Admiral of the Fleet Lord Walter Talbot Kerr, (28 September 1839 – 12 May 1927) was a

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 ...

officer. After taking part in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

and then the Indian Mutiny, he supervised the handover of

Ulcinj Ulcinj ( cyrl, Улцињ, ; ) is a town on the southern coast of Montenegro and the capital of Ulcinj Municipality. It has an urban population of 10,707 (2011), the majority being Albanians. As one of the oldest settlements in the Adriatic co ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

to allow Montenegro an outlet to the sea in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Berlin. He became Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief,

Channel Squadron Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

and then Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. He went on to be Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, then Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Squadron and finally became First Naval Lord. In that capacity he presided over a period of continued re-armament in the face of German naval expansion but was unceasingly harassed by Admiral

Sir John Fisher John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, (25 January 1841 – 10 July 1920), commonly known as Jacky or Jackie Fisher, was a British Admiral of the Fleet. With more than sixty years in the Royal Navy, his efforts to reform the service helped t ...

Early career

Born the fourth son of

John Kerr, 7th Marquess of Lothian John William Robert Kerr, 7th Marquess of Lothian (1 February 1794 – 14 November 1841), styled Lord Newbottle until 1815 and Earl of Ancram from 1815 to 1824, was a Tory politician. He served briefly as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard under ...

and Lady Cecil Chetwynd Talbot. Kerr was educated at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...

and joined the

first-rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying ...

HMS ''Prince Regent'' as a naval cadet in August 1853.Heathcote, p. 143 He saw action during the

serving in the first-rate HMS ''Neptune'' in March 1854 and then in the third-rate HMS ''Cornwallis'' in May 1855. Promoted to midshipman in August 1855, he joined the frigate HMS ''Shannon'' on the

East Indies and China Station The Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China was a formation of the Royal Navy from 1831 to 1865. Its naval area of responsibility was the Indian Ocean and the coasts of China and its navigable rivers. The Commander-in-Chief was appointed in 183 ...

in August 1856. He saw action during the Indian mutiny when the ship's crew landed as a naval brigade in December 1857. Kerr was wounded near

Cawnpore Kanpur or Cawnpore (Help:IPA/English, /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (Wikipedia:Media help, help·:File:Kanpur.ogg, info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one ...

but still took part in the capture of Lucknow in February 1858. After being mentioned in despatches on 31 March 1858 and promoted to mate on 28 September 1858, he transferred to the royal yacht HMY ''Victoria and Albert'' in June 1859. Promoted to

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 ...

on 5 September 1859, Kerr was appointed to the

steam frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for exa ...

HMS ''Emerald'' in the

in July 1860 and to the

second-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer gun ...

HMS ''Princess Royal'', flagship on the East Indies and China Station in February 1864. While serving on HMS Princess Royal and ashore in the treaty port of Yokohama, Kerr also found the opportunity to take some of the earliest photographic pictures of Japan and in 1866 helped to establish the first Rugby Football club in the country. Promoted to commander on 3 April 1868, he was posted to the ironclad battleship HMS ''Hercules'' in the Channel Squadron in November 1868 and was awarded the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...

's silver medal for jumping overboard to rescue a man who had fallen from the rigging into the

River Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to e ...

. Kerr became Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron and Captain of the battleship HMS ''Lord Warden'' in September 1871 and, having been promoted to captain on 30 November 1872 and while remaining Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron, he became Captain of the frigate HMS ''Agincourt'' in October 1874 and then Captain of the frigate HMS ''Minotaur'' in August 1875. He became Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and Captain of the frigate HMS ''Inconstant'' in February 1880 and then, while remaining Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, he became Captain of the ironclad battleship HMS ''Alexandra'' in March 1880. Kerr supervised the handover of

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

to allow Montenegro an outlet to the sea in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Berlin in September 1880.Heathcote, p. 144 He became Captain of the Medway Steam Reserve in December 1881 and naval private secretary to

Lord George Hamilton Lord George Francis Hamilton (17 December 1845 – 22 September 1927) was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who served as First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for India. Backgroun ...

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

in July 1885.

Flag officer

Promoted to rear admiral on 1 January 1889, Kerr became Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, hoisting his flag in the battleship HMS ''Trafalgar'' in April 1890 and then in the cruiser HMS ''Amphion'' in April 1892. He became Junior Naval lord in August 1892 and Second Naval Lord in November 1893. Promoted to vice admiral on 20 February 1895, he became Commander-in-Chief of the

, hoisting his flag in the battleship HMS ''Royal Sovereign'' in May 1895 and then in the battleship in December 1895. He was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

in 1896. Kerr became Second Naval Lord again in May 1899 before being made First Naval Lord in August 1899, and promoted to full admiral on 21 March 1900. Following the succession of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

, he was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the

1902 Coronation Honours The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...

list published on 26 June 1902, and received the insignia in an investiture on board the royal yacht ''Victoria and Albert'' outside Cowes on 15 August 1902, the day before the

fleet review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

held there to mark the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

. He was then promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 16 June 1904. During his time as First Naval Lord Kerr presided over a period of continued re-armament in the face of German naval expansion but was unceasingly harassed by Admiral

until he was replaced by Fisher in October 1904. In retirement he was President of the Catholic Union of Great Britain: he lived at

Melbourne Hall Melbourne Hall is a Georgian style country house in Melbourne, Derbyshire, previously owned by William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, British Prime Minister from 1835 to 1841. The house is now the seat of Lord and Lady Ralph Kerr and is open to th ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, which his wife had inherited, along with

Brocket Hall Brocket Hall is a neo-classical country house set in a large park at the western side of the urban area of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The estate is equipped with two golf courses and seven smaller listed buildings, apart fro ...

and the manor of

Ayot St Peter Ayot St Peter is a village and civil parish in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, England, about two miles north-west of Welwyn Garden City. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 166. At the 2011 Census the population ...

. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of the county on 26 January 1917 and died at Melbourne Hall on 12 May 1927. He was buried at St Michael's Church nearby.

Family

In 1873, Kerr married Lady Amabel Cowper, published writer, the youngest daughter of

George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper George Augustus Frederick Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper (26 June 1806 – 15 April 1856), styled Viscount Fordwich until 1837, was a British Whig politician. He served briefly as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under his uncle Lord Melbo ...

; they had four sons and two daughters:Mosley, p. 2405 *Ralph Francis (1874–1932), priest; *Andrew William (1877–1929), married Marie Constance Kerr (a descendant of the 5th Marquess of Lothian) (1889–1929), had issue, including

Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian Peter Francis Walter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian, (8 September 1922 – 11 October 2004) was a British peer, politician and landowner. He was the son of Captain Andrew William Kerr by his wife, Marie Kerr. Both of his parents were male- ...

; *Mary Catherine (1878–1957), nun; *Margaret Mary (1880–1943), unmarried; *John David (1883–1954), married Annabel Mary Ward (d. 1974), no issue; *Philip Walter (1886–1941) married Dorothy Lucy Cave (a descendant of the 6th Marquess of Lothian)

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * *

External links

*
William Loney RN
Career History , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Walter 1839 births 1927 deaths People from Midlothian People educated at Radley College Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 First Sea Lords and Chiefs of the Naval Staff Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Royal Navy admirals of the fleet Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Younger sons of marquesses Deputy Lieutenants of Derbyshire Scottish Roman Catholics