Ker

Ker, THE FAMILY OF, supposed to be of Anglo-Norman extraction, is found in Scotland in the end of the 12th century. The present representatives derive their descent from John Ker of Altonburn in 1357, whose great-grandson Andrew acquired Cessford about 1440, and gave origin in his three sons to the families of Cessford, Linton, and Gateshaw, and in a grandson to that of Fernihirst. Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford (died 1526), whose younger brother, George, was ancestor of the Kers of Faudonside, had two sons—Sir Walter, whose grandson, Robert, was created Earl of Roxburghe in 1616, and Mark, commendator of Newbattle, whose son, Mark, was created Earl of Lothian in 1606. The second Earl of Roxburghe was only a Ker by his mother. He assumed the surname of Ker, and his grandson, the fifth Earl of Roxburghe, was created duke in 1707. John, third Duke of Roxburghe (1740-1804), was the famous book-collector. Robert Carr, the favourite of James VI., created Viscount Rochester in 1611 and Earl of Somerset in 1613, belonged to the family of Fernihirst.