Motto.—Sors mea dextra dei.
[Bacon. Of the advancement and proficience of Learning. Oxford, 1640.]
William Kerr (born c. 1605, died October 1675) was the son of Robert Kerr, first Earl of Ancrum, and in 1631 he was created Earl of Lothian. In that year he had married Anne, Countess of Lothian in her own right, and there was some litigation about the title. The Earl was at the Battle of Newbury in 1643; he was Governor of Newcastle, and a man of much political importance. He was a Commissioner of the Treasury in Scotland, and Lieutenant-General of the Scottish army in Ireland. In 1642 he went to France for the purpose of considering the position of the Scottish Guard at the French Court.
Lord Lothian was one of the commissioners sent by the Scottish Parliament to protest against the proceedings against Charles I., and he also served on several of the commissions which were appointed about that time concerning the Restoration of Charles II.
KINNEAR, JOHN GARDINER
Arms.—Quarterly.
1st and 4th; sa., on a bend or, 3 martlets vert., a bordure of the second. Kinnear.