KERR, ROBERT [SSNE 8213]

Surname

KERR, CARR, KER

First name

ROBERT

Title/rank

1ST EARL OF ANCRAM

Nationality

SCOT

Region

BORDERS, ROXBURGHSHIRE

Social status

NOBILITY

Text source

Sir Robert Kerr, First Earl of Ancram was a Scottish courtier and politician. He was the father of Sir William Kerr, First/Third Earl of Lothian [SSNE 8103], a captain in the Scots-Dutch Brigade and later a general in the Army of the Covenant. Sir Robert was originally the Laird of Ancram but was made Earl of Ancram in 1633, two years after his son was made Earl of Lothian. Ancram was a royal servant of James VI&I, Prince Henry Frederick and later Charles I. Following Charles' execution in 1649 and Cromwell's invasion of Scotland, Ancram fled to the Dutch Republic. He arrived in Dordrecht in September 1650 and by the end of October he had taken up residence at Amsterdam, where he would spend the rest of his life in great poverty and want. He was visited by Sir James Livingston, Earl of Callendar [SSNE 8050] that month when Callendar fled to the Continent after the battle of Preston. Acram died in December 1654 at the age of 76. 

 

Sources: 

Correspondence of Sir Robert Kerr, First Earl of Ancram and his son William, Third Earl of Lothian, Vol. I: 1616-1649 (2 Vols., Edinburgh, 1875), sigs. xxiii, xxv, c, cxv.

and Vol. II: 1649-1667, p. 318.

 

National Records of Scotland, GD40/2/4/77. William Kerr to Lothian, Schiedam, 18/28 January 1651.

Stevenson, David. "Ker, Robert, first earl of Ancram (1578–1654), courtier and politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed 3 Aug. 2020. https://www-oxforddnb-com.ezproxy.st-andrews.ac.uk/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-15457.

 

This entry created by Mr Jack Abernethy and updated with the help of Dr Jamie Reid-Baxter.

Service record

THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, DORDRECHT, AMSTERDAM

Arrived 1651-09-01

Departed 1654-12-31

Capacity REFUGEE, purpose REFUGEE