thumb|Coat of arms of the Marquess of Worcester

Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester (9 March 1602 or 9 March 16033 April 1667), styled Lord Herbert of Raglan from 1628 to 1644, was an English Catholic nobleman involved in royalist politics, and an inventor.

While Earl of Glamorgan, he was sent by Charles I to negotiate a peace treaty and alliance with the leadership of the Catholic Irish Confederacy. He enjoyed some success, but the agreement quickly broke down. He then joined the Confederates, and was appointed the commander of their Munster Army.

In 1655 he wrote The Century of Inventions, detailing more than 100 inventions, including a device that would have been one of the earliest steam engines.

Early life

Edward Somerset was the eldest of the nine sons of Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester, and his wife Anne Russell, a daughter of John Russell, Baron Russell, eldest son and heir apparent of Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford.

As his father's heir apparent he had the courtesy title of Lord Herbert and was brought up as a Roman Catholic at Raglan Castle and Chepstow Castle in Monmouthshire.

In 1627, Somerset was awarded the University of Cambridge degree of Master of Arts as the son of a nobleman, but no college admission is recorded for him.

Career

Herbert and his father were among the richest lords in England, funding experiments and later military endeavours, and sending large amounts of money to King Charles I. After a month with his force of over 2,000 troops encamped at Highnam, outside Gloucester, in March 1643 Herbert left them and travelled to meet the king at Oxford. In his absence, the entire force surrendered without any exchange of fire, earning it the title "The Mushroom Army", as it appeared and disappeared very quickly. Herbert was rewarded in 1644, however, with a peerage, being created Earl of Glamorgan and Baron Beaufort of Caldecote, while his father was still alive. Due to irregularities in the letters patent, these peerages were not recognised after the Restoration. In extricating himself from that position, he became a close ally of Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, and a potential replacement for James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, as royalist leader. His plans to bring Irish troops over to England were published in The King's Cabinet Opened after the King's baggage train had been captured at the Battle of Naseby, and Glamorgan was disowned by the King. He left for France with George Leyburn. He inherited his father's peerages and estates on 18 December 1646. After the Restoration his estates were restored, but he largely avoided politics, and did not press his claims to the various other titles of nobility.

Works

In 1655 he authored a book which consisted of textual descriptions of 100 separate inventions. It was eventually printed in 1663 and included a device described as his "Water-commanding Engine". Constructed from the barrel of a cannon, it was an obvious prototype design for what would later become the steam engine, and clearly anticipated the power and applications of that machine.

In 1663 Samuel Sorbière visited Edward's Vauxhall workshop and saw and described the "hydraulic machine which the Marquis of Worcester has invented." It was designed for purposes of irrigation, and would "raise to the height of forty feet, by the strength of one man and in the space of one minute of time, four large buckets of water." Cosimo de' Medici, Duke of Tuscany, visited it in 1669, when a similar description was given. Robert Hooke, however, described it as "one of the perpetual motion fallacies."

Marriage and children

thumb|Edward Somerset with Margaret and daughter Mary.

He married twice:

  • Firstly in 1628 to Elizabeth Dormer (died 31 May 1635), daughter of Sir William Dormer and Alice Molyneux, and sister of Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon, by whom he had one son and two daughters:
  • Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, his heir and successor, who was created Duke of Beaufort;
  • Lady Anne Somerset (c. 1631–1662), who married Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk, and had issue;
  • Lady Elizabeth Somerset (before 16351691), who married William Herbert, 1st Marquess of Powis, and had issue.
  • Secondly in 1639 he married Lady Margareta O'Brien (died 26 July 1681), daughter of Henry O'Brien, 5th Earl of Thomond and Mary Brereton, by whom he had one daughter:
  • Lady Mary Somerset, died young.

Burial

After his death his widow remarried Donough Kearney, who was charged with treason during the Popish Plot, but acquitted.

Almost 200 years after his death, in 1861, Victorian patent inspector Bennet Woodcroft attempted to locate the grave and the model steam engine which the Marquis stated should be buried with him. Woodcroft hoped, if the model was located, that "Englishmen will be gratified to find that their country has contributed even more than was supposed to the advancement of civilisation". and the Duke granted permission on the basis that Woodcroft also obtained ecclesiastical permission.