FitzRoy Somerset, 5th Baron Raglan
Life
John FitzRoy Somerset, 5th Baron Raglan was the son of FitzRoy Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan ( 1885-1964 ) and Hon Julia Hamilton born. He attended Westminster School and served as a captain in the Welsh Guards. He studied at Magdalen College, University of Oxford and then Agricultural Sciences at Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Later he took over the management of the family estates in Monmouthshire.
He was campaign manager for Michael Foot, former British Member of Parliament in the constituency of Blaenau Gwent. From 1970 to 1983 he was Chairman of the Board ( Chairman ) of the Cwmbran Development Corporation. This company was founded in 1949 in order to manage to improve the infrastructure and creating jobs, building the city Cwmbran. He was chairman of the Courtyard Arts Trust (1974-1983), the Bath Preservation Trust (1975-1977) and the Bath Society ( from 1977). He was also president of the Bath Centre National Trust.
1958 Somerset was appointed justice of the peace of the county of Monmouthshire. Since 1971 he was the Deputy Lieutenant.
In 1973 he married Alice Baily. The marriage remained childless and ended in divorce in 1981. Somerset last lived alone with a maid in his house in Cefntilla Court, the ancestral home of the family. He died after a brief illness in Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny.
Membership in the House of Lords
Lord Raglan was from September 1964 to November 1999 Member of the House of Lords. He was a member of the Subcommittee on Food and Agriculture ( Sub-Committee D Food and Agriculture ). From 1974 to 1985 and again from 1987 to 1992 he was a member of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Communities ( Committee on the European Communities ). From 1976 to 1978 he was its chairman.
Social Commitment
Somerset engaged intensively in the context of charitable organizations and foundations. For companies in his house, he used his social position often for the purpose of fundraising. He was from 1974 to 1990 a member of the UK Housing Association (later the UK Housing Trust ), a gemeinnützingen Housing Corporation for social housing. From 1982 to 1989 he was the President, 1975-1989 Chairman for the Wales region. From 1989 to 1991 he was chairman of the United Welsh Housing Association, from 1991, he was its president.
Somerset was further patron of Monmouthshire Crossroads, a charity organization that offers recreation and nursing breaks for family carers provides. He was patron of parity, an organization that fights for the legal and social equality of man and woman.
He was also a patron of the Usk Farmers' Club and the Raglan Baroque Players. Raglan was particularly interested in the late Baroque music. This led to the founding of the Raglan Baroque Players and the introduction of the traditional New Year's Eve concerts Raglan Baroque Players. Raglan invited multiple renowned artists to concerts at his country seat, a; among others, joined the British harpsichordist and conductor Nicholas Kraemer on with the Brandenburg Concertos.
Trivia
Somerset was an avid car enthusiast and racer. He had a particular weakness for vintage Bugatti. In his brief inaugural speech in the House of Lords, which he held in 1965, he gave a breakdown as the reason for his delay and apologized for his not befitting presentation. He had at least three old Bugatti models and was president of the Bugatti Owners' Club since 1988. His Bugatti also presented in 1996 in a TV documentary on BBC Wales Today.