Lieutenant-General William Kerr, 2nd Marquis of Lothian, KT

Order 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...

 (1661 – 28 February 1722) was a Scottish peer

Peerage of Scotland

The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...

 and soldier. He was styled Master of Newbattle until 1675, Lord Newbattle from 1675 to 1692, and was the 5th Lord Jedburgh from 1692 to 1703.

Kerr was the eldest son of Robert Kerr, 1st Marquis of Lothian and his wife, Jane. On 30 June 1685, he married his cousin, Lady Jean Campbell (third daughter of Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll was a Scottish peer.He was born in 1629 in Dalkeith, Scotland, the son of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll....

) and they had five children:

• William Kerr, 3rd Marquis of Lothian (1690–1767)
• Lady Anne Kerr (d. 1727), married first Alexander Home, 7th Earl of Home, and second, Henry Ogle
• Lady Jean Kerr (d. March 1768), married William Cranstoun, 5th Lord Cranstoun
• Lady Elizabeth Kerr (d. 22 May 1758), married George Ross, 13th Lord Ross
  George Ross, 13th Lord Ross
  George Ross, 13th Lord Ross of Halkhead , was a Scottish nobleman.-Origins:Ross was the eldest son and heir of William Ross, 12th Lord Ross, who died in 1738, by Agnes, daughter and heiress of Sir John Wilkie of Fouldean...
  
  
• Lady Mary Kerr (d. 1768), married her cousin Alexander Hamilton, of Ballincrieff

Kerr was a Commissioner of Supply in 1685, 1686, 1702 and 1704. He succeeded to his cousin's title of Lord Jedburgh in 1692, and sat under that name in the Parliament of Scotland

Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...

 until its dissolution. Jedburgh was appointed Colonel of the 7th Regiment of Dragoons

7th Queen's Own Hussars

The 7th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first formed in 1690. It saw service for three centuries, before being amalgamated into The Queen's Own Hussars in 1958....

 in 1696, and a brigadier general

Brigadier General

Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...

 in 1702. He succeeded his father as Marquess of Lothian

Marquess of Lothian

Marquess of Lothian is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1701 for Robert Kerr, 4th Earl of Lothian. The Marquess of Lothian holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Lothian , Earl of Lothian , Earl of Ancram , Earl of Ancram , Viscount of Briene , Lord Newbattle ,...

 in 1703 and was appointed major general

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 in 1704. Lothian was created a Knight of the Thistle in 1705, and on 25 April 1707, obtained the colonelcy of the Scots Regiment of Foot Guards

Scots Guards

The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...

.

He supported the Union

Acts of Union 1707

The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...

, and was appointed lieutenant general

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General 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 normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 in 1708 and was elected a representative peer

Representative peer

In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...

 that year. However, due to irregularities in the election, the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 struck out his name, although he was again elected in 1715 and sat in the Lords until his death. His Whig affiliation brought him out of favour under Queen Anne, and he lost his colonelcy in 1713. Lothian died in 1722 and was buried in Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

.