Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe

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Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe (c.1570–1650) was a Scottish nobleman from the Ker of Cessford family. He was the eldest son of William Ker of Cessford and Janet Douglas, and his family lived at Cessford Castle and Halliden in East Teviotdale. He was knighted in 1590 at the coronation of Anne of Denmark and soon became a trusted supporter of James VI (later James I).

Ker married three times: first to Margaret Maitland in 1587, then to Jean Drummond in 1613, and after Jean’s death in 1643, to Lady Isobel Douglas later that year. He held important duties at court, including Deputy Keeper of Liddesdale and Warden of the Middle March, and in 1600 he was created Lord Roxburghe, with the title to pass to male heirs. In 1616 he was elevated to Lord Ker of Cessford and Caverton and to Earl of Roxburghe.

He was a frequent figure at court and, in 1607, became a Gentleman of the Bedchamber. In 1637 he became Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland and, during the Civil War, supported the King's party after subscribing to the Covenant in 1638. In 1642 he was involved in a notable incident when the King tried to arrest five MPs, and he kept the door open during the proceedings. He backed the royalist “Engagement” to rescue the King in 1648, and because of this was deprived of his Privy Seal in 1649.

Ker died at Floors, near Kelso, on 18 January 1650. Neither of his sons survived him, so the titles and estates passed to his grandson, William Drummond, who, by special arrangement, became the 2nd Earl of Roxburghe after taking the Ker name and marrying his cousin Jean.