6th Mar. of Lothian GMM

William Kerr was born in 1763 and educated at the University of Edinburgh. In 1786 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was Lord Lieutenant of Roxburghshire from 1812 and of Midlothian from 1819. He served as Colonel of the Edinburgh Militia from 25 March 1811 until his death. He was The Earl of Ancram before becoming a marquis, created a Knight of the Thistle in 1820 and Baron of Kersheugh in 1821.

He served in his father’s regiment in 1756, the 11th Dragoons Guards which had ‘modern’ lodge No.211 called Captain Bell’ s Troop in 1755 in the GL of England and finishing with No.124 before being erased in 1782. He then went on to command the 12th Foot (East Suffolk Regiment) which had the Duke of Norfolk’s Lodge No.158 under the GL of Scotland, the 4th Regiment of Horse before returning to the Dragoons. In all likelihood, he would have joined the lodge attached to the 11th Dragoons, but that cannot be confirmed. In 1794 to 1796 he was Grand Master Mason of Scotland and in 1796, he had reached the rank of General.

He lived in the family home of Monteviot House near Jedburgh and died in Richmond, Surreyon 27 April 1824.

The Past Master jewel of the Ashlar lodge No. 76 (Trenton, New Jersey) belongs to Bro. David Fairchild Weeks (1874-1929).

He was a renowned American football player, coach and doctor. He also took part in research on the human nervous system and mental disorders, later becoming a medical director for NJ.

Bro. David Weeks