THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE
The seventh Earl of Albemarle - the Right Hon. William Coutts Keppel - died yesterday from paralysis.
Born in 1832 and educated at Eton, he entered the Scots Guards in 1849.
He did not, however, remain long in the Army.
He returned home a few years later on sick leave from India, whether he had gone as aide-de-camp to Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, and resigned his commission in order to become Civil Secretary and Superintendant-General of Indian Affairs for Canada, an office which he held until 1855.
Previous to this he had acted as private secretary to Lord John Russell.
Two years later he entered Parliament on the Liberal side as member for Norwich, and in 1859 Lord Palmerston appointed him to be Treasurer of the Royal Household.
His re-election on taking office was declared void, but he was returned in the following year to represent Wick, which he continued to do until 1865.
In 1868 he became member for Berwick-on-Tweed.
He was defeated there, however, in 1874, and also at Stroud in 1875, but in the next year he was called to the House of Lords as Baron Ashford, a title held by his father in addition to his earldom.
From 1878 until 1880, and in 1885-86 he held the post of Under-Secretary for War in Conservative Administrations.
He succeeded his father, who was almost the last survivor of the battle of Waterloo, in 1891.
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The late peer took an active part in promoting the Volunteer movement and held various commands in that service, besides being a Volunteer A.D.C. to the Queen.
He was sworn a Privy Councillor in 1859.
He took a great interest in the problems of electricity, and was chairman of the General Electric Power and Traction Company (Limited).
It may be remembered that a few years ago -in 1890; he was then Lord Bury - he wrote to The Times a letter asking for suggestions for a verb to express progression by electric power, which called forth a large number of answers.
"To Motor" was the verb which was selected as the most suitable, but neither that nor any other of the words proposed seems to have been taken as yet into general use.
The late peer married, in 1855, a daughter of Sir Allan Napier MacNab, the Prime Minister of Canada.
His eldest son, who succeeds to the title, was born in 1858, and sits in the House of Commons as member for Birkenhead, for which place he was returned in 1892 with a majority of 604 over his Gladstonian opponent.
As he had been since 1879 a member of the Roman Catholic Church, a requiem mass for the dead peer will be said at the Oratory at Brompton on Friday morning, at 9:30.
The funeral will take place at Quiddenham, Norfolk, on the same day at 3:45.
Carriages will be reserved by the 12 o'clock train from St. Pancras to Eccles-road for those who wish to attend the service.
The return train leaves at 5:45, reaching London at 8:30 p.m.
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