around six months before his death aged 82 in January 2010.
Now the family's 19th century seat of Cefntilla set in a sumptuous 350-acre estate in the Monmouthshire countryside is instead set to pass to the fifth Lord Raglan's other nephew Henry van Moyland, and for the first time since 1856 the land and title will be separated.
Sources suggest the fifth Lord Raglan had gradually become "upset" with Mr Somerset over a period of several years.
At its height in 1964 the estate ran to more than 1,000 acres and included six farms after the fourth Lord Raglan expanded on the original 238 acres.
Though based at Cefntilla, now estimated to be worth over ?4.5m, since the mid-19th century the family's links to Raglan, in Monmouthshire, go back much further.
At the end of the 15th century Sir Charles Somerset, the son of Henry Beaufort, married Elizabeth Herbert and the couple lived at Raglan Castle.
At Cefntilla an inscription over the porch dated 1858 reads: "This house with 238 acres of land was purchased by 1623 of the friends, admirers and comrades in arms of the late Field Marshal Lord Raglan GCB (Knight Grand Cross) and presented by them to his son and his heirs for ever in a lasting memorial of affectionate regard and respect".
Mr van Moyland is the son of Cecily Graham, 72, of Somerset, who was the youngest child of the fourth Baron Raglan, also Fitzroy, and his wife Julia Hamilton.
The third Lord Raglan, George Somerset, "disentailed" the estate, meaning although he ultimately decided to pass it on to his son there was no longer any obligation on a future owner to follow this pattern. From then on it could effectively be left to anyone.
Property associated with the fifth Lord Raglan's estate was sold at an auction in February 2011 for ?1.3m when his two prized Bugatti cars were put up for sale in Paris.
|