John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe, KG, PC, FRS (30 April 1680 – 27 February 1741) was a Scottish nobleman.

Early life

Ker was born on 30 April 1680. He was the second son of

Robert Ker, 3rd Earl of Roxburghe Robert Ker, 3rd Earl of Roxburghe PC (6 May 1682) was a Scottish nobleman. Early life Ker was the eldest son of four sons born to William Ker, 2nd Earl of Roxburghe and the Honourable Jane Ker, who were first cousins. Among his younger brot ...

, and Margaret Hay, daughter of John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale. His older brother was Robert Ker, 4th Earl of Roxburghe, and his younger brother was The Hon. William Ker, who fought on the Continent under the

Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was a British army officer and statesman. From a gentry family, he ...

and was present at the

Battle of Sheriffmuir The Battle of Sheriffmuir (, ) was an engagement in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rising of 1715, Jacobite rising in Scotland. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Histor ...

. He served as

Groom of the Bedchamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Royal Household, Household of the monarch in early modern Kingdom of England, England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In King ...

to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

in 1714, and was a Member of Parliament for Berwick and Dysart Burghs. John became 5th

Earl of Roxburghe Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

on the death of his elder brother Robert in 1696.

Career

In 1704, he was made a Secretary of State of Scotland, and he helped to bring about the

union with England The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new political state of Great Britain. The treaty, effective since 1707, brought the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Ki ...

, being created

Duke of Roxburghe The Duke of Roxburghe () is a title in the peerage of Scotland created in 1707 along with the titles ''Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford'', ''Earl of Kelso'' and ''Viscount Broxmouth''. John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe became the first holder ...

in 1707 for his services in this connection. This was the last creation in the

Scottish peerage The Peerage of Scotland (; ) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union 1707, Treaty of Union, the Kingdom of Scots and the ...

. On 28 May 1707, he was admitted a FRS. The duke was a

Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...

in four parliaments.

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George of Beltan (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

made him a privy councillor and

Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland The office of Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, one of the Great Officers of State, first appears in the reign of David II of Scotland, David II. After the Act of Union 1707 its holder was normally a peerage, peer, like the Great Seal of Sco ...

, and he was loyal to the king during the Jacobite rising in 1715. He served as

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

in the British Parliament from 1716 to 1725, but he opposed the

malt tax A malt tax is a tax upon the making or sale of malted grain, which has been prepared using a process of steeping and drying to encourage germination and the conversion of its starch into sugars. Used in the production of beer and whisky for centuri ...

, and in 1725 Sir

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

procured his dismissal from office. In April 1727, he was one of the six pall-bearers of

Sir Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment that followed. His book (''Mathe ...

's coffin at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. He was one of the original governors of the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...

, a charity created by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

on 17 October 1739.

Personal life

On 1 January 1707/8, Roxburghe was married to widow Lady Mary Savile (née Finch). Lady Mary was the only child of Daniel Finch, 7th Earl of Winchilsea by his first wife Lady Essex Rich. From her first marriage to

William Savile, 2nd Marquess of Halifax William Savile, 2nd Marquess of Halifax (1665 – 31 August 1700), was the son of George Savile, 1st Viscount Halifax and Dorothy Savile, Viscountess Halifax (née Spencer). He was educated in Geneva in 1677 and matriculated at Christ Church, O ...

, she was the mother of Lady Mary Savile (who married

Sackville Tufton, 7th Earl of Thanet Sackville Tufton, 7th Earl of Thanet (11 May 1688 – 4 December 1753) was an English Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 until 1729 when he succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Thanet. Tufton was the son of Colonel the H ...

in 1722) and Lady Dorothy Savile (who married

Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork (25 April 1694 – 4 December 1753) was a British architect and noble often called the "Apollo of the Arts" and the "Architect Earl". The son of the 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Ear ...

). Lady Mary enjoyed some influence. She was able to get her friend Mary Bellenden a position as a maid of honour to Caroline, princess of Wales in 1715. Together, John and Mary were the parents of: *

Robert Ker Robert Ker may refer to: *Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a ...

(–1755), who married his half-cousin Essex Mostyn, eldest daughter of

Sir Roger Mostyn, 3rd Baronet Sir Roger Mostyn, 3rd Baronet (31 July 1673 – 5 May 1739), of Mostyn Hall, Holywell, Flintshire, was a Welsh Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons for 25 years from 1701 to 1735. Early life Mostyn was born on 31 ...

and Lady Essex Finch (half sister of Lady Mary). The Duchess of Roxburghe died on 19 September 1718 and the Duke died on 27 February 1741.John M. Simpson, 'Ker, John, first duke of Roxburghe (c. 1680–1741)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2005. He was buried first in his family vault beneath Bowden Kirk. Later his remains were relocated to the Roxburghe Aisle attached to

Kelso Abbey Kelso Abbey is a ruined Scottish abbeys, Scottish abbey in Kelso, Scottish Borders, Kelso, Scotland. It was founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland in the reign of Alexander ...

. Upon his death, his only son, who had been created ''Earl Ker of Wakefield'' in 1722, became 2nd duke.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roxburghe, John Ker, 1st Duke of 1680 births 1741 deaths Nobility from the Scottish Borders 1 Fellows of the Royal Society John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe 17th-century Scottish peers Scottish representative peers Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Knights of the Garter