Earls
of Ancram (1633)
1st Earl of Ancram, Robert Kerr,
b.1578, a.1633, d.1654
Robert Kerr was of the Kerrs of Ferniehurst,
grandson of another Robert Kerr of Ancram (b.?, d.1588), younger brother of Sir
John Kerr, 3rd of Ferniehurst, and son of William Kerr (b.?, d.1590) and
Margaret Dundas. The various branches of the Kerr family became involved in the
political intrigues surrounding Queen Mary, which resulted in major border
warfare in the late 16th Century, and Robert's father had been assassinated by
the heir to the Cessford branch of the family, who would become 1st Earl of Roxburghe. Through his distant relationship to Robert
Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, the favourite of King James VI, Robert
was inducted into court life at an early age, attending on Henry, Prince of
Wales. He was made a Knight of the Bath
in 1603, and was made Captain of the King’s Bodyguard in 1613. On Henry’s death
in 1612, he attended Prince Charles, a relationship that was to benefit him
when Charles attained the throne in 1625. However, before this, in 1620, Kerr
killed Charles Maxwell of Terregles in a duel, and under the strict rules for
preventing and punishing duels, was exiled for six months. When Charles became
King, Robert was made Gentleman of the Bedchamber, and also became an MP, for
Aylesbury in 1625 and then for Preston in
1628. In 1631 he was granted several of the estates that had reverted to the
Crown after the death of his distant relative Robert Kerr, 2nd Earl of Lothian. In 1633 he was created 1st Earl of
Ancram and 1st Lord Kerr of Nisbet, Langnewton and Dolphinstoun,
with special remainder to the children of his second wife, since his first and
only surviving son by his first wife had independently been made 1st
Earl of Lothian after having married the 3rd Countess
of the previous version beforehand. He remained loyal to Charles all his life,
and when the King was murdered, he fled to Holland, where he died in poverty.
2nd Earl
of Ancram, Charles Kerr, b.1624, a.1654, d.1690
Son of the 1st Earl and his second
wife Lady Anne Stanley (b.c.1600, d.c.1656-1657), daughter of Sir William
Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby. He was a long-serving MP, representing
St Michaels in Cornwall from 1647 until ousted from
the Long Parliament during Pride's Purge, the military coup that removed MPs
not sufficiently supportive of the New Model Army, and after the Restoration
for Thirsk, and latterly for Wigan between
1661 and 1681. On his death, the earldom passed to his half-nephew, Robert
Kerr, 2nd Earl (and later 1st Marquess) of Lothian.
For a continuation of this line, please
transfer to the Lothian page.
(Last updated: 27/02/2013)
Back to main titles
page