Clan Rising

Clan Kerr

also Carr, Ker, Clan Kerr

Late but in earnest, riding clan of the Roxburgh marches.

Origin
The Borders, Scotland
Motto
Sero sed serio
Famous bearer
Sir John Kerr (1914–1991), Australian Governor-General; the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government
Register
Scottish clan
Territory of Kerr

CoreHistoric reach

The seat of Clan Kerr

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Clan Kerr community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Clan Kerr has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Kerr clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

Help rebuild the Kerr clan →

Motto

Sero sed serio

“Late but in earnest”

What does the Kerr name mean?

From Old Norse kjarr, brushwood, marshland, and through it from a Norman family of De Carre or De Ker who came to the Anglo-Scottish Borders in the 12th century. Two branches founded the principal Scottish line: the Kerrs of Cessford (whose senior branch became Marquesses of Lothian) and the Kerrs of Ferniehirst (Earls of Ancram). The Kerrs of the Borders were among the principal 'riding clans', Border families whose effective government was a code of cattle-raiding (reiving) and feud across the Anglo-Scottish boundary, lasting from the 14th century to the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

The history of Clan Kerr

The Kerrs were one of the great riding clans of the Scottish Middle March, with seats at Ferniehirst Castle near Jedburgh (the Ferniehirst Kerrs) and Cessford Castle near Kelso (the Cessford Kerrs). The two branches feuded with each other and with the Scotts, the Pringles and the Rutherfords; the surrender of the riding-clan code came under James VI in the years before and after the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when the borders were renamed the 'Middle Shires' and the surviving reiver chiefs were reduced or executed under royal commission. Family tradition holds that the Kerrs were the foremost left-handed family of the Borders, the chiefly seats reportedly built with spiral staircases turning the wrong way for a right-handed swordsman.

Sir John Kerr (1914–1991), the Australian Governor-General, dismissed the Whitlam government on 11 November 1975, the only such dismissal in Australian constitutional history. Deborah Kerr (1921–2007), the Helensburgh-born actress of From Here to Eternity and The King and I, received six Best Actress Oscar nominations, a record for an actress without winning, and was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1994. Roy Kerr (b. 1934), the New Zealand mathematician, found the exact solution to Einstein's field equations describing rotating black holes (the Kerr metric, 1963), one of the foundational results of modern general relativity.

Champions of the Kerr name

The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has its own page — biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.

Notable bearers of the Kerr name

  • Sir John Kerr (1914–1991), Australian Governor-General; the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government
  • Deborah Kerr (1921–2007), actress, six-time Oscar nominee
  • Roy Kerr (b. 1934), mathematician, discoverer of the Kerr metric (rotating black holes)

Stories of Clan Kerr

Frequently asked

What does the surname Kerr mean?

From Old Norse kjarr, brushwood, marshland, and through it from a Norman family of De Carre or De Ker who came to the Anglo-Scottish Borders in the 12th century. Two branches founded the principal Scottish line: the Kerrs of Cessford (whose senior branch became Marquesses of Lothian) and the Kerrs of Ferniehirst (Earls of Ancram). The Kerrs of the Borders were among the principal 'riding clans', Border families whose effective government was a code of cattle-raiding (reiving) and feud across the Anglo-Scottish boundary, lasting from the 14th century to the Union of the Crowns in 1603. The Kerrs were one of the great riding clans of the Scottish Middle March, with seats at Ferniehirst Castle near Jedburgh (the Ferniehirst Kerrs) and Cessford Castle near Kelso (the Cessford Kerrs).

Where does the Kerr family come from?

The Kerr family is rooted in The Borders, in Scotland. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in The Borders. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.

Where did the Kerr family historically hold territory?

At its greatest historical extent, the Kerr name has been concentrated in Midlothian and East Lothian. The atlas page distinguishes the core territory of the name from this wider historical reach with hatched silhouettes on the map.

Is Kerr a Scotland surname?

Yes, Kerr is a Scotland surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is Scotland, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.

How old is the Kerr surname?

The Kerrs were one of the great riding clans of the Scottish Middle March, with seats at Ferniehirst Castle near Jedburgh (the Ferniehirst Kerrs) and Cessford Castle near Kelso (the Cessford Kerrs). European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Kerr name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Kerr family known for?

Late but in earnest, riding clan of the Roxburgh marches. The Kerrs were one of the great riding clans of the Scottish Middle March, with seats at Ferniehirst Castle near Jedburgh (the Ferniehirst Kerrs) and Cessford Castle near Kelso (the Cessford Kerrs).

What is the Kerr motto?

The motto of the Kerr family is "Sero sed serio", which translates as "Late but in earnest". Family mottoes were registered with the chief of the name and carried on the heraldic arms and battle-banners.

What does "Sero sed serio" mean in English?

"Sero sed serio" is the motto of the Kerr family. In English it means "Late but in earnest". The phrase is typically rendered in Latin, though some Highland families carry their motto in Gaelic and some Norman lines in Old French.

Who is the most famous Kerr?

The best-known bearer of the Kerr name is Sir John Kerr (1914–1991), Australian Governor-General; the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government. Other prominent figures of the family include Deborah Kerr (1921–2007), actress, six-time Oscar nominee and Roy Kerr (b. 1934), mathematician, discoverer of the Kerr metric (rotating black holes).

Who are some famous Kerrs?

Notable bearers of the Kerr name include Sir John Kerr (1914–1991), Australian Governor-General; the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government, Deborah Kerr (1921–2007), actress, six-time Oscar nominee and Roy Kerr (b. 1934), mathematician, discoverer of the Kerr metric (rotating black holes). Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.

What stories are told about the Kerr family?

The Kerr family is associated with The left-handed Kerrs of Ferniehirst. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.

What is the story of the left-handed Kerrs of Ferniehirst?

The Kerrs of Ferniehirst, the Border-Kerr line whose castle stands on the Jed Water two miles south of Jedburgh, were known across the Borders from at least the late sixteenth century as a left-handed family. The tradition of the Borders, recorded in print as early as Walter Scott's Border Antiquities of 1814 and earlier in the manuscript notes of the Roxburgh kirk session, holds that the Ferniehirst chiefs deliberately trained their sons to fight corrie-fisted, left-handed, in the broadsword and in the lance, and that they built the spiral staircases of their castles turning the opposite way to the standard right-handed defensive design, so that a right-handed attacker climbing the stair would have his sword-arm against the central pillar and could not strike, while a left-handed defender coming down would have his sword-arm in the open. The event is dated to 1580.

Is Carr the same family as Kerr?

Yes. Carr is a historical spelling variant of the Kerr name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is Ker the same family as Kerr?

Yes. Ker is a historical spelling variant of the Kerr name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is Clan Kerr the same family as Kerr?

Yes. Clan Kerr is a historical spelling variant of the Kerr name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Kerr surname found today?

Scotland is the primary historical home of the Kerr surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Scotland origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Kerr family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Kerr family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, the family motto, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Scotland so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Kerr family today?

The seat for the head of the Kerr family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.

Neighbouring clans