Peter Francis Walter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian, (8 September 1922 – 11 October 2004) was a British peer,

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and landowner. He was the son of Captain Andrew William Kerr by his wife, Marie Kerr. Both of his parents were male-line descendants of

William Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian General William John Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian (13 March 1737 – 4 January 1815) was a British soldier and peer, styled Lord Newbattle until 1767 and Earl of Ancrum from 1767 to 1775. He was buried at St Andrew's parish Church, Farnham, S ...

Life and career

His father, Andrew Kerr, and grandfather,

Lord Walter Kerr Admiral of the Fleet Lord Walter Talbot Kerr, (28 September 1839 – 12 May 1927) was a Royal Navy officer. After taking part in the Crimean War and then the Indian Mutiny, he supervised the handover of Ulcinj to Montenegro to allow Montenegro ...

, the son of the 7th Marquess of Lothian, were officers in 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 ...

. He was educated at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, and joined the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

. He succeeded his cousin,

Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, (18 April 1882 – 12 December 1940), known as Philip Kerr until 1930, was a British politician, diplomat and newspaper editor. He was private secretary to Prime Minister David Lloyd George between 19 ...

, in 1940, and married a distant cousin, Antonella Newland (d. 2007), daughter of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir Foster Newland, on 30 April 1943. Lord and Lady Lothian had six children: two sons and four daughters. His wife pursued her own career as a journalist, and founded the

Women of the Year Lunch The Women of the Year Lunch, later known as the Women of the Year Lunch and Awards (WOYLA), is an annual charity lunch for women achievers. The inaugural lunch was held on 29 September 1955 at the Savoy Hotel, and raised money for the Greater Lo ...

. The family were mainly based at their estates in the Borders, at

Newbattle Abbey Newbattle Abbey ( gd, Abaid a' Bhatail Nuaidh) was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution. Monastery It was founded in 1140 by mo ...

and

Monteviot Monteviot House is the early 18th century home of the Marquess of Lothian, the politician better known as Michael Ancram. It is located on the River Teviot near Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. History The house which sits ...

. The 11th Marquess had left

Blickling Hall Blickling Hall is a Jacobean stately home situated in 5,000 acres of parkland in a loop of the River Bure, near the village of Blickling north of Aylsham in Norfolk, England. The mansion was built on the ruins of a Tudor building for Sir Henry ...

in Norfolk to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. Another family house 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 ...

was opened to the paying public in 1952.Melbourne Hall was inherited via his great-great-grandmother Emily Cowper, sister of the 2nd

Viscount Melbourne Viscount Melbourne, of Kilmore in the County of Cavan, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the Lamb family. This family descended from Matthew Lamb, who represented Stockbridge and Peterborough in the House of Commons. In 1755 he ...

and mistress of

Palmerston Palmerston may refer to: People * Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer * Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston ** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman an ...

whom she later married. Se
obituary
(2004) by James Stourton for details. Lothian took part in the

Wolfenden inquiry The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (better known as the Wolfenden report, after Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee) was published in the United Kingdom on 4 September 1957 after a suc ...

into the UK's laws on

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

and

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

from 1954. He joined the UK's delegation to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

during the

Suez crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

in 1956, and was later sent as a delegate to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

in 1959 and the

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

. He served as

parliamentary private secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the

foreign secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

Lord Home Earl of Home ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1605 for Alexander Home of that Ilk, 6th Lord Home. The Earl of Home holds, among others, the subsidiary titles of Lord Home (created 1473), and Lord Dunglass (1605), i ...

, from 1960, and was also a whip in the House of Lords. He served as a junior minister at the Ministry of Health during the short period of Lord Home's term as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

in 1964. He returned to the Foreign Office with Alec Douglas-Home (then formerly Lord Home) in 1970, serving as parliamentary under-secretary for two years. He was nominated as a

member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

in 1973, when the UK joined the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

. Lord Lothian retired from politics in 1977, after which he served as

Lord Warden of the Stannaries The Lord Warden of the Stannaries (from la, stannum for Tin, Sn) used to exercise judicial and military functions in Cornwall, England, and is still the official who, upon the commission of the monarch or Duke of Cornwall for the time being, h ...

