James Innes-Ker, 5th Duke of Roxburghe

Biographical Summary

"Sir James Innes, fifth Duke of Roxburghe. He was born at Innes House, Elgin, 10 January 1736; educated at Leyden; captain 88th Regiment 1759, and 58th Regiment 1779; succeeded to the baronetcy 1762; sold the family estates of Innes 1767. He preferred his claim to the Roxburghe titles and estates, under the settlement of the first Earl of Roxburghe in 1805, and on 11 May 1812 was adjudged to be fifth Duke and ninth Earl of Roxburghe. He died at Floors Castle 19 July 1823, aged eighty-five, and was buried at Bowden. He married, first, 19 April 1769, at St James's Church, Westminster, Mary, eldest daughter of Sir John Wray of Glentworth, in the county of Lincoln, Baronet, by Frances, daughter of Fairfax Norcliffe of Langton, in the county of York, which estate being settled on Lady Innes, he took by royal license the name of Norcliffe before that of Innes, 31 May 1769. She died without issue 20 July 1807. After her death Sir James dropped the name Norcliffe, taking the name Ker, in addition to Innes, her estates passing by settlement to her nephew. Sir James married, secondly, eight days after his first wife's death, Harriet, daughter of Benjamin Charlwood of Windlesham, Surrey, at Kensington, 28 July 1807, who survived him, and married, secondl at Chelsea, Lieut.-Colonel Walter Frederick O'Reilly, C.B., 41st Regiment (who died 4 March 1844), and died at Brighton 19 January 1855, aged seventy-seven. By his second wife the Duke had an only son."

SOURCE: The Scots peerage, Vol. VII, page 356-357

Other References

• Wikipedia contributors, "James Innes-Ker, 5th Duke of Roxburghe", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
• Complete baronetage; Cokayne, George E. (George Edward); 1900; Vol. II; page 281

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James Innes-Ker, 5th Duke of Roxburghe was a Scottish nobleman.

He was the eldest surviving son of Sir Henry Innes, 5th Baronet (c. 1711–1762), and Anne Drummonda Grant (1711–1771). He succeeded to the Baronetcy on his father's death. Through the Innes family, he was a descendant of Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe, and in 1812 established his claim to the vacant Dukedom of Roxburghe.

The fight for the succession of the title encompassed seven years of constant litigation; according to one biography, "seldom have the lawyers met with a richer harvest. The courts of Edinburgh and London have revelled in conflicting claims, and the House of Lords has been disturbed by never-ending appeals." On the demise of the 3rd Duke, who had never married, his principal titles, and large and productive estates, devolved on William, 7th Lord Bellenden, who died shortly thereafter, without heirs. The succession was contested by Major-General Walter Ker and the Right Honorable William Drummond; and only at vast cost decided, on 11 May 1812, in favour of Sir James, as descended from Lady Innes, the third daughter of Hary, Lord Ker, son of the first Earl of Roxburghe.

Lord Bellenden was descended from the second Duke; General Ker claimed to be heir male of the first, and Mr. Drummond heir male of the second Earl, so that the issue turned on the construction of an entail, which gave the right to the female line. Other claimants included John Bellenden Ker (c. 1765–1842), famous as a wit and botanist and the author of Archaeology of Popular Phrases and Nursery Rhymes (1837), whose son was the legal reformer Charles Henry Bellenden Ker (c. 1785–1871). It is notable that 25 years later, Walter Ker's daughter Essex Ker was involved in litigation against her father's lawyers in connection with bonds issued to cover the costs of the succession litigation.

James took the name Innes-Ker, and became the 5th Duke of Roxburghe. He married twice, first to Mary Wray in 1769, who died in 1807. That same year he married Harriet Charlewood. He had one son by this second marriage, James, who succeeded to the Dukedom on his death.

Portraits of the Duke and his second Duchess were painted by Henry Raeburn, and hang in the entrance hall of the family seat of Floors Castle in the Scottish Borders.