The Douglas Archives

A collection of historical and genalogical records

Members

The Douglas Archives is a mix of historical records and biographies and also a genealogy database with details of 190,500+ individuals.

Searching the Douglas Archives

Looking for a Douglas ancestor in the Douglas Archives requires two searches - one in the history section, and another in the genealogy section.

There is a way around this, by using Google (and other search engines) site search facilities.

We can see succesful outcomes of Google searches, but not the unsuccesful ones.

If you cannot find what you are looking for, please ask the question through the Comunity Network - or just drop us a line.

Events

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If you receive a message that you suspect is spam, please do not respond, but do report it

 

Registration

To reduce the volume of fraudulent sign ups, I am making the process more difficult. I apologise to genuine prospective members.  

The more information you give about your ancestors, the greater the chance that others might see someone they recognise and tie in to your tree. Dates and places definitely help!

Welcome to the Douglas Archives Network

The first Douglas to stride across the stage of Scottish history was Sir William Douglas who fought and died for William Wallace. His son, Sir James Douglas was a supporter and lifelong friend of Robert the Bruce. "Good Sir James" died taking Bruce's heart on a crusade to the Holy Land. The 2nd Earl of Douglas died at the Battle of Otterburn in 1388 as his army defeated an English force led by Prince Henry "Hotspur". In 1402 the 4th Earl was defeated by the same Henry Hotspur at the Battle of Homildon Hill.

Few of their successors died in their beds! Our website charts the history of this famous family, both in its native Scotland, and as family members spread across the world.

The main site is divided into two sections: Douglas history and Douglas genealogy.  These have been joined by the Douglas DNA Project and a Games section.


In this networking area, we hope that all those with Douglas connections will feel able to contribute and debate their Douglas heritage.

If you are new to the site, please visit our Welcome message.

 

Latest Activity

Ronald Drysdale commented on Russell Lynn Drysdale's group Drysdale Archives
"Two 1681 maps from Mapmaker John Adair showing similar content in Clackmannanshire with minor differences "A Mapp of Clakmannan shire"https://maps.nls.uk/view/1012#zoom=5.3&lat=3524&lon=2849&layers=BT and also "A map of…"
yesterday
Ronald Drysdale replied to Ronald Drysdale's discussion Drysdale connections to Robert the Bruce - Bruce of Lynn Mill, Clackmannanshire in the group Drysdale Archives
"Hi William,  Many thanks for this input. It allows me to say that, in my opinion, Bruce family Genealogy is in a bit of mess, they don't really have anything like the Douglas Archives, and there are no other singl definitive or…"
yesterday
William Douglas replied to Ronald Drysdale's discussion Drysdale connections to Robert the Bruce - Bruce of Lynn Mill, Clackmannanshire in the group Drysdale Archives
"William Bruce, born 1538, son of Edward Bruce and Alison Reid is a bit of an engima. I show him as a priest - which does not mean he cannot marry and have cildren, but other sources show him dspeg William of Cothill and Collestoune (dsp before…"
yesterday
Ronald Drysdale commented on Ronald Drysdale's blog post Ai - a useful research tool or a future possible threat to traditional genealogy
"Russell. With these 'grown-ups' in charge at the Federal level, what could possibly go wrong? Best regards"
yesterday
Jerome Douglas is now a member of The Douglas Archives
yesterday
Russell Lynn Drysdale liked Ronald Drysdale's blog post Ai - a useful research tool or a future possible threat to traditional genealogy
yesterday
Russell Lynn Drysdale commented on Ronald Drysdale's blog post Ai - a useful research tool or a future possible threat to traditional genealogy
yesterday
Russell Lynn Drysdale replied to Ronald Drysdale's discussion Drysdale connections to Robert the Bruce - Bruce of Lynn Mill, Clackmannanshire in the group Drysdale Archives
"Work well done Ronald !"
yesterday

