John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe

John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe

John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe, PC, FRS (30 April 1680^[1]–27 February 1741) was the second son of Robert Ker, 3rd Earl of Roxburghe, and Margaret Hay, daughter of John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale. He was younger brother to Robert Ker, 4th Earl of Roxburghe.

John became 5th Earl of Roxburghe on the death of his brother Robert in 1696. In 1704 he was made a Secretary of State of Scotland, and he helped to bring about the union with England, being created Duke of Roxburghe in 1707 for his services in this connection. This was the last creation in the Scottish peerage. On 28 May 1707, he was admitted a FRS.^[2]

The duke was a representative peer for Scotland in four parliaments. George I made him a privy councillor and Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, and he was loyal to the king during the Jacobite rising in 1715. He served as Secretary of State for Scotland in the British Parliament from 1716 to 1725, but he opposed the malt tax, and in 1725 Sir Robert Walpole procured his dismissal from office. In Apr 1727 he was one of the six pall-bearers of Sir Isaac Newton's coffin at Westminster Abbey.^[3] He was one of the original governors of the Foundling Hospital, a charity created by royal charter on 17 October 1739.

He died on 27 February 1741.^[4] His only son, Robert (c.1709–1755), who had been created Earl Ker of Wakefield in 1722, became 2nd duke.

Ancestry

Ancestors of John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe

16. Patrick Drummond, 3rd Lord Drummond               8. John Drummond, 2nd Earl of Perth                       17. Lady Elizabeth Lindsay               4. William Ker, 2nd Earl of Roxburghe                             18. Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe               9. Lady Jean Ker                       19. Margaret Maitland               2. Robert Ker, 3rd Earl of Roxburghe                                   20. Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe (= 18.)               10. Henry Ker, Lord Ker                       21. Margaret Maitland (= 19.)               5. Lady Jean Ker                             22. William Hay, 10th Earl of Erroll               11. Lady Margaret Hay                       23. Lady Anne Lyon               1. John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe                                         24. James Hay, 7th Lord Hay of Yester               12. John Hay, 1st Earl of Tweeddale                       25. Lady Margaret Kerr               6. John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale                             26. Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline               13. Lady Jean Seton                       27. Grizel Leslie               3. Lady Margaret Hay                                   28. Walter Scott, 1st Lord Scott of Buccleuch               14. Walter Scott, 1st Earl of Buccleuch                       29. Mary Kerr               7. Lady Jean Scott                             30. Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll               15. Lady Mary Hay                       31. Lady Elizabeth Douglas

External Links

• Pedigree at Genealogics

References

1. Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
2. "Lists of Royal Society Fellows". Retrieved 15 December 2006.
3. Notice in London Gazette, 4 April, No. 6569
4. 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.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "^{article name needed}". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.