William Bellenden-Ker, 4th Duke of Roxburghe


William Bellenden-Ker, 7th Lord Bellenden, 4th Duke of Roxburghe was a Scottish nobleman.

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 and Jacomina and Lady Mary Moore. His grandfather took the surname Bellenden and became 2nd Lord Bellenden of Broughton.

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 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, 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 in Roxburghshire on the banks of the River Tweed 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. After her death, he married Mary Bechinne on 29 June 1789. Mary was the daughter of Captain Benjamin Bechinne RN and Susanna Bechinne.
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, 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, and the succession to the Dukedom of Roxburghe was contested 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.

Family Tree