Origins

Ross was the son and heir of John Ross, 2nd Lord Ross

John Ross, 2nd Lord Ross

-Origins:Ross was the son and heir of Robert Ross and Agnes Melville, daughter and heiress of Thomas Melville of Melville...

 and Christian, the daughter of Sir Archibald Edmonstone. The Rosses of Halkhead, or Hawkhead, in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

, were a Lowland

Scottish Lowlands

The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....

 family, not apparently related to the Earls of Ross

Earl of Ross

The Mormaer or Earl of Ross was the leader of a medieval Gaelic lordship in northern Scotland, roughly between the River Oykel and the River Beauly.-Origins and transfers:...

 or the Highland

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

 family of Ross

Clan Ross

Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earls of Ross.-Origins:Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan first named as such by King Malcolm IV of Scotland in 1160...

 of Balnagown

Kildary

Kildary is a small village in Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.The village is located on the Balnagown River and is bordered by Balnagown Castle and the Balnagown estate, owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, former owner of Harrods department store...

.

Career

Following the death of his father at the Battle of Flodden Field

Battle of Flodden Field

The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field or occasionally Battle of Branxton was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey...

, Ross had by 1514 obtained sasines

Sasine

Sasine is the delivery of feudal property, typically land.Feudal property means immovable property, and includes everything that naturally goes with the property. For land, that would include such things as buildings, trees, and underground minerals...

 of his father's lands in Melville, Renfrew and Tarbert. He attended the parliaments of James V of Scotland

James V of Scotland

James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...

 frequently over the next 25 years. On 30 June 1534 he ratified Scotland's peace treaty with England. He died in February 1555/6.

Family

Ross married four times:

• Janet Stewart, third daughter of the Earl of Lennox
  John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox
  John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. was known as Lord Darnley and the Earl of Lennox. Stewart was the son of Catherine Seton and Sir Alan Stuart, a great-great-great-grandson of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland....
  
  
• (contract 12 December 1523) Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Ruthven, 1st Lord Ruthven
  William Ruthven, 1st Lord Ruthven
  William Ruthven, 1st Lord Ruthven was a Scottish nobleman and founder of the noble lines of the Ruthven family.William Ruthven of Ruthven was created Lord Ruthven by summons at the Parliament of Scotland in February 1488. James III of Scotland made him a Lord of Parliament to gain his support...
  
  , and widow of William, 5th Earl of Erroll
  Earl of Erroll
  The Earl of Erroll is an ancient title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1453 for Sir William Hay.The subsidiary titles held by the Earl of Erroll are Lord Hay and Lord Slains , both in the Peerage of Scotland. The Earls of Erroll also hold the hereditary office of Lord High Constable...
  
  
• (contract 9 December 1529) Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of the Earl of Atholl
  John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl
  John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl , also known as Sir John Stewart of Balveny, was a Scottish nobleman and ambassador to England .-Life:...
  
   and widow of the Earl of Lennox
  John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox
  John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox was a prominent Scottish magnate. He was the son of Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox, and Elizabeth Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton and Mary Stewart, Princess of Scotland, daughter of King James II of Scotland.The Earl of Lennox had led...
  
  
• Janet Montgomery

Lord Ross had issue:

• Robert, Master of Ross, who was killed in 1547 at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
  Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
  The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland on 10 September 1547, was part of the War of the Rough Wooing. It was the last pitched battle between Scottish and English armies, and is seen as the first modern battle in the British Isles...
  
   and left a daughter, Elizabeth.
• James Ross, 4th Lord Ross
  James Ross, 4th Lord Ross
  James Ross, 4th Lord Ross of Halkhead was a Scottish nobleman and an adherent to the cause of Mary, Queen of Scots.-Origins:Ross was the second, but oldest surviving son of Ninian Ross, 3rd Lord Ross, who died in February 1555/6...
  
  
• Hugh Ross
• William Ross
• Christian Ross, who married first (1543) John Mure of Caldwell, secondly (5 November 1552) Nicholas Ramsay of Dalhousie and thirdly (before 8 July 1555) John Weir, and died before February 1556/7
• (a natural son) John Ross of Tartraven, ancestor of the family of Ross of Kirkland.