Seymour Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst

Seymour Henry Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst, CMG, TD (21 July 1864–21 September 1943).

Family

He was a son of Allen Bathurst, 6th Earl Bathurst and Meriel Leicester Warren. His maternal grandparents were George Warren, 2nd Baron de Tabley and his wife Catharina Barbara de Salis-Saglio.

Heir to the Earldom

At the time of his birth his great-uncle Henry Bathurst, 4th Earl Bathurst had held the title of Earl Bathurst for thirty years. He had never married and his heir was his younger brother William Lennox Bathurst who was also a bachelor.

His paternal grandfather Thomas Seymour Bathurst would have been next in line but had preceased his brothers in 1934. His position as second-in-line heir had been inherited by his son Allen Alexander Bathurst. As the eldest son of Allen, Seymour was the third-on-line heir at the time of his birth.

On 25 May, 1866, the 4th Earl died and was succeeded by his younger brother as expected. Allen became the first-in-line heir with Seymour as second-in-line.

On 24 February, 1878, the 5th Earl died and Allen succeeded him. Seymour became the first-in-line and received the title going with it, Lord Apsley, Baron of Apsley, in the County of Sussex.

On 1 August, 1892, the 6th Earl died and Seymour succeeded him. He was at the time unwed and his own heir was his younger brother Lancelot Julian Bathurst.

Career

Bathurst received his education at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.

He served as Commander in charge of the 4th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment from 1893 to 1908. He was named an Honorary Colonel of the 4th Battalion in 1903 and Honorary Colonel of the 6th Battalion in 1908.

Marriage and Estate

On 15 November, 1893, Bathurst married Lilias Margaret Frances Borthwick, only daughter of Algernon Borthwick, 1st Baron Glenesk, owner of "The Daily Telegraph" and his wife Alice Beatrice Lister, niece of the 4th Earl of Clarendon.

The Bathursts had four children:

#Lady Meriel Olivia Bathurst (3 September, 1894 - 18 January, 1936). She married Captain Lord Alastair Mungo Graham, son of Douglas Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose.
#Allen Bathurst, Lord Apsley (3 August, 1895 - 17 December, 1942)
#Hon. William Ralph Seymour Bathurst (21 September, 1903 - 10 September, 1970). He married Helen Winifred Heathcoat-Amory, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Harry William Ludovic Heathcote Heathcoat-Amory, of the Heathcoat-Amory Baronets.
#Hon. Ralph Henry Bathurst (26 September, 1904 - 5 December, 1965).

At the time of their marriage "the Morning Post" was expected to be inherited by Oliver Borthwick, a younger brother of his wife. However Oliver predeceased his father on 23 March, 1905, and Bathurst's wife Lilias became the only legal heir of her father.

Lord Glenesk died on 24 November, 1908. His estate was inherited by his only surviving child. "The Morning Post" was then co-owned by Bathurst and his wife.

It was under their ownership, in 1920, that the paper published a series of articles based on the so-called "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". These were collected the same year and published in London and New York in book form under the title of "The Cause of World Unrest". This antisemitic text and matter has been shown to be a plagiarism and a forgery.

The Bathursts sold the paper to a consortium organized by the 8th Duke of Northumberland in 1924.

ee also

*Earl Bathurst
*The Morning Post

External links

* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p7980.htm#i79794 His profile in Peerage.com]