William Kerr, 4th Marquess Of Lothian
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General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
William Henry Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian, (1710 – 12 April 1775) was a
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
officer 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 Jea ...
, 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 fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...
.


Family

On 6 November 1735, he married Lady Carolina Louisa D'Arcy (d. 1778), daughter of Robert D'Arcy, 3rd Earl of Holderness and Lady Frederica Schomberg, and thereafter assumed the style of Earl of Ancram rather than Lord Jedburgh. D'Arcy, Midlothian is named after his wife.Abbey of St. Mary Newbottle - A Memorial of the Royal Visit, 1907, by Rev. J. C. Carrick (Minister of Newbattle), publ. George Lewis & Co., Selkirk, Third Edition, 1908. p. 271 They had three children: *
William John Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian General William John Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian, (13 March 1737 – 4 January 1815), styled Lord Newbattle until 1767 and Earl of Ancram from 1767 to 1775, was a British soldier and peer. Early life He was the son of William Kerr, 4th Marq ...
(1737–1815) *Lady Louisa Kerr (born 18 October 1739), married
Lord George Henry Lennox General Lord George Henry Lennox (29 November 1737 – 25 March 1805) was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1790. Early life He was the second son of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and ...
on 25 December 1759, at
Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
, 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 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 British peer, soldier, politician and Governor-General of British North America. Background Richmond was born to Gene ...
(9 September 1764 – 28 August 1819). **Lady Georgiana Lennox (6 December 1765 – 20 January 1841), married
Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst (22 May 1762 – 27 July 1834), was a High Tory, High church, High Church Tories (British political party), Pittite. He was an MP for thirty years before ennoblement. A personal friend of William Pitt the Young ...
. *Lady Wilhelmina Emilia Kerr, married Col. John McLeod, RA on 2 January 1783 in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
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. There is also a soprano cor ...
in 1735. He was a
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
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 in 1741. He fought with the Guards at the Battle of Fontenoy (1745) while serving as an aide-de-camp to the
Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British royal family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom w ...
, 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 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 groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
on the left wing at the
Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...
in 1746 (His younger brother,
Lord Robert Kerr Lord Robert Kerr (died 16 April 1746) was a Scottish nobleman of the Clan Kerr and the second son of William Kerr, 3rd Marquess of Lothian. His family's surname at the time he lived was often also spelt as 'Ker'. He is thought to have gone on a g ...
, was with the infantry and was the highest-ranking Government casualty of the battle). After the battle, he commanded the forces at
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
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 Royal Household, Household of the monarch in early modern Kingdom of England, England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In King ...
to Cumberland. Ancram was sent home with the standards captured at the
Battle of Lauffeld The Battle of Lauffeld took place on 2 July 1747, during the War of the Austrian Succession. Fought between the towns of Tongeren in modern Belgium, and the Dutch city of Maastricht, a French army of 80,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragma ...
. 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), ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 ...
. On 11 December 1747, through the interest of his brother-in-law Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, he was returned as Member of Parliament (MP) for
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
at a by-election in place of Sir Conyers Darcy, who had also been returned for
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
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 regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the World War I, First World War and World War II, Second ...
, 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 military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...
in 1758 and held a command under the
Duke of Marlborough 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 O.S.) was a British army officer and statesman. From a gentry family, he ...
during the Raid on St Malo.


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. 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 ("brush"). Twelve species ...
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 Anglo-Irish Whig statesman who was the first home secr ...
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 The Chiltern Hundreds is an ancient administrative area in Buckinghamshire, England, composed of three hundred (county division), ancient hundreds and lying partially within the Chiltern Hills. "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to one of the ...
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 Duke of Newcastle, Willi ...
, £4,000 to do so.


Later life

In 1767, he succeeded to the Marquessate of Lothian. He was elected a
Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...
and appointed a
Knight of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...
in 1768. He was promoted to
general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
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 4
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...