Origins

Ross was the son and heir of Robert Ross (the son of John Ross, 1st Lord Ross

John Ross, 1st Lord Ross

-Origins:The Rosses of Halkhead were not, so far as is known, related to the Earls of Ross or the Highland family of Ross of Balnagown. Robert II of Scotland granted Halkhead, or Hawkhead, in Renfrewshire, to John Ross in 1367...

) and Agnes Melville, daughter and heiress of Thomas Melville of Melville. The Rosses of Halkhead, or Hawkhead, in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

, were a Lowland

Scottish Lowlands

The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....

 family, not apparently related to the Earls of Ross

Earl of Ross

The Mormaer or Earl of Ross was the leader of a medieval Gaelic lordship in northern Scotland, roughly between the River Oykel and the River Beauly.-Origins and transfers:...

 or the Highland

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

 family of Ross

Clan Ross

Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earls of Ross.-Origins:Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan first named as such by King Malcolm IV of Scotland in 1160...

 of Balnagown

Kildary

Kildary is a small village in Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.The village is located on the Balnagown River and is bordered by Balnagown Castle and the Balnagown estate, owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, former owner of Harrods department store...

.

Career

Ross succeeded to the peerage in 1501 on the death of his grandfather, whom his father had pre-deceased. He had earlier been retoured heir of his mother in the barony of Melville on 16 May 1496. Over the years that followed, he obtained a number of charters and sasines in respect of extensive estates in and around Renfrewshire and Linlithgow.

It is recorded that James IV

James IV of Scotland

James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...

 visited Ross at Halkhead on 1 April 1506 (on which occasion the King treated Ross's masons to a drink) and that he was again in the King's company (playing games and shooting the culverin

Culverin

A culverin was a relatively simple ancestor of the musket, and later a medieval cannon, adapted for use by the French in the 15th century, and later adapted for naval use by the English in the late 16th century. The culverin was used to bombard targets from a distance. The weapon had a...

) in February and March 1507/8.

He was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field

Battle of Flodden Field

The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field or occasionally Battle of Branxton was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey...

 on 9 September 1513.

Family

Ross married (before 27 September 1490) Christian Edmonstone, daughter of Sir Archibald Edmonstone of Duntreath. She survived him and lived until May 1551.
Lord Ross had at least four recorded children:

• Ninian Ross, 3rd Lord Ross
  Ninian Ross, 3rd Lord Ross
  -Origins:Ross was the son and heir of John Ross, 2nd Lord Ross and Christian, the daughter of Sir Archibald Edmonstone. The Rosses of Halkhead, or Hawkhead, in Renfrewshire, were a Lowland family, not apparently related to the Earls of Ross or the Highland family of Ross of...
  
  
• Andrew Ross of Wardlaw
• Thomas Ross
• Helen Ross, who married John Blair of that Ilk.