Mark Kerr (or Ker), 1st Earl of Lothian (1553 – 8 April 1609) was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He became the first Earl of Lothian in 1606.
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Family background
He was a member of the "famous border family" of Ker of Cessford. He was the son of Mark Kerr, abbot of Newbattle Abbey, Midlothian, and Helen Leslie, sister of the Earl of Rothes. The House of Kerr was of Anglo-Norman and Norse lineage, and the Kerrs of Fernihirst settled in Scotland in the 13th century. Kerr and his family lived in Newbattle Abbey, a mansion occupying the site of a Cistercian abbey founded in 1140.
Career
Kerr was named Vicar of Linton in 1567. He was appointed Master of Requests in 1577, a role he held until 1606. He was a gentleman of the king's chamber in 1580. In 1581, he succeeded his father as Commendator of Newbottle.
Like his father, Mark Kerr was an Extraordinary Lord of Session under king beginning in 1584, with his lands at Newbattle made into a Barony.
On 28 October 1587, he was made a Lord of Parliament as Lord Newbottle, or possibly 15 October 1591. In 1587 he was made a baron and Privy Counsellor.
