Walter Kennedy (

c.

1460 - c. 1508/1518) was the son of Gilbert, 1st Lord Kennedy, and thus the grandson of Sir James Kennedy and Mary, Countess of Angus, who was a daughter of Robert III. He was also the nephew of James Kennedy, bishop of St Andrews. He matriculated at Glasgow University in 1475 and took his M.A. degree in 1478. Later (from 1481 onwards) Kennedy functioned as an examiner at the University of Glasgow; in 1492 he acted as depute for a family member, the hereditary bailie of Carrick and in October 1497 as a representative for the abbey of Crosraguel in Ayrshire.

Kennedy might have been in minor orders, but he was never ordained as a priest. As scion of an important family, he was independently wealthy: as Priscilla Bawcutt notes, “unpublished charters and documents, dated

752 words

Citation: Heddle, Donna. "Walter Kennedy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 June 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2477, accessed 19 April 2024.]

2477 Walter Kennedy 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.