Sir John Kerr of Ferniehirst, Lord of Ferniehirst Castle

JOHN KER OF FERNIEHIRST

Lairds and gentlemen: A study of the landed families of the Eastern Anglo-Scottish Borders c.1540-1603 Vol 2 pp 55-8 & 118-9

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The name of Carr, Ker, Kerr or Karre is as old as the

Norman Conquest by William of Normandy in 1066. One of the followers of William I is recorded in the Roll Of

The Gattle Abbey as the name of Karre.The early descendants of this Norman soldier and succeeding generations spread on both sides of the border of England and Scotland.Direct lines can be traced through various peerage books of England and Scotland to Andrew Kerr I, the 6th Baron of Ferniehirst, Scotland. He was born in 1450 , created Baron in 1480 and knighted in 1483. He and his son Andrew II, 7th Baron of Ferniehirst, were remarkable men for talent and undaunted courage, conspicious in reigns of James IV and James V. Andrew Kerr II, died in 1543. His son Sir John Kerr, 8th Baron of Ferniehirst, did great service against the English and rescued Queen Mary from incursions by the English against the Scots. Sir Thomas, 9th Baron and son of Sir John, was also devoted to Queen Mary's interests. (Quoted from Watson's 'The House of Carr'1926).

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His father and grandfather were both called Andrew, both Barons of Fenneh. Scotland, wives unknown.

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Sir John Kerr of Ferniehirst. The Kers of Ferniehirst were noted even among the Border clans for their fierce and sanguinary spirit. Sir John was ‘art and part’ in the murder of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, in the High Street of Edinburgh. The account which De Beaugue gives in his ‘Memoirs’ of the cruel treatment of the English garrison, when Sir John, with the assistance of the French troops under D’ Esse, retook his castle of Ferniehirst in 1549, is shocking in the extreme.