William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle

William Charles Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle, GCH, PC (14 May 1772 – 30 October 1849), styled Viscount Bury from May to October 1772, was a British Whig politician and courtier.

Background Albemarle was the only child of General George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle, and Anne, daughter of Sir John Miller, 4th Baronet. He succeeded in the earldom in October 1772, aged five months, on the early death of his father. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge.

Political career On the formation of the Ministry of All the Talents in 1806, Lord Albemarle was appointed Master of the Buckhounds by Lord Grenville. Thereby he became an officer in the Master of the Horse's department in the Royal Household and also the equivalent of today's Representative of Her Majesty at Ascot. The Mastership of the Buckhounds being a political office, the holder changed with every government and because the Earl's patrons fell in March 1807 he lost his position after only one year. which was the third-ranking officer at court (after the Lord Chamberlain and Lord Steward). He continued in this office until November 1834, the last few months under the premiership of Lord Melbourne, and held the same post under Melbourne between 1835 and 1841. married Henry Frederick Stephenson, MP, and had issue.

After his first wife's death in November 1817, aged 41, Lord Albemarle married, secondly, Charlotte Susannah, daughter of Sir Henry Hunloke, 4th Baronet, on 11 February 1822. This marriage was childless. He died at Quidenham, Norfolk, in October 1849, aged 77, and was succeeded in the earldom by his second but eldest surviving son, Augustus.

The Dowager Countess, Charlotte Susannah, was nicknamed the "Rowdy Dow" by her stepchildren, who accused her of squandering the family's fortune. In the words of one biographer: "[She] managed to disperse Keppel heirlooms with extravagant eccentricity." other_versions =