The arms are those of Dundas with Saunders in pretence for Robert Dundas (1771-1775), later Saunders-Dundas, and his wife Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Richard Huck Saunders (d.1785) and of her uncle Admiral Sir Charles Saunders (d.1775), whom he married in 1796. Robert was the only son and heir of Henry Dundas, 1^st Viscount Melville (1742-1811), of Melville Castle, Edinburgh. Under the terms of his wife’s uncle’s Will, in order to succeed to the property, Robert Dundas was required to add the surname Saunders before his own.

Robert Saunders-Dundas, K.T., succeeded his father as 2nd Viscount Melville in 1811. He was educated at Edinburgh High School and Emanuel College Cambridge. He served as M.P. successively for a number of seats including Hastings and Rye, until the death of his father. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty twice, firstly from 1812 until 1827 and then from 1828 to 1830. During his term of office, an Arctic expedition, championed by him, named what is now known as the Melville Sound after him. He held a number of other offices including Governor of the Bank of Scotland, Lord Privy Seal, and Chancellor of the University of St. Andrews. He died in 1852.