Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
1590-1645), was a Scottish politician, and favourite of King James I of England.
He was born the younger son of Sir Thomas Ker of Ferniehurst by his second wife, Janet, sister of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch. He accompanied James I as page to England, but being then discharged from the royal service, sought for a time to make his fortune in France. Returning to England he happened to break his arm at a tilting match, at which James was present, and was recognized by the king. Entirely devoid of all high intellectual qualities, Carr was endowed with good looks, excellent spirits, and considerable personal accomplishments. These advantages were sufficient for James, who knighted the young man and at once took him into favour. In 1607 an opportunity enabled the king to confer upon him a more substantial mark of his affection. Sir Walter Raleigh had through his attainder forfeited his life-interest in the manor of Sherborne, but he had previously executed a conveyance by which the property was to pass on his death to his eldest son. This document was, unfortunately, rendered worthless by a flaw which gave the king eventual possession of the property. Acting on Salisbury?s suggestion, James resolved to confer the manor on Carr. The case was argued at law, and judgment was in 1609 given for the Crown. Lady Raleigh received some compensation, apparently inadequate, and Carr at once entered on possession.
His influence was already such that in 1610 he persuaded the king to dissolve the parliament, which had shown signs of attacking the Scottish favourites. On March 24, 1611 he was created Viscount Rochester, and subsequently a privy councillor, while on Lord Salisbury?s death in 1612 he began to act as the king?s secretary. On the November 3, 1613 he was advanced to the earldom of Somerset, on the December 23 was appointed treasurer of Scotland, and in 1614 Lord Chamberlain.
He supported the earl of Northampton and the Spanish party in opposition to the old tried advisers of the king, such as Lord-Chancellor Ellesmere, who were endeavouring to maintain the union with the Protestants abroad, and who now in 1614 pushed forward another candidate for the king?s favour. Somerset, whose head was turned by the sudden rise to power and influence, became jealous and peevish, and feeling his position insecure, obtained in 1615 from the king a full pardon, to which, however, the chancellor refused to put the Great Seal. He still, however, retained the king?s favour, and might possibly have remained in power for some time longer but for the discovery of the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury. Before 1609, while still only Sir Robert Carr, Somerset had begun an intrigue with The Earl of Northampton
|width="40%" align="center"|Lord Privy Seal
1614–1616
|width="30%" align="center"|Followed by:
The Earl of Worcester
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This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
