Mark Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian

Mark Kerr (or Ker), 1st Earl of Lothian (1553 – 8 April 1609) was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He became the first Earl of Lothian in 1606.[1][2]

Family

He was a member of the "famous border family" of Ker of Cessford.[3] He was the son of Mark Kerr, abbot of Newbattle Abbey, Midlothian, and Helen Leslie, sister of the Earl of Rothes.[4] The House of Kerr was of Anglo-Norman lineage, and the Kerrs of Fernihirst settled in Scotland in the 13th century.[5] Kerr and his family lived in Newbattle Abbey, a mansion occupying the site of a Cistercian abbey founded in 1140.[1]

Career

Kerr was named Vicar of Linton in 1567. He was appointed Master of Requests in 1577, a role he held until 1606. He was a gentleman of the king's chamber in 1580.[6] In 1581, he succeeded his father as Commendator of Newbottle.[4]

Like his father, Mark Kerr was an Extraordinary Lord of Session under king [7] beginning in 1584, with his lands in Newbottle made into a Barony.[4]

On 28 October 1587, he was made a Lord of Parliament as Lord Newbottle, or possibly 15 October 1591.[4] In 1587 he was made a baron and Privy Counsellor in 1587, and in 1604 he. He acted as interim Lord Chancellor of Scotland.

He was created Earl of Lothian on 10 July 1606,[4] and resigned the office of Master of Requests in the same year.[4]

An English list of the Scottish nobility states his residences were "Morphele" and Prestongrange.[8]

Marriage and family

He married Margaret Maxwell, a daughter of John Maxwell, Lord Herries. Kerr and his wife were said to have 31 children.[4] Their children included:

Robert Kerr, 2nd Earl of Lothian
Anne Kerr
Margaret Kerr, who married James Hay, 7th Lord Hay of Yester
Janet Kerr, who married William Cunningham, 8th Earl of Glencairn
Jean Kerr, who married (1) Robert Boyd, Master of Boyd, (2) David Lindsay, 12th Earl of Crawford, (3) Thomas Hamilton of Robertoun. In 1623 King James made steps to help the dowager Countess of Crawford and her children, because she had been a faithful servant to Anne of Denmark.[9]

Death

He died on 8 April 1609.[4]

His wife Margaret Maxwell was accused of causing his death through witchcraft.[10] She died at Prestongrange House on 8 January 1617.[4]

He was succeeded by his son Robert, 2nd Earl of Lothian.[10] The second earl had no sons, and the title passed to his daughter Anne, as Countess of Lothian, and subsequently in 1631 her husband was created William Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian.[11]

References

Colin McWilliam, Christopher Wilson, McWilliam, Colin; Wilson, Christopher (1978). Lothian, Except Edinburgh, page 345. Google Books. ISBN 9780140710663. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
"Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage". Google Books. 1914. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
Hugh Chisholm, Chisholm, Hugh (1911). "The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences ..., Volume 17". Google Books. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
George Edward Cokayne, Cokayne, George Edward (1893). "Complete Peerage, Volume 5 (1893), p. 144-145". Google Books. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
Edmund Lodge, Lodge, Edmund (1840). "Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage: With Sketches of the Family from 1840". Google Books. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
Boyd, William (1907). Calendar of State Papers Scotland: 1574-1581. vol. 5. Edinburgh. p. 531.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lothian, Earls and Marquesses of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 18.
"Rogers, Charles, Estimate of the Scottish Nobility (Grampian Club, 1873), 71, (1 July 1592) also printed by PF Tytler, CSP Scotland etc". Retrieved 17 May 2019.
HMC Mar & Kellie (London, 1904), p. 118.
Bernard Burke, "General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (1914), p. 1254". Google Books. 1914. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
David Laing, Correspondence of Sir Robert Kerr, first Earl of Ancram, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1875), pp. xlviii, li.

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by New creation	Earl of Lothian 1606–1609	Succeeded by Robert Kerr

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[Lothian_Except-1] Colin McWilliam, Christopher Wilson, McWilliam, Colin; Wilson, Christopher (1978). Lothian, Except Edinburgh, page 345. Google Books. ISBN 9780140710663. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

[Peerage_and_Bartontegae-2] "Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage". Google Books. 1914. Retrieved 18 May 2019.

[Border_Vol17-3] Hugh Chisholm, Chisholm, Hugh (1911). "The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences ..., Volume 17". Google Books. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

[Complete1893-4] George Edward Cokayne, Cokayne, George Edward (1893). "Complete Peerage, Volume 5 (1893), p. 144-145". Google Books. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

[Peerage_1606-5] Edmund Lodge, Lodge, Edmund (1840). "Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage: With Sketches of the Family from 1840". Google Books. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

[6] Boyd, William (1907). Calendar of State Papers Scotland: 1574-1581. vol. 5. Edinburgh. p. 531.

[7] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lothian, Earls and Marquesses of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 18.

[CSP_07011592-8] "Rogers, Charles, Estimate of the Scottish Nobility (Grampian Club, 1873), 71, (1 July 1592) also printed by PF Tytler, CSP Scotland etc". Retrieved 17 May 2019.

[9] HMC Mar & Kellie (London, 1904), p. 118.

[Burke1254-10] Bernard Burke, "General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (1914), p. 1254". Google Books. 1914. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

[11] David Laing, Correspondence of Sir Robert Kerr, first Earl of Ancram, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1875), pp. xlviii, li.