John Ker, 1st Duke Of Roxburghe

John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe, KG, PC, FRS (30 April 1680 – 27 February 1741), was a British politician and peer.

**Early life**

He was born on 30 April 1680, the second son of Robert Ker, 3rd Earl of Roxburghe, and Margaret Hay. Margaret Hay was the daughter of John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale. His siblings included an elder brother, Robert Ker, who became the 4th Earl of Roxburghe, and a younger brother, The Hon. William Ker, known for his military service on the Continent under the Duke of Marlborough and for his participation at the Battle of Sheriffmuir.

**Education and early career**

Details of Ker’s early education are not specified in the provided information.

**Political and public service**

John Ker succeeded his elder brother Robert as the 5th Earl of Roxburghe in 1696. In 1704, he was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland. During his tenure, he contributed to the union between Scotland and England, which led to his creation as the Duke of Roxburghe in 1707; this was the last title creation in the Scottish peerage. On 28 May 1707, he was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).

He served as a Scottish representative peer in four Scottish parliaments and was appointed a privy councillor by King George I. He also held the position of Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland. During the Jacobite rising of 1715, he remained loyal to the reigning monarch.

From 1716 to 1725, he served as Secretary of State for Scotland within the Parliament of Great Britain. He opposed the malt tax, which contributed to his removal from office in 1725 through influence from Sir Robert Walpole.

In April 1727, Ker was among the six pall-bearers who carried Sir Isaac Newton’s coffin at Westminster Abbey. He was an original governor of the Foundling Hospital, established by royal charter on 17 October 1739.

**Personal life**

On 1 January 1707/8, Ker married Lady Mary Savile (née Finch), a widow and the only child of Daniel Finch, 7th Earl of Winchilsea. Lady Mary’s first marriage was to William Savile, 2nd Marquess of Halifax, and she was the mother of Lady Mary Savile (who married Sackville Tufton, 7th Earl of Thanet, in 1722) and Lady Dorothy Savile (who married Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington).

Lady Mary Finch was known to have influence; she reportedly helped her friend Mary Bellenden secure a position as a maid of honour to Caroline, Princess of Wales, in 1715.

John and Lady Mary had one known child: Robert Ker, born around 1709, who later married Essex Mostyn, daughter of Sir Roger Mostyn, 3rd Baronet, and Lady Essex Finch. Robert succeeded his father as the 2nd Duke of Roxburghe upon his death in 1741.

Lady Mary Finch died on 19 September 1718. John Ker died on 27 February 1741 and was initially buried in his family vault beneath Bowden Kirk. His remains were later moved to the Roxburghe Aisle at Kelso Abbey.

**Ancestry**

His ancestry includes notable Scottish and British noble families, with male-line descent from the Ker family, and maternal lineage from the Hay family through Margaret Hay.

**References**

[Details of references are not provided in the original excerpt.]