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James Saumarez, 4th Baron de Saumarez

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The Right Honourable
The Lord de Saumarez
Born
James St Vincent Saumarez

(1843-07-17)17 July 1843
London, England
Died25 April 1937(1937-04-25) (aged 93)
Saumarez Park, Guernsey
EducationEton College
Cheltenham College
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
Spouse
Jane Anne Broke
​
​
(m. 1882, died)​
Children4, including James
Parent(s)John Saumarez, 3rd Baron de Saumarez

James St Vincent Saumarez, 4th Baron de Saumarez[a] (17 July 1843 – 25 April 1937), was a British diplomat and peer, for some forty-five years a member of the House of Lords.

Early life

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Saumarez was born in London on 17 July 1843, while his parents were living at 41, Prince's Gate, South Kensington.[2] He was the eldest son of Colonel John Saumarez, 3rd Baron de Saumarez, an army officer, by his marriage to Caroline Esther Rhodes (1818–1846).[3]

His paternal grandparents were Adm. James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez, and Martha Le Marchant. His maternal grandfather was William Rhodes of Kirskill Hall, Yorkshire, and Bramhope Hall, Yorkshire.[4][5]

He was educated at Eton, Cheltenham College, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he matriculated in the Lent term of 1861 and graduated BA in 1863, promoted to MA in 1867.[2]

Career

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Shrubland Hall, inherited by Lady de Saumarez in 1887

After rising to the rank of captain in the Grenadier Guards,[6] Saumarez joined the Diplomatic Service in 1867.[3] His overseas postings were to Paris (1868), Berlin (1872), Athens (1873), Japan (1875),[7] Paris and Rome (1880), and Brussels (1881).[2] While in Paris in 1871, he was witness to the Commune rioting.[8] In 1882, he served as Second Secretary in the British embassy to the King of the Belgians.

He retired from the Diplomatic Corps in 1885,[2] and in 1891 succeeded his father as the 4th Baron de Saumarez, in the Island of Guernsey in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, as well as the 4th Baronet Saumarez, in the Island of Guernsey in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom.[9]

Estates

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In 1869, he exercised his droit de retraite (right of redemption) to buy Saumarez Park and the Le Guet estate at Castel on the island of Guernsey, after his father, the third Baron, had put the property up for sale.[10] He spent many years in developing Saumarez Park, including building a Japanese house and temple there.[10] He acquired the temple in Japan, had it dismantled and shipped to Europe, then re-erected it on his Guernsey estate.[2]

In 1887, on the death of her uncle Admiral Sir George Broke-Middleton, his wife inherited the Shrubland Park at Coddenham, Suffolk, Broke Hall at Ipswich,[11] and Livermore Park at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.[12] In London, they lived at 43 Grosvenor Place in Belgravia, which was close to Grosvenor Square (and, today, is directly opposite the American Embassy).[6] Lady de Saumarez's inheritance made her the largest owner of London real estate in the aristocracy outside of the Duke of Westminster, which she held until the Middleton Estate, as it was known, was sold in 1921.[8]

Personal life

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On 10 October 1882, Saumarez married Jane Anne Vere-Broke (1853–1933), eldest daughter of Capt. Charles Acton Vere-Broke and Anna Maria Hamilton (a daughter of John Hamilton of Sundrum). Jane, who was born at Zante, Ionian Islands, was the granddaughter of another Royal Navy officer, Adm. Sir Philip Broke, "Broke of the Shannon".[13] Together, they were the parents of three daughters and a son:[14]

In 1912 his portrait was painted by Thérèse Geraldy. In 1914, Lord Saumarez sold his portrait of Penelope Lee Acton by George Romney to Duveens for £45,000.[18] He died at Saumarez Park in 1937,[8] and was succeeded by his son, James.[17]

Descendants

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Saumarez had several grandchildren by his son and his daughter Evelyn.[17] His granddaughter Christine Saumarez married the equestrian Harry Llewellyn and was the mother of Dai and Roddy Llewellyn.[19] He is also the great-grandfather of the present peer, Eric Saumarez, 7th Baron de Saumarez.[17]

Coat of arms

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Coat of arms of James Saumarez, 4th Baron de Saumarez
Coronet
A coronet of a Baron
Crest
A Falcon displayed proper.
Escutcheon
Argent on a Chevron Gules between three Leopards' Faces Sable as many Castles triple-towered Or.
Supporters
Dexter: an Unicorn tail between the legs Argent navally gorged Azure charged on the shoulder with a Castle triple-towered Or; Sinister: a Greyhound Argent collared Gules rimmed Or charged on the shoulder with a Wreath of Laurel Vert encircling an anchor Sable.
Motto
In Deo Spero (I hope in God)[20]

Notes

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  1. ^ Saumarez is pronounced "Sommeray".[1]

References

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  1. ^ "Manorial Services A sale by private treaty" (PDF). Manorial Services Limited. 8 (Spring Catalogue 2024). Manorial Services Ltd: 18. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e J. A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses, Part II (1752 to 1900), vol. V (1953), p. 424
  3. ^ a b G. E. Cokayne et al, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, reprint in 6 volumes, Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000, vol. II, p. 228.
  4. ^ Burke, Bernard (1894). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Harrison. p. 469. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  5. ^ G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 228.
  6. ^ a b The Titled Nobility of Europe: An International Peerage, Or "Who's Who", of the Sovereigns, Princes and Nobles of Europe. Harrison & Sons. 1914. p. 572. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  7. ^ Cablegram, Special (12 May 1907). "THE BAN ON "THE MIKADO."; Lord de Saumarez Explains Why Japanese Object to the Opera". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  8. ^ a b c TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (26 April 1937). "BARON SAUMAREZ, BRITISH DIPLOMAT; Ex-Member of Paris Embassy Staff Who Saw Commune Dies in Guernsey at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  9. ^ Foster, Joseph (1882). The Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire for 1882: Forming the Second Part of "The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire". Nichols. pp. 596–597. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  10. ^ a b How the de Saumarez family shaped the island dated 10 March 2007, at guernseypress.com, accessed 8 November 2015.
  11. ^ Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland, Including All the Titled Classes. 1904. p. 313. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  12. ^ Walford Dakin Selby, ed., The Genealogist, vol. 23 (1907), p. 143: "He on his uncle's decease in 1860, assumed the additional name of Middleton, and dying s.p. on 19th January 1887, the property devolved upon his niece, Jane Anne Broke, the daughter of his deceased brother, Captain Charles Acton Broke, 11. E. (ob. 1855). She, on 10th October 1882, became the wife of Sir James St Vincent, fourth Baron de Saumarez."
  13. ^ Transactions of La Société Guernesiaise, vol. 19 (1972), p. 148.
  14. ^ Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland, for ...: Including All the Titled Classes. S. Low, Marston & Company. 1912. p. 1308. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  15. ^ "Studio Talk". The Studio. National Magazine Company: 352. 1906. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  16. ^ "SAUMAREZ, Hon. Marion". suffolkartists.co.uk. Suffolk Artists. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d Burke's Peerage, vol. 1 (2003), p. 1113.
  18. ^ TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (20 July 1914). "$225,000 FOR A ROMNEY.; Portrait of Mrs. Acton Sold to Duveens by Lord De Saumarez". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  19. ^ Burke's Peerage, vol. 2 (2003), p. 2370.
  20. ^ Debrett's peerage & baronetage 2003. London: Macmillan. 2003. p. 454.
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Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baron de Saumarez
1891–1937 		Succeeded by
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