Mark Ker


c.1522 - 1584

Abbot, then Commendator of Newbattle. The second son of a wealthy Borders family, the Kers of Cessford, Mark Ker was appointed the abbot of Newbattle Abbey. He was able to take advantage of the Reformation, quickly embracing the new Protestant religion and taking ownership of the abbey and its sizeable estates when the Roman Catholic Church was outlawed. Ker's son, also named Mark, was created the Earl of Lothian, and the line has subsequently become the Marquesses of Lothian.


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