Archibald Kennedy, 11th Earl of Cassilis


Captain Archibald Kennedy, 11th Earl of Cassilis was a Scottish peer who lived in the English colony of New York which became part of the United States.

Early life

Kennedy, who lived in New York City at 1 Broadway in the Kennedy mansion, was the son of Archibald Kennedy and Maria Schuyler Kennedy.
His mother, a daughter of mayor Robert Walter and Catharine Leisler, was briefly married, and widowed, to Arent Schuyler before her marriage to his father.
His father, a direct descendant of the second son of Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis, died in 1763.

Career

In 1757, Kennedy served as a Captain in the Royal Navy. He owned what is now Liberty Island in the Upper New York Bay off Manhattan from 1746 to 1758, using it as a summer residence.
On 18 December 1792, upon the death of a distant cousin, the 10th Earl, Archibald was recalled from New York to Culzean Castle in Scotland to succeed to the Earldom and titles as the 11th Earl of Cassilis, and 13th Lord Kennedy.

Personal life

His first marriage took place sometime before June 1765, to Katherine Schuyler, daughter of Peter Schuyler and granddaughter of Arent Schuyler, his mother's first husband. Katherine was an only child, so she inherited all of her father's estate upon his death in 1762. After her death in 1765, Kennedy inherited the entire estate.
On 27 April 1769, he married for the second time to Anne Watts, the daughter of John Watts and Ann DeLancey, sister of John Watts, and granddaughter of Stephen Delancey. Like his first wife, Watts was also a descendant of the Schuyler family. They had three children:
His wife died on 29 December 1793 and he died almost exactly one year later on 30 December 1794.

Descendants

Through his son Robert, he was a grandfather of Sophia Eliza Kennedy, who married John Levett of Wychnor Park and Packington Hall, Staffordshire. Their son, Capt. Robert Thomas Kennedy Levett, DL, was named for his grandfather Kennedy.
His great-grandsons included Sir John Gordon Kennedy K.C.M.G., who became an eminent diplomat, Admiral Sir William Robert Kennedy G.C.B., who became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, and Gilbert George Kennedy who played for the Scottish XI in the second international football match against England.