Admiral Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet CB, DL (29 January 1810 – 18 February 1888), also 14th of Duntreath, was a British naval commander, courtier and Conservative politician.[1]

"Chorus". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1879

Life

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Born at Hampton, Edmonstone joined the Royal Navy in his teenage years, serving as a midshipman on the frigate HMS Sybelle and was subsequently promoted Commodore. On return from naval service off West Africa he was made an Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). He went on to serve with the rank of Captain as Superintendent of Woolwich Dockyard. He was promoted Rear-Admiral on 3 July 1869, the day before he retired from the Royal Navy, a common practice at that time.[2] He was elected Member of Parliament for Stirlingshire from 1874 to 1880. During this time he stayed at the family seat Duntreath Castle, Blanefield, Stirlingshire.[2]

Sir William Edmonstone died at home, 11 Ainslie Place[3] on the Moray Estate in Edinburgh on 18 February 1888, and was succeeded in the Edmonstone baronetcy by his only surviving son, Archibald Edmonstone. Lady Edmonstone died at Cramond House north-west of Edinburgh, on 11 August 1902.[4]

Family

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Ainslie Place, Edinburgh

Edmonstone married Mary Elizabeth Parsons (Newburn, Fife, 21 June 1823 – Edinburgh, Lothian, 11 August 1902), daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Parsons, on 13 July 1841 at Zakynthos, Greece, who was resident on the island of Zante, at a time when the Ionian Islands were a British Protectorate. Mary Elizabeth and Sir William had eleven children in total, nine of whom survived into adulthood:[1]

  • Mary Emma Frances (1842–1847), died when she was five
  • Archibald Edmonstone, died in infancy; their second son (see below) bore the same name.
  • Jessie Edmondstone ( b.1848, m. 1884 Major Edward John Winnington-Ingram (d.1892). d. 10 June 1937)
  • Louisa Ann Edmonstone (b. 1844 m.1872 Major General Henry Pipon CB, Governor of the Tower of London d. 1921)  .
  • Charlotte Henrietta Edmonstone (d. 21 October 1931), married in 1866 John Francis Kitson.[5]
  • Frances Euphemia Edmonstone (b. 1850, m.1873 Alexander Robert Duncan of Parkhill, Angus, factor of Duntreath. d. 14 February 1921)
  • Sophia Edmonstone ( b. 1852, m. 1880 James Edward Hope of Belmont, Midlothian. d. 19 February 1924)
  • Susanna Emily Edmonstone ( b. 1855, m.1885 Jonathan Bucknill. d. 9 May 1886)
  • Mary Clementina Edmondstone (b.1857 m 1874 Andrew Graham Murray, Viscount Dunedin. d. 2 December 1922)
  • Sir Archibald Edmonstone of Duntreath, 5th Bt. (30 May 1867 – 1 April 1954)[1]
  • Alice Frederica Edmonstone[6] (b.29 April 1868 m 1 June 1891 Lt Col George Keppel. d, 11 September 1947), a British socialite and one of the many mistresses of Edward VII of the United Kingdom; her great-granddaughter, Queen Camilla (née Shand, born 17 July 1947), was the mistress of and now second wife of Charles III.

See also

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  • O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Edmonstone, William" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary . John Murray – via Wikisource.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c "Welcome to the official Edmonstone of Duntreath Family Site". edmonstone.com. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b McGrigor, Mary (1996). "Edmonstone of Duntreath family history". paperclip.org.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Post Office Edinburgh and Leith directory > 1887–1888 – Scottish Directories – National Library of Scotland". digital.nls.uk. p. 121. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Deaths". The Times. No. 36845. London. 13 August 1902. p. 1.
  5. ^ Lodge, Edmund (1877). The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing. Hurst and Blackett, Publishers. p. 742. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  6. ^ Portrait in National Portrait Gallery catalogue

References

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Stirlingshire
18741880
Succeeded by
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by Baronet
(of Duntreath)
1871–1888
Succeeded by
Archibald Edmonstone