William Bellenden-Ker, 7th Lord Bellenden, 4th Duke of Roxburghe (20 October 1728 – 23 October 1805) was a Scottish nobleman.

Early life

William was born in 1728 and was baptised on 20 October 1728 at

Ashton under Hill Ashton under Hill is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire in England. It is situated at the foot of Bredon Hill. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 743, about six miles south-west of Ev ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. He was the eldest son and heir of Lt. Col. Hon. William Bellenden (1702–1758) and Jacomina ( née Farmer) Bellenden, of Normington in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, who married in 1726. His younger sister was Jacomina Bellenden, the wife of

Thomas Orby Hunter Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, MP for

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...

, of

Waverley Abbey Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, the Bishop of Winchester. Located about southeast of Farnham, Surrey, it is situated on a flood-plain; surrounded by current and previous channe ...

in Surrey, in 1749. His father was the third son of John Ker (the third surviving son of

William Ker, 2nd Earl of Roxburghe William Ker, 2nd Earl of Roxburghe PC (16222 July 1675) was a Scottish nobleman who inherited his title from his maternal grandfather, Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe. Early life He was born William Drummond in 1622. He was the fifth and ...

) and Lady Mary Moore (the second daughter of

Henry Moore, 1st Earl of Drogheda Henry Moore, 1st Earl of Drogheda PC (I) (died 11 January 1676) was an Anglo-Irish peer, politician and soldier. Moore was the son of Charles Moore, 2nd Viscount Moore of Drogheda, by his wife Hon. Alice Loftus, the youngest daughter of Adam ...

). His grandfather took the surname Bellenden and became 2nd Lord Bellenden of Broughton (after inheriting from his first cousin twice removed, William Bellenden, 1st Lord Bellenden, the son of Sir James Bellenden of Broughton, and Margaret Ker).

Career and peerage

In 1757, he gained the rank of captain in the 25th Regiment of Foot. In 1797, upon the death of his unmarried and childless cousin, Robert Bellenden, 6th Lord Bellenden, who was a Capt. of the 11th Regiment of Foot in 1761 and

68th Regiment of Foot The 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1758. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 106th Bombay Light Infantry to form the Durham Light Infantry in 1881, the 68 ...

in 1767, he succeeded to the titles as the 7th Lord Bellenden of Broughton. On 2 April 1798, he had a grant of £250 a year, as his predecessors. In 1804, upon the death of another unmarried and childless cousin

John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe, KG, KT, PC (23 April 1740 – 1804) was a Scottish nobleman and bibliophile. Early life Born in Hanover Square, London, on 23 April 1740, Ker succeeded his father to become the 3rd Duke of Roxburghe in 175 ...

, the titles Earl Ker and Baron Ker, which had been created for his uncle in 1722 in the Peerage of Great Britain, became extinct and seventy-five-year old William succeeded to the dukedom, all of its other subsidiary titles, and the family seat,

Floors Castle Floors Castle, in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Despite its name it is an estate house rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for Duke John, possibly incorporat ...

in Roxburghshire on the banks of the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the ...

in south-east Scotland.

Personal life

William was twice married. His marriage took place on 7 December 1750 to Margaret Burroughs, daughter of Reverend Dr. Burroughs D.D., Chaplain at

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

. After her death, he married Mary Bechinne (d. 1838) on 29 June 1789. Mary was the daughter of Captain Benjamin Bechinne RN and Susanna ( née Smith) Bechinne (sister of

Sir John Smith, 1st Baronet Sir John Smith, 1st Baronet (1744 – 1807) was High Sheriff of Dorset in 1772 and the progenitor of the Smith-Marriott Baronetcy. Biography Smith, who resided in Sydling St Nicholas in Dorset, was born in 1744. He was the son of Henry Smith o ...

). Roxburghe died on 23 October 1805 without surviving issue. Less than a year after his death, his widow married Hon. John Manners Tollemache, MP for

Ilchester Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. Originally a Roman town, and later a market town, Ilchester has a rich medieval history and was a nota ...

, on 19 August 1806. Tollemache was the second son of Louisa Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart.

Titles

Upon his death, the Lordship of Bellenden of Broughton became extinct,Lodge, Esq., Edmund.
The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage With Brief Sketches of The Family Histories of The Nobility
'.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

: Saunders and Otley, 1832. Print. p. 313. and the succession to the Dukedom of Roxburghe was contested (the Roxburghe cause) until a decision by the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in 1812 when the Roxburghe and subsidiary titles passed to a distant cousin, James Innes-Ker, who became the 5th Duke of Roxburghe.

Family Tree

References

External links

Papers of the Dukes and Dukedom of Roxburghe
at Edinburgh University Library Special Collections. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roxburghe, William Bellenden-Ker, 4th Duke of 1728 births 1805 deaths 4 Lords of Bellenden William Bellenden-Ker, 4th Duke of Roxburghe