Edward Seymour (British Army officer)

Edward Seymour
Born	10 February 1877
Died	28 February 1948
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1896-1908 1914-1923
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	Mahdist War Second Boer War Somaliland Campaign First World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Distinguished Service Order Officer of the Order of the British Empire Mentioned in Dispatches

Major Sir Edward Seymour KCVO DSO OBE (10 February 1877 – 28 February 1948) was a British Army officer and courtier.

Seymour was the third son of Leopold Richard Seymour, the son of George Hamilton Seymour, and Mary Hubbard Sturgis. He commissioned into the East Surrey Regiment, and transferred to the Grenadier Guards as a lieutenant on 28 July 1897.^[1] He saw active service in the Nile Expedition in 1898 during the Mahdist War and also served in the Second Boer War from 1900 to 1902. In 1904 he was seconded for service on the Staff.^[2]

In 1908 Seymour left the army and became Comptroller in the household of Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont. He rejoined the regular army following the outbreak of the First World War and was re-granted a commission in the Grenadier Guards on 19 August 1914.^[3] During the war he was Mentioned in Dispatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

In 1923 he was appointed as an equerry to Alexandra of Denmark, serving in the role until 1925.^[4] He was Comptroller to Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom between 1925 and 1935, and held the office of Extra Equerry to George V in 1935. Seymour was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1934 New Year Honours. He then served as an Extra Equerry to Edward VIII in 1936 and to George VI from 1937 to his death in 1948.

In 1905 Seymour married Lady Blanche Frances Conyngham, daughter of Henry Conyngham, 4th Marquess Conyngham, with whom he had a son and a daughter.

References