LIII.
WILLIAM ANNE KEPPEL.
(SECOND EARL OF ALBEMARLE.)
LIII. Governor-in-Chief.
LIII. September 6, 1737, to December 23, 1754.
William Anne Keppel, second Earl of Albemarle,
was born at Whitehall, in 1702, and received his second
Christian name from Queen Anne, who was present at his
baptism, acting as sponsor on the occasion. In 1717, he was
appointed by George I. a Captain in the British Army, and
was continuously promoted for gallant and meritorious conduct
until 1743, when he was made a Lieutenant-General.
He was distinguished in many battles and won many honors;
was Embassador to France in 1748; created a Knight of the
Garter, 1750; a member of the Privy Council, 1751; and
enjoyed many other high positions of trust and confidence,
among them, that of "Governor-in-Chief of Virginia." To
this, he succeeded George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney, on the
death of the latter, September 6, 1737, being appointed thereto
by George II.
Lord Albemarle died in Paris, 1754, but his name still
lives in a county in Virginia, and in a sound on the coast of
North Carolina. He married Anne, daughter of Charles,
first Duke of Richmond, and the celebrated Viscount Augustus
Keppel was his son.
