{{Short description|Royal Navy Admiral (1810–1888)}} {{Use British English|date=March 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} [[File:William Edmonstone, Vanity Fair, 1879-03-08.jpg|thumb|"Chorus". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1879]] 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Welcome to the official Edmonstone of Duntreath Family Site|url=https://www.edmonstone.com/|access-date=2021-10-02|website=edmonstone.com}}</ref>
==Life== 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=McGrigor|first=Mary|date=1996|title=Edmonstone of Duntreath family history|url=http://www.paperclip.org.uk/kilsythweb/history/archivesources/Edmonstone_Duntreath.htm|access-date=2021-10-02|website=paperclip.org.uk|archive-date=2 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102205209/http://www.paperclip.org.uk/kilsythweb/history/archivesources/Edmonstone_Duntreath.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" />
Sir William Edmonstone died at home, 11 Ainslie Place<ref>{{Cite web|title=Post Office Edinburgh and Leith directory > 1887–1888 – Scottish Directories – National Library of Scotland|url=https://digital.nls.uk/directories/browse/archive/83483792|access-date=2021-10-02|website=digital.nls.uk|page=121}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Deaths |date=13 August 1902 |page=1 |issue=36845}}</ref>
==Family== thumb|265px|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:<ref name=":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. 1923) * Charlotte Henrietta Edmonstone (d. 21 October 1931), married in 1866 John Francis Kitson.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lodge|first=Edmund|title=The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing|url=https://archive.org/details/peerageandbaron00lodggoog|accessdate=17 March 2018|year=1877|publisher=Hurst and Blackett, Publishers|page=[https://archive.org/details/peerageandbaron00lodggoog/page/n807 742]}}</ref> * 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)<ref name=":1" /> * Alice Frederica Edmonstone<ref>[http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp50247&rNo=2&role=sit Portrait in National Portrait Gallery catalogue]</ref> (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== * {{cite wikisource |first=William Richard |last=O'Byrne |chapter=Edmonstone, William |title=A Naval Biographical Dictionary |year=1849 |publisher=John Murray}}
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== *[http://www.edmonstone.com/Pages/creabt.htm www.edmonstone.com] *{{Rayment-bt|date=March 2012}}
== External links == * {{Hansard-contribs | sir-william-edmonstone | William Edmonstone }}
{{S-start}} {{S-par|uk}} {{Succession box | title = Member of Parliament for Stirlingshire | years = 1874–1880 | before = John Erskine | after = Joseph Cheney Bolton}} {{S-reg|gb-bt}} {{Succession box | title=Baronet <br />'''(of Duntreath)''' | years=1871–1888 | before= Archibald Edmonstone | after=Archibald Edmonstone }} {{S-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonstone, Sir William, 4th Baronet}} Category:1810 births Category:1888 deaths Category:Nobility from Stirling (council area) Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Category:Royal Navy admirals Category:UK MPs 1874–1880 William Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stirling constituencies Category:Deputy lieutenants in Scotland