Clan Kerr/Carr of North America
Clan Kerr/Carr of North America, Inc., an official organization representing the
Kerr name and 35 septs recorded in “The Sept Families of the Kerr name in Scotland.”
Clan Kerr/Carr of North America, is an all inclusive organization open to all Septs of the name living in the United States and Canada, and encourages a leadership role for all who wish to participate in Clan activities across the country.
The Clan in North America is a recognized organization by Clan Kerr of the United Kingdom and all Kerrs and its various septs are entitled to purchase and use the Kerr Badge and coat of Arms at public and private events. The present Scottish Kerr Chieftain is Michael Kerr, also commonly known as Michael Ancrum. He is the 13th Marquis of Lothian. A Marquis in English peerages ranks below a Duke, but is above an Earl. Michael Ancrum is also a member of the British government, sitting in the House of Lords in London. More details about Michael Ancrum and the family can be found by visiting the official site of Clan Kerr in Scotland, http://www.clankerr.co.uk/.
In the beginning…
In the mid-1990’s a group of people with various Scottish names that are considered septs of Kerr in Scotland, were troubled by the absence of a Kerr/Carr Clan national organization in North America, noting only one organization existed whose limited purpose was to encourage kinship among members of the Kerr family in North America through genealogical scholarship and educational activities of the Kerr family, indicating that their membership were Kerr through birth, marriage or adoption, or a friend of the Kerr family.(1)
In the last decade an informal new all-inclusive clan organization came into existence which has contributed and participated in over fifty highland games and Celtic festivals in the United States. In 2013, the membership decided to form a new, North American-wide Clan and to call it “Clan Kerr/Carr of the United States and North America”. The new organization was formally incorporated in Florida in March 2014.
In following the tradition of the other Kerr organization in the U.S. and worldwide, the founding members of Clan Kerr/Carr in North America unanimously agreed to recognize the Clan Kerr Chief, Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, the 13th Marquis
of Lothian and Baron Kerr of Monteviot, as the North American Clan’s honorary Chieftain.
Lord Lothian, an attorney by profession, prefers to use the name Michel Ancram in daily use.
Born in 1945, Michael Ancram holds a degree in history from Oxford, is married with 3 daughter. He does not reside at Ferniehirst Castle which is the Kerr’s heritage property, preferring to let his younger brother, Lord Ralph Kerr, reside there instead. Michael Ancram’s main pursuit is as a British conservative party politician and a member of the British House of Lords in London. Footnotes
(1) Websters Dictionary defines a Scottish Clan as a Celtic group in the Scottish Highlands comprising a number of households whose heads
claim descent from a common ancestor.’ A family on the other hand, is defined as, ‘A household including servants as well as kin of the householder.