General William Henry Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian (1710 – 12 April 1775) was a Scottish nobleman, British soldier and politician, the eldest son of

William Kerr, 3rd Marquess of Lothian William Kerr, 3rd Marquess of Lothian, ( – 28 July 1767) was a Scottish nobleman, styled Master of Jedburgh from 1692 to 1703 and Lord Jedburgh from 1703 to 1722. Early life He was the son of William Kerr, 2nd Marquess of Lothian and Lady Jean ...

. He was styled Master of Jedburgh until 1722, Lord Jedburgh from 1722 to 1735, and Earl of Ancram from 1735 to 1767. As the Earl of Ancram, he distinguished himself during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

Family

Emilia Kerr (1756-1832), by George Romney

On 6 November 1735, he married Lady Carolina Louisa Darcy (d. 1778), daughter of

Robert Darcy, 3rd Earl of Holderness Robert Darcy, 3rd Earl of Holderness, (24 November 168120 January 1721) was a British peer and politician. Life Darcy was the second (but eldest surviving) son of John Darcy, Lord Conyers, (himself the eldest son of Conyers Darcy, 2nd Earl of H ...

, and thereafter assumed the style of Earl of Ancram rather than Lord Jedburgh. They had three children: * William John Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian (1737–1815) *Lady Louisa Kerr (born 18 October 1739), married Lord George Henry Lennox on 25 December 1759, at

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

, and had issue including **Lady Maria Louisa Lennox (2 November 1760 – July 1843). **Lady Emilie Charlotte Lennox (December 1763 – 19 October 1832), married Adm. Hon. Sir

George Cranfield Berkeley Admiral Sir George Cranfield Berkeley GCB (10 August 1753 – 25 February 1818) was a British Royal Navy officer. An admiral, he was highly popular yet controversial in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain. Serving on several sh ...

and had issue. **

Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond General Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox, 4th Duke of Aubigny, (9 December 176428 August 1819) was a Scottish peer, soldier, politician, and Governor-general of British North America. Background Richmond was born to Ge ...

(9 September 1764 – 28 August 1819). **Lady Georgiana Lennox (6 December 1765 – 20 January 1841), married Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst. *Lady Wilhelmina Emilia Kerr, married Col. John McLeod, RA on 2 January 1783 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and had issue of five daughters and four sons

Military service

Ancram was commissioned a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

in 1735. He was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

31st Regiment of Foot The 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot to form the East Surrey Regiment in 1881. History Origins ...

in 1739, and transferred as such to the

1st Regiment of Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

in 1741. He fought with the Guards at the

Battle of Fontenoy (1745) The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by ...

while serving as an aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland, and was wounded during the battle. He was subsequently made an ADC to the King and a colonel. In the same year, he was appointed

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

of Lord Mark Kerr's Regiment of Dragoons, and commanded the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

on the left wing at the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...

in 1746 (His younger brother, Lord Robert Kerr, was with the infantry and was the highest-ranking Government casualty of the battle). After the battle, he commanded the forces at

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

until August, and then returned to the Continent with Cumberland in December. At some point during the year, he was appointed a

Groom of the Bedchamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in Eng ...

to Cumberland. Ancram was sent home with the standards captured at the Battle of Lauffeld. On 1 December 1747, he succeeded Daniel Houghton as colonel of the

24th Regiment of Foot Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. On 11 December 1747, through the interest of his brother-in-law

Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, (17 May 1718 – 16 May 1778), known before 1721 as Lord Darcy and Conyers, was a British diplomat and politician. Career In 1741 he collaborated with G.F. Handel in the production of Deidamia. From ...

, he was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

at a by-election in place of Sir Conyers Darcy, who had also been returned for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and preferred that seat. In 1752, Ancram was appointed colonel of the

11th Regiment of Dragoons The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Pri ...

, in succession to his grand-uncle Lord Mark Kerr. He was promoted to the rank of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 1758 and held a command under the

Duke of Marlborough General (United Kingdom), General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an Engl ...

during the

Raid on St Malo The Raid on St Malo took place in June 1758 when an amphibious British naval expedition landed close to the French port of St Malo in Brittany. While the town itself was not attacked, as had been initially planned, the British destroyed large a ...

Resignation from the Commons

Ancram had followed his old commander Cumberland into politics, and with him supported Pitt and his opposition to the negotiations for the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

. While Ancram's political position was undermined in 1762 when his brother-in-law, Lord Holderness, sold off his interest in the borough of Richmond,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

and

Lord Shelburne William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, (2 May 17377 May 1805; known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history), was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first ...

were still at pains to persuade him to leave the House of Commons before the vote on the peace preliminaries without the interference of Cumberland. Ancram voted against the preliminaries on 9 December, having missed a message from Cumberland directing him not to do so; ultimately, he took the Chiltern Hundreds in 1763, having accepted, according to the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle u ...

, £4,000 to do so.

Later life

In 1767, he succeeded to the Marquessate of Lothian. He was elected a Scots

representative peer In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to ...

and appointed a

Knight of the Thistle A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in 1768. He was promoted to

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

in 1770 and died in 1775 at

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lothian, William Kerr, 4th Marquess of 1710 births 1775 deaths British Army generals British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession Knights of the Thistle Scottish representative peers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Grenadier Guards officers British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745 Ancram, William Kerr, Earl of Ancram, William Kerr, Earl of Ancram, William Kerr, Earl of South Wales Borderers officers 11th Hussars officers Marquesses of Lothian