".'it 



THE EIGHTH DUKE OF BEAUFORT 



of his sufferings in the RoyaHst cause, he seems to 

 have found himself " an object of general sus- 

 picion." One of the first acts of the new Parlia- 

 ment was to consider whether the Marquis of 

 Worcester had a right to the title of Duke of 

 Somerset and Beaufort,^ a patent to give him this 

 title having been bestowed by Charles I. The 

 history of this patent is wrapped in obscurity, but 

 it was promised by the king to Lord Glamorgan 

 before the latter started on his disastrous mission 

 to Ireland. The Dukedom of Somerset also seems 

 to have been promised to his father Henry, first 

 Marquis of Worcester, but, be this as it may, the 

 claims were now relinquished. 



Partly owing to his religious opinions — the"ob- 

 noxiousness of his religion," as an old writer calls 

 it — Lord Worcester found himself out of favour at 

 court, and with difficulty obtained a hearing as to 

 the restoration of his estates. When at last these 

 were restored he was still a ruined man, for the 

 vast sums he and his father had given to the royal 

 cause had been raised on the security of their 

 interests in the family property, and his creditors 

 now seized on the restored estates. This left 

 nothing for the Marquis's " support and mainten- 

 ance," as is pointed out in a petition presented by 

 the Marchioness to the House of Lords in 1666. 



More interested in the perfecting of his invention, 

 and in obtaining a patent for it, than in recovering 



^ Conferred by patent dated March 4th, 1646. 

 42 