Forum

Bad hyper-links on Douglas Archives

Started by Ronald Drysdale in Genealogy. Last reply by William Douglas Nov 14. 1 Reply

Sometimes when a link is posted, ning automatically adds some garbage to the end of the hyper-link address and this corrupts the link - for example:…Continue

80 Drysdale men counted at 1541 weapon show

Started by Russell Lynn Drysdale in History. Last reply by Russell Lynn Drysdale Oct 31. 4 Replies

Encyclopedia BritannicaWAPENSHAW (M.E. for “weapon-show”), a periodical muster or review of troops formerly held in every district in Scotland, the object having been to satisfy the military chiefs that the arms of their retainers were in good…Continue

Tags: Drumlanrig, 1541, Annandale, of, Douglas

A Tribute to Reverend Jack Douglas, C.P. The Man Who Gave My Family Its Past

Started by Nicole Henderson in Genealogy Oct 17. 0 Replies

Today I would like to pay tribute to Reverend Jack Douglas, C.P. Author of my family’s Douglas history page. "I am a Roman Catholic priest of the Passionist Order. I will give my family no children, so I am giving it its past. I have been working on…Continue

Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823

Started by Russell Lynn Drysdale in History. Last reply by Ronald Drysdale Oct 1. 5 Replies

 A very interesting book a friend turned me on to .... named                                                                     '' Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823: Indian, Spanish and other Land Passports for Tennessee, Kentucky,…Continue

Tags: Edmond, Tacit, Alexander, Douglas, Maj.

Blog Posts

Ai - a useful research tool or a future possible threat to traditional genealogy

Posted by Ronald Drysdale on December 10, 2025 at 14:30 2 Comments

Ai is advancing rapidly

Here is some incredible artwork from Kelly Boesch (Ai Art) - the music and video are wholly Ai generated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZExXLvI2Cs&list=RDMMYZExXLvI2Cs&start_radio=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv9Dwo8x64U

However, apart from artwork, Ai may soon start…

Continue

Transfer of Mosshouse - but who held it?

Posted by William Douglas on December 6, 2025 at 21:30 0 Comments

Grant by way of transfer of mortgage by King James I to John of St Michael (Johann de Sanctomichaele) scutifer of rights in lands of Mosshouses (Moshous, Moshouse, Mosehous) within the barony of Melville (Malewing) within sherrifdom of Edinburgh which had been surrendered to king by reason of mortgage by Henry Douglas of Lugton (Henry de douglas…

Continue

The many faces of Sholto Douglas

Posted by William Douglas on November 21, 2025 at 17:30 0 Comments

Wondering why so many visits to the site were being sent from a particular blog, I found this:



I’ve enjoyed following content by Anthropic AI researcher Sholto Douglas, but kept noticing his name in unusual places. Upon further investigation, it looks like in 767 AD, a particularly skilled Scottish warrior got the nickname “Sholto Douglas”, and for…

Continue

Douglas of Pittendeich

Posted by William Douglas on November 11, 2025 at 14:30 0 Comments

Mary Ames Mitchell has provided the Douglas Archives with an amazing family tree/chart of the Pittendreich family descendants.

Included are The Earls of Douglas and Angus; the Good Sir James; the Kilspindie and Glennbervie families; the Bishops of Moray; and many more.

This is much more than just a tree, as the chart records histories,…

Continue

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Making conections

The more information you can give about the people you mention, the more chance there is of someone else connecting with your family.

Dates and places of births, deaths and marriages all help to place families.

Professions also help.

'My great-grandmother mother was a Douglas from Montrose' does not give many clues to follow up! But a bit of flesh on the bones makes further research possible. But if we are told who she married, what his profession was and where the children were baptised, then we can get to work.

Maybe it is time to update the information in your profile?


Notes

About our community

Created by William Douglas Jun 22, 2009 at 5:40pm. Last updated by William Douglas Oct 8.

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Created by William Douglas Nov 11, 2011 at 11:03am. Last updated by William Douglas Nov 11, 2011.

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