Kind(eren):
The Carr Family Records
Edson Irving Carr
Pg 8
The dificulty of tracing the early families of Carrs in England centuries back in a definite and concise manner, is exceedingly perplexing and attended with many failures and disappointments. The records of the earliest Carrs who settled in this country, date back three centuries,to four brothers who were born in London. Their names were Benjamin, William, George and James Carr. The name of the father of these four sons, the author has been unable to find. The descendants of these brothers, are given in the following pages of the Carr Family Records in as complete a manner as could be obtained
New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial Vol. 3
William Richard Cutter
pg 1518-1519
CARR
Although the name of Carr or Kerr is common in England and Ireland as well as America, it is distinctively Scotch. The earliest record of the name is in the Domesday Book in the eleventh century. William Karre, who came with William the Conqueror, appears to be the ancestor of the Carr and Kerr families of the United Kingdom, though it cannot be proved, of course, that there were not others who assumed this surname when the custom of taking surnames began to prevail. The posterity of this Norman ancestor, William Carr or Karre, settled in the north of England on the borderlands between England and Scotland and afterwards many of them went to the North of Ireland. In England the Norman-French Karre became Carr, just as Knut became Cnut and later Canute. In Scotland the surname has remained Karr, Kerr and Ker. The names of four of the family appear on the Ragman's Roll, a list of the Scotch baronets who swore fealty to Edward I. at Berwick in 1291 and a few years later. They were: Andrew del Ker, of Stirlingshire; Henry Ker, of Edinburghshire; Nicholas Kerre, of Peebleshire, and William Ker, of Ayrshire. The Kers appear among the East Border clans in 1547; in the Middle Marches in 1587; in Berwick in 1590; in Roxburgh, Berwick and Lauderdale in 1597. The family has been represented from time immemorial in Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, Edinburghshire, Wigtonshire, Ayrshire, all having records as early as 1300, A. D. The family possesses or has held the Dukedom of Roxburgh; the Marquisates of Beumont; Cessford, Lothian; the Earldoms of Ancrum, Kelso, Lothian and Roxburgh; the Viscountcy of Boxmouth ; the Lordships of Caverton, Ker, Newbattle. Many were members of the Scotch parliament. The word means "stout," according to Hanna.
The ancient arms of this family are: Three mullets or etoiles on a chevron. The crest: A hart's head. The arms have been varied by different branches of the family. In Scotland, according to the census of 1861, there were 11,196 persons of the name, which was the fortieth in point of numerical strength among the Scotch family names.
The pioneers to America from England, Ireland and Scotland have been numerous. The first to come was George Carr in the "Mayflower" in 1620, as ship's carpenter, with his wife Lucinda. He was the son of Robert Carr or Kerr, who was a native of Scotland. Benjamin Carr, born in London, August 18, 1592; William Carr, born in London, June 17, 1597; and James, who was lost at sea, were sons of this Robert Carr, of London, and the two first named have numerous American descendants.