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

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

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

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Farmer) Bellenden, of Normington in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, who married in 1726. His younger sister was Jacomina Bellenden, the wife of Thomas Orby Hunter, MP for

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a town in the county of East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The current town, which was founded in 1288, replaced an earli ...

, 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 channels ...

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, 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 y ...

) and Lady Mary Moore (the second daughter of

Henry Moore, 1st Earl of Drogheda Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

). His grandfather took the surname Bellenden and became 2nd

Lord Bellenden The title Lord Bellenden, of Broughton, was a lordship of Parliament created in the Peerage of Scotland on 10 June 1661 for William Bellenden, who was Treasurer-depute of Scotland. Shortly before his death, he resigned his peerage in favour of his ...

of Broughton (after inheriting from his first cousin twice removed,

William Bellenden, 1st Lord Bellenden William Bellenden, Lord Bellenden PC (died 1671), was Treasurer-depute of Scotland. Early life Bellenden was born before 1606. He was the only son and heir of Sir James Bellenden of Broughton, and Margaret Ker. His mother was the sister of Robe ...

, 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 68t ...

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, (23 April 1740 – 1804) was a Scottish peer, scholar and publisher. Early life Born in Hanover Square, London, on 23 April 1740, Ker succeeded his father to become the 3rd Duke of Roxburghe in 1755. During ...

, the titles Earl Ker and Baron Ker, which had been created for his uncle in 1722 in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself repla ...

, 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 John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxbur ...

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

on the banks of the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, 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 River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...

in south-east Scotland.

Personal life

William was twice married. His marriage took place on 7 December 1750 to Margaret Burroughs, daughter of

Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Dr. Burroughs D.D.,

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

. After her death, he married Mary Bechinne (d. 1838) on 29 June 1789. Mary was the daughter of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Benjamin Bechinne RN and Susanna (

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, 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 notable settleme ...

, 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 publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press 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 is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

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 Nobility from the Scottish Borders 4 Lords of Bellenden William Bellenden-Ker, 4th Duke of Roxburghe