Robert Kerr, 1st Earl of Ancram

[4] He was born about 1578, and succeeded to the family estate in 1590 on the death of his father, who was assassinated on the orders of his kinsman, Robert Ker, younger of Cessford.

Cessford's men ambushed William Kerr of Ancram on the stairs at the entry to his lodging and shot him with a pistol called a "dag".

Soon after the king's accession to the English throne, Kerr occupied a considerable station in the household of Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth at Oatlands.

[2] In 1620, Kerr was involved in a fatal quarrel with Charles Maxwell, who insinuated that he had slighted the Duke of Buckingham and insulted him without provocation as he entered the palace at Newmarket.

Even though Maxwell's friends acquitted Kerr of blame, the king's strict rules for prevention and punishment of duels forced him to flee to Holland, where he remained about a year.

On the death of King Charles, Kerr took refuge in Holland, where he spent the remainder of his days in solitary afflictions and poverty, and died in 1654, aged 76.

[2] He had two sons by his first marriage to Elizabeth Murray: He had one son and two daughters by his second marriage to Anne, daughter of William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby:[citation needed] This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen", Robert Chambers (1840) Media related to Robert Kerr, 1st Earl of Ancram at Wikimedia Commons