William Bellenden-Ker, 4th Duke of Roxburghe

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

For other uses, see John Ker (disambiguation).

His Grace The Duke of Roxburghe
Preceded by	John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe
Succeeded by	James Innes-Ker, 5th Duke of Roxburghe
Personal details
Born	William Bellenden (1728-10-20)20 October 1728
Died	23 October 1804(1804-10-23) (aged 76)
Spouse(s)	Margaret Burroughs ​ ( m. after 1789, died) 29 June 1789 ​ ( m. 1805, his death)
Relations	John Bellenden, 2nd Lord Bellenden (grandfather)
Parents	William Bellenden Jacomina Farmer Bellenden

Early life

William was born in 1728 and was baptised on 20 October 1728 at Ashton under Hill, Gloucestershire, 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,[1] who married in 1726.[2] His younger sister was Jacomina Bellenden, the wife of Thomas Orby Hunter, MP for Winchelsea, of Waverley Abbey in Surrey, in 1749.[3]

His father was the third son of John Ker (the third surviving son of William Ker, 2nd Earl of Roxburghe) and Lady Mary Moore (the second daughter of Henry Moore, 1st Earl of Drogheda). 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).[4]

Career and peerage

In 1757, he gained the rank of Captain in the 25th Regiment of Foot.[5]

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 in 1767, he succeeded to the titles as the 7th Lord Bellenden of Broughton.[4] On 2 April 1798, he had a grant of £250 a year, as his predecessors.[6]

In 1804, upon the death of another unmarried and childless cousin John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe, 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,[1] and the family seat, Floors Castle in Roxburghshire on the banks of the River Tweed in south-east Scotland.[7]

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. 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).[1]

Roxburghe died on 23 October 1805 without surviving issue.[8] Less than a year after his death, his widow married Hon. John Manners Tollemache, MP for Ilchester, on 19 August 1806. Tollemache was the second son of Louisa Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart.[1]

Titles

Upon his death, the Lordship of Bellenden of Broughton became extinct,[9] and the succession to the Dukedom of Roxburghe was contested (the Roxburghe cause)[10] until a decision by the House of Lords in 1812 when the Roxburghe and subsidiary titles passed to a distant cousin, James Innes-Ker, who became the 5th Duke of Roxburghe.[1]

Family Tree

Ker and Innes-Ker Family Tree: Earls and Dukes of Roxburghe

EARL OF ROXBURGHE, 1616

Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe (1570–1650)

William Ker, Lord Ker (d. 1618)

Lady Jean Ker m. John Drummond, 2nd Earl of Perth

Henry Ker, Lord Ker (d. 1643)

William Drummond (Ker), 2nd Earl of Roxburghe (1622–1675)

Jean Ker

Margaret Ker (d. 1681) m. Sir James Innes, 3rd Bt.

Robert Ker, 3rd Earl of Roxburghe (1658–1682)

John Ker (Bellenden), 2nd Lord Bellenden[11] (d. 1707)

Sir Henry Innes, 4th Bt. (d. 1721)

DUKE OF ROXBURGHE, 1707

Robert Ker, 4th Earl of Roxburghe (c. 1677–1696)

John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe, 1st Duke of Roxburghe (c. 1680–1741)

William Bellenden (1702–1758)

Sir Henry Innes, 5th Bt. (d. 1762)

DUKE OF ROXBURGHE, 1707 (SUCCESSION DECIDED 1812)

Robert Ker 2nd Duke of Roxburghe (c. 1709–1755)

William Bellenden-Ker 7th Lord Bellenden, 4th Duke of Roxburghe (1728–1805)

Sir James Innes-Ker, 6th Bt., 5th Duke of Roxburghe (1736–1823)

John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe (1740–1804)

James Henry Robert Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe (1816–1879)

James Henry Robert Innes-Ker, 7th Duke of Roxburghe (1839–1892)

Henry John Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe (1876–1932)

George Victor Robert John Innes-Ker, 9th Duke of Roxburghe (1913–1974)

Guy David Innes-Ker, 10th Duke of Roxburghe (b. 1954)

Charles Robert George Innes-Ker, Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford (b. 1981) Heir Apparent

References

1. "Roxburghe, Duke of (S, 1707)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
2. Origines Genealogicae; Or, The Sources Whence English Genealogies May be Traced from the Conquest to the Present Time: Accompanied by Specimens of Antient Records, Rolls, and Manuscripts, with Proofs of Their Genealogical Utility. Published Expressly for the Assistance of Claimants to Hereditary Titles, Honours, Or Estates. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. 1828. p. 218. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
3. Paul, James Balfour (1905). The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom. D. Douglas. p. 73. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
4. "Bellenden of Broughton, Lord (S, 1661 - 1805)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
5. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
6. Selby, Walford Dakin (1886). The Genealogist. George Bell & Sons. p. 311. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
7. "Family Timeline". floorscastle.com. Floors Castle. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
8. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, p. 100.
9. Lodge, Esq., Edmund. The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage With Brief Sketches of The Family Histories of The Nobility. Oxford University Press: Saunders and Otley, 1832. Print. p. 313.
10. "Papers of the Dukes and Dukedom of Roxburghe". archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. Edinburgh University Library Special Collections. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
11. Acceded to the title of Lord Bellenton of Broughton as the 2nd Earl, inheriting the title from his kinsman, the 1st Earl, by special remainder under Royal Charter of 1673

External links

• Papers of the Dukes and Dukedom of Roxburghe at Edinburgh University Library Special Collections.

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Robert Bellenden	Lord Bellenden 1797–1805	Succeeded by Extinct
Preceded by John Ker	Duke of Roxburghe 1804–1805	Succeeded by James Innes-Ker