Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle

William Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle KG KB PC (born June 5, 1702 in Whitehall ( London ), † December 22, 1754 in Paris ) was a British officer, court official, governor of the Colony of Virginia and ambassador at the court of Versailles .

William Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle (portrait of Charles Philips )

Life

origin

He came from the originally Dutch Keppel family, who were in the wake of Wilhelm III. had come to England from Orange . He was the only son of Arnold van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle and his wife Geertruid Johanna Quirina van der Duyn. A godmother at his baptism was Queen Anne . As apparent marriage of his father, he carried the courtesy title Viscount Bury until 1718 .

family

In 1722 Keppel married Anne Lennox, a daughter of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and Anne Brudenell. His wife later became Lady of the Bedchamber of Queen Caroline and was at times the king's favorite after his death. He had six children with his wife:

• George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle (1724-1772), General of the British Army ;
• Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel (1725–1786), Admiral in the Royal Navy ;
• Hon. William Keppel (1727–1782), MP, Lieutenant-General in the British Army;
• Rt. Rev. Hon. Frederick Keppel (1728–1777), Bishop of Exeter ;
• Lady Caroline Keppel (1737–1769) ⚭ Robert Adair (1711–1790), Surgeon-General in the British Army;
• Lady Elizabeth Keppel (1739–1768) ⚭ 1764 Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock, son of John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford .

Act

With his father he traveled to the Netherlands at an early age , where he was brought up. After his return he was from 1717 Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel in a grenadier company of the Coldstream Guards .

When his father died in 1718, he inherited his title of nobility as 2nd Earl of Albemarle , 2nd Viscount Bury and 2nd Baron Ashford and thereby became a member of the British House of Lords . In 1720 he accompanied his military superior William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan , on his diplomatic mission to Berlin and Vienna to negotiate the inclusion of Spain in the Quadruple Alliance after the Spanish defeat in the War of the Quadruple Alliance .

From 1722 he held the court office of Lord of the Bedchamber at the court of the Prince of Wales and later King George II . In 1725, Keppel was inducted into the Order of the Bath as a Knight Companion . From 1727 he was aide-de-camp of the king with the rank of colonel in the army. In 1731 he was appointed Colonel in the 29th Regiment of Foot , later the Worcestershire Regiment . He joined the Horse Guards as a Colonel in 1733 .

From 1737 he was governor of the Virginia colony. Like most of his predecessors, he resided in England, while real rule in the colony was exercised by a deputy. From England he intervened in colonial affairs. His patronage and promotion policies led to conflicts with his deputy William Gooch and weakened his authority. This helped the colonial politicians and their assemblies gain influence.

Keppel was promoted to Brigadier-General in 1739 and to Major-General in 1742 . He also became the commander of the Household Cavalry . He took part in the Battle of Dettingen during the War of the Austrian Succession . He attacked the French cavalry, and a horse was shot under him. He moved back to the Coldstream Guards in 1744. In 1745 he distinguished himself in the Battle of Fontenoy . He commanded the guards brigade on the front line. A short time later he was promoted to lieutenant general.

After the beginning of the Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland , he became deputy commander in this theater of war in 1745 and brought reinforcements from Flanders . In 1746 Keppel commanded the vanguard of British troops in Scotland. He commanded two cavalry regiments and two infantry brigades. He led the first line of infantry in the Battle of Culloden . In the same year he became commander in chief in Scotland. He was responsible for breaking the remaining Scottish resistance. The success was moderate. His espionage organization had also failed to prevent Charles Edward Stuart from escaping to France. He successfully asked for his recall and returned to the troops in Flanders. A year later he commanded a division in the battle of Lauffeldt . He was temporarily commander in chief of the British troops in the Netherlands.

At the peace treaty of 1748 he became ambassador to Paris. Horace Walpole and others accused his mistress at this time of having sold British government documents to the French. In 1749 he was accepted into the Order of the Garter as a Knight Companion . Between 1751 and 1754 he held the court office of Groom of the Stool . From 1751 Keppel was also a member of the Privy Council . Keppel was sent back to France in 1754 to negotiate the release of British citizens who had been captured by the French in America. He died suddenly after a meal while in Paris.

According to him, this is Albemarle County in Virginia named.

literature

• Life story of the last deceased Count of Albemarle. In: New genealogical-historical news. 64th part, Leipzig 1755, p. 295 ff .

Web links

• Jonathan Spain: Keppel, William Anne, second earl of Albemarle . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, 2020 online edition.
• Donald W. Gunter: William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle . In: Encyclopedia Virginia (Dictionary of Virginia Biography).
• Sir William Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle on worcestershireregiment.com
• William Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle on thepeerage.com

predecessor	Office	successor
Arnold van Keppel	Earl of Albemarle 1718-1754	George Keppel