FitzRoy Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan
FitzRoy Richard Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan, FRAI (10 June 1885 – 14 September 1964) was a British soldier, author and amateur anthropologist. He came from a noble family, the son of George Somerset, 3rd Baron Raglan, and Ethel Jemima Ponsonby. He grew up in England and studied at Sandroyd School, Eton, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He began his military career in 1902 and joined the Grenadier Guards in 1905.
His army work took him far from home. He served as aide-de-camp in Hong Kong, fought with the Egyptian Army during and after World War I, and worked as a district commissioner in Sudan and as a political officer in Palestine and Transjordan. For his service in Egypt he was made an Officer of the Nile. He retired from the army in 1922 as a major.
In 1921 his father died, and he became the 4th Baron Raglan. He lived at Cefntilla Court in Monmouthshire and threw himself into local life. He was a justice of the peace, served on the Monmouthshire county council for many years, led the local Boy Scouts for decades, and was Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire from 1942 to 1964.
Raglan was also a scholar. He studied anthropology, politics, and architecture, and co-wrote Monmouthshire Houses with Cyril Fox, a three-volume study of the county’s buildings. He held several leadership roles in science and culture: president of the Anthropology Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1933, president of the Folklore Society (1945–1947), chairman of the art and archaeology committee of the National Museum of Wales (1949–1951), president of the National Museum of Wales (1957–1962), and president of the Royal Anthropological Institute (1955–1957).
Raglan wrote several books, including Jocasta’s Crime (1933), The Science of Peace, and The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama (1936). The Hero argues that many heroes come from ritual drama rather than historical fact and presents a “mythic hero archetype” of 22 traits. It analyzes figures like Oedipus, Theseus, Arthur and others; Jesus is notably excluded from the list, a decision Raglan later said was to avoid conflict with his publisher.
An outspoken atheist and humanist, Raglan helped found the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group and served on the British Humanist Association’s advisory council.
He married Julia Hamilton on 9 April 1923. They had five children, including FitzRoy John Somerset, who became the 5th Baron Raglan, and Geoffrey Somerset, who would become the 6th Baron Raglan. Julia also contributed to folklore studies and helped popularize the term “Green Man” for leafy church carvings, though the term had been used before.
FitzRoy Raglan died in 1964 at the age of 79, leaving behind a legacy as a soldier, writer and passionate supporter of Welsh culture, archaeology, and humanism.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:23 (CET).