, Keeper of the Privy Purse to the Duke of Cornwall, and Chairman of the Prince's Council for the

Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall ( kw, Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of 'Duke of Cornwall' at ...

. He was appointed KCVO in 1983. He was also a member of the

Royal Company of Archers The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a perso ...

, commandant of the

Special Constabulary The Special Constabulary is the part-time volunteer section of statutory police forces in the United Kingdom and some Crown dependencies. Its officers are known as special constables. Every United Kingdom territorial police force has a specia ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

, and a Knight of Malta. He returned the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

monastery of San Damiano, near

Assisi Assisi (, also , ; from la, Asisium) is a town and ''comune'' of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born aroun ...

, to the

Franciscan Friars Minor , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

in 1979, and he ceded control of Monteviot and Melbourne House to his elder and younger son, respectively, in the 1980s, to take on the restoration of

Ferniehirst Castle Ferniehirst Castle (sometimes spelled Ferniehurst) is an L-shaped construction on the east bank of the Jed Water, about a mile and a half south of Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and in the former county of Roxburghshire. It ...

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...

Family

The 12th Marquess married Antonella Newland on 30 April 1943. They had five children: *Lady Mary Marianne Anne Kerr (20 March 1944), who married Charles Freiherr von Westenholz (17 March 1945 – 9 March 2006) on 6 April 1971. They had three sons and six grandchildren. *

Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, Baron Kerr of Monteviot, (born 7 July 1945), commonly known as Michael Ancram, is a British politician and life peer who served as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party from 2001 to ...

(7 July 1945), known as Michael Ancram. He married Lady Jane Fitzalan-Howard, later 16th

Lady Herries of Terregles Lord Herries of Terregles (pronounced "''Heh''-reez of Ter-regulls'") is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1490 for Herbert Herries, 1st Lord Herries of Terregles, Herbert Herries with remainder to his heirs general. ...

, on 7 June 1975. They have two daughters and two grandchildren. *Lady Cecil Nennella Therese Kerr (22 April 1948), who married Donald Angus Cameron, 27th Chief of Clan Cameron on 1 June 1974. They have four children and five grandchildren. * Clare Amabel Margaret Kerr (15 April 1951), who married

James FitzRoy, Earl of Euston James Oliver Charles FitzRoy, Earl of Euston FCA (13 December 1947 – 1 October 2009) was the eldest child of the 11th Duke of Grafton and his wife Fortune. Biography Born in 1947 to the then Earl of Euston he was styled Viscount Ipswich. Fi ...

, on 16 September 1972. They have five children and three grandchildren. * Lady Elizabeth Marion Frances Kerr (b. 1954) she married

Richard Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch Richard Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch and 12th Duke of Queensberry, (born 14 February 1954), styled as Lord Eskdaill until 1973 and as Earl of Dalkeith from 1973 until 2007, is a Scottish landholder and peer. He is ...

on 31 October 1981. They have four children. *Lord Ralph William Francis Joseph Kerr (b. 1957), who married Lady Virginia FitzRoy on 6 September 1980; they were divorced in 1987. He married Marie-Claire Black in 1988. They have six children. His elder son, the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician

Michael Ancram Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, Baron Kerr of Monteviot, (born 7 July 1945), commonly known as Michael Ancram, is a British politician and life peer who served as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party from 2001 to ...

, succeeded to the marquessate on his death.

Notes

References

Obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 12 October 2004
Obituary
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 19 October 2004

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lothian, Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian, Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian, Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian, Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Scottish Roman Catholics Lothian, Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian, Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess Conservative Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979 Scottish landowners Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Royal Company of Archers Marquesses of Lothian Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 20th-century Scottish businesspeople