Lieutenant-colonel William Coutts Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle, , MP, ADC (15 April 1832 - 28 August 1894), styled Viscount Bury between 1851 and 1891, was a British soldier and politician. He served in the British Army before entering Parliament in 1857. Initially a Liberal, he served as Treasurer of the Household between 1859 and 1866 in the Liberal administrations headed by Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell. He later switched to the Conservatives and held office as Under-Secretary of State for War under

Lord Beaconsfield Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a centr ...

between 1878 and 1880 and under Lord Salisbury between 1885 and 1886. Lord Albemarle was 6th in direct line-of-descent from King Charles II; he was the father-in-law of Mrs George (Alice) Keppel (1898-1910) the mistress and confidante of King Edward VII; and he was the great-great-grandfather of Queen Camilla.

Early life

Keppel was born in London, England on 15 April 1832. He was the only son of General George Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle, by his wife Susan Coutts Trotter, daughter of Sir Coutts Trotter, 1st Baronet of Westville. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

. He became known by the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

Viscount Bury when his father succeeded in the earldom of Albemarle in 1851.thepeerage.com William Coutts Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle
/ref>

Career

Keppel became an ensign and lieutenant in the 43rd (Regiment of) Foot in 1843, a lieutenant in the Scots Guards in 1848 and an Aide-de-camp to

Lord Frederick FitzClarence Lieutenant-General Lord Frederick FitzClarence, GCH (9 December 1799 – 30 October 1854) was a British Army officer and the third illegitimate son of King William IV by his mistress Dorothea Jordan. Military career FitzClarence was commissi ...

in India in 1853. From 1854 until 1856, he was Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Canada. He raised the 21st Middlesex Rifles Volunteer Corps (Civil Service Rifles) in 1860.

Political career

Initially a Liberal, Lord Bury was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich in 1857, and later represented

Wick Burghs Wick Burghs, sometimes known as Northern Burghs, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system. A similar ...

from 1860 to 1865 and Berwick-upon-Tweed from 1868 to 1874. In 1859 he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and appointed Treasurer of the Household of Queen Victoria, under Lord Palmerston, a post he held until 1866, the last year under the premiership of Lord Russell. In 1870, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

. On 6 September 1876 he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's barony of Ashford. Two years later Lord Bury was appointed Under-Secretary of State for War in Lord Beaconsfield's Conservative administration which he remained until the government fell in 1880. In 1881, he became a Volunteer Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the Queen. He was once again Under-Secretary of State for War from 1885 to 1886 under Lord Salisbury. He wrote a history of the American colonization called ''Exodus of the Western Nations'' (1865), ''A Report on the Condition of the Indians of British North America'', and was the principal author, with

George Lacy Hillier George Lacy Hillier (6 June 1856 in Sydenham- 11 February 1941 in London) was an English racing cyclist, a pioneer of British cycling, and an excellent all-around athlete. He was one of the founders of the ''Chichester and District Motorcycle Cl ...

, of the ''Cycling'' volume of the Badminton Library (1887). In 1891 he succeeded his father in the earldom.

Personal life

Right Honourable Sophia Countess of Albemarle

Lord Albemarle married Sophia Mary MacNab at

Dundurn Castle Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The house took three years and $175,000 to build, and was completed in 1835. The forty-room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighti ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Canada, on 15 November 1855. MacNab was the daughter of

Allan MacNab Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet (19 February 1798 – 8 August 1862) was a Canadian political leader who served as joint Premier of the Province of Canada from 1854 to 1856. Early life He was born in Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) to All ...

, a Joint Premier of the Province of Canada, and a descendant of

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

Ephraim Jones Ephraim Jones (April 17, 1750 – January 24, 1812) was a soldier, judge, and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Weston, Massachusetts, in 1750. His father, Elisha, and five of his brothers served with the British during the American ...

. Together, they had ten children: * Lt.-Col. Sir Arnold Allen Cecil Keppel, 8th Earl of Albemarle (1 June 1858– 12 April 1942); married Lady Gertrude Lucia Egerton, only child of

Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton of Tatton Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton (17 January 1832 – 16 March 1909) was an English Conservative Party politician from the Egerton family. He sat in the House of Commons from 1858 to 1883 when he inherited his peerage and was elevated t ...

. * Hon. Gertrude Mary Keppel (November 1859–7 April 1860); died in infancy. * Lady Theodora Keppel (11 January 1862 – 30 October 1945); married Colonel

William Leslie Davidson William Leslie Davidson (1848–1929) was a Scottish philosopher.William Les ...

and had issue: ** Leopoldina Theodora Davidson, of Inchmarlo (October 1894 - 1974); Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire (1930); she married on 7 October 1924 at Brompton Oratory Major Walter Basil Louis Bonn and had issue. ** Hilary Davidson, of Inchmarlo, a Roman Catholic nun. ** Vera Marian Davidson, of Inchmarlo; married (15 December 1914) Aylmer Probyn Maude, Solicitor ** Captain Donald Alastair Davidson, of Inchmarlo (6 October 1891 – 20 April 1917); Page of Honour to King Edward VII from 1902 to 1908; killed in action during World War I. ** Lt.-Col. Colin Keppel Davidson, of Inchmarlo; Equerry to

The Duke of Windsor Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

from 1936-1940; married in 1939 Lady Mary ''Rachel'' Fitzalan-Howard, daughter of Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk, and had issue. Lady Rachel was

Lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, later Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. * Lt.-Col. Hon. Sir Derek William George Keppel * Lady Hilda Mary Keppel (1864–1955); died unmarried, a nun. * Lt.-Col. Hon. George Keppel (14 October 1865 – 22 November 1947); married Alice Edmonstone (the long-time (1898-1910) mistress and confidante of King Edward VII); Keppel and Edmonstone were the great-great-grandparents of Queen Camilla. * Lady Leopoldina Olivia Keppel (1866–1948); a goddaughter of King Leopold II of Belgium; she became a nun, known religiously as "Madame Keppel". * Lady Susan Mary Keppel (1868–1953); married Sir Walter Beaupre Townley in 1896. * Lady Mary Stuart Keppel (1869–1906); married Major-General Sir Harold Arthur Lewis Tagart in 1900. * Lady Florence Cecilia Keppel (1871–1963); married William Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork and Orrery, in 1902. Lord Albemarle was received into the Roman Catholic Church on Easter Sunday, 13 April 1879. He died in August 1894, aged 62, of

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

, and was buried at

Quidenham Quidenham is a small rural village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 576 in 183 households at the 2001 census,

in Norfolk. His eldest son Arnold succeeded in the earldom. The Countess of Albemarle died in April 1917, aged 84.

References

External links

* *www.thepeerage.com *www.geneall.net , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Albemarle, William Keppel, 7th Earl 1832 births 1894 deaths People educated at Eton College 43rd Regiment of Foot officers William 7 William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George English Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Bury, William Keppel, Viscount Bury, William Keppel, Viscount Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Scottish Liberal Party MPs Scots Guards officers Bury, William Keppel, Viscount Bury, William Keppel, Viscount Bury, William Keppel, Viscount Albemarle, E7 Treasurers of the Household