Vice-Admiral Lord Mark Robert Kerr (12 November 1776 – 9 September 1840) was an officer of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, the third son of
William John Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of
Chichester Fortescue of
Dromisken
Dromiskin (historically ''Druminisklin'', from ) is a village and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is situated 10 km south of Dundalk, about 1 km inland from the Irish coast.
History
The village was home to a monastery for h ...
.
Biography
Kerr served as a
midshipman
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
on , Captain Sir
Erasmus Gower with
Lord Macartney in his
visit to China in 1792–1794, where he was commissioned as a
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
by Gower. He was present at the
capture of Minorca in 1798. Captain Kerr was appointed to in September 1804, and a month later he captured several Spanish ships worth more than £14,000. On 2 November 1804,
Horatio Nelson
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...
, himself quite ill, wrote to
Lord Melville: '...I fear Lord M Kerr is falling into the same complaint
s I have I have now got him to the fleet and shall keep an Eye upon him for he is too valuable an Officer and good a Man to be lost for want of care.' In April 1805, Captain Mark Kerr discovered that the French Toulon fleet, sought by Nelson, were in the Atlantic and he passed this information on to Vice-Admiral
John Orde, who relayed the message to England.
Lord Mark Robert Kerr married on 18 July 1799
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
(11 February 1778 – 26 October 1835), third daughter of
Randal William Macdonnell, sixth Earl, and Marquess of Antrim; she succeeded him as
Countess of Antrim (creation of 1785) in her own right on the death of
her elder sister. They had a large family, two of their sons succeeding as
fourth and
fifth Earls of Antrim.
[Mrs E. M. Fullerton, "Ker, Marquess of Lothian" in '' The Scots Peerage'', ed. Sir ]James Balfour Paul
Sir James Balfour Paul (16 November 1846 – 15 September 1931) was the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the officer responsible for heraldry in Scotland, from 1890 until the end of 1926.
Life
Paul was born in Edinburgh, the second son of the Rev J ...
, vol. V (Edinburgh, 1908
pp. 482–3
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Mark
1776 births
1840 deaths
Younger sons of marquesses
Royal Navy vice admirals
Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars