William Keppel (British Army officer, died 1834)
British Army general
General Sir William Keppel GCB (died 11 December 1834) was a British soldier and colonial administrator.
Military career
He entered the army as an ensign in the 25th Regiment of Foot on 25 January 1777, and became a lieutenant in the 60th Regiment of Foot 4 March 1777. He subsequently served in the 23rd Regiment of Foot and the 15th Regiment of Foot the next year, the 82nd Regiment of Foot in 1782, and the 93rd Regiment of Foot in 1783. He was breveted colonel in 1794. On 20 May 1795, he was promoted colonel of the 3rd West India Regiment, which he commanded until 1806.
He was governor of Martinique 1796–1802. In 1803, he was promoted to lieutenant general. On 24 April 1806, he was appointed colonel of the King's Royal Rifle Corps until 7 February 1811, when he transferred as colonel to the 67th Regiment of Foot, which he commanded until 1828. He was promoted full General on 4 June 1813.
He became Governor of Portsmouth in 1826 and he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Governor of Guernsey in 1827.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “William Keppel (British Army officer, died 1834)” is british Army general. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through William, Keppel and British, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “british Army general” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8013961. VIAF identifies the subject as 122131372. The Library of Congress control number is no2010099593. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1834, 1777, 1782 and 1783.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “William Keppel (British Army officer, died 1834)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow William Keppel (British Army officer, died 1834) primary sources, William Keppel (British Army officer, died 1834) archive and William research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “William Keppel (British Army officer, died 1834)”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “William Keppel (British Army officer, died 1834)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.