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

William Douglas left a comment for John Douglas-De-Fenzi
""Welcome aboard. By way of introduction for other members, I am trying to link present day de Fenzi families with the Douglas of Garvald family.https://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/families/douglas_of_garvald.htm Yours aye, William""
14 hours ago
William Douglas posted a status
14 hours ago
William Douglas posted a blog post

Douglas of Pittendeich

Mary Ames Mitchell has provided the Douglas Archives with an amazing family tree/chart of the Pittendreich family…See More
22 hours ago
John Douglas-De-Fenzi is now a member of The Douglas Archives
yesterday
J Ruaidri Douglas posted a video

TRAILER 1 "JAMES DOUGLAS, el hombre con dos corazones.mp4

Trailer del documental "James Douglas, el hombre con dos corazones", que dirige Kike mesa y produce Kandale Films.
yesterday
Ronald Drysdale left a comment for DALE T DRYSDALE
"Hi Dale I've enclosed the extra files I was talking about, some are doublers to the pics I sent previously but all these pdfs contain links to where the record is located on Familysearch. Most of these sources were found using the 'Full…"
yesterday
Daryl John Douglass left a comment for William Douglas
"Hi William, Daryl Douglass here. I just got your email re David Preece. How Bizarre! What the hell was he doing trolling the Douglas Archives? David and I were really good friends but lost touch many years ago. Please, can you give him my Email…"
yesterday
DALE T DRYSDALE left a comment for Ronald Drysdale
"Thanks so much, Ron! I have seen a couple of the census docs and land grants but happy to look at whatever else you can send--as long as it's no trouble for you. The marriage info is particularly interesting. And I will check out Familysearch.…"
yesterday

Forum

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.

The Ancestry money grabbers are after our records!

Started by Ronald Drysdale in Genealogy. Last reply by William Douglas Sep 25. 1 Reply

ScotlandsPeople is under attack from Ancestry - if they succeed then access to Scottish records may become too difficult/expensive for us little guys in the future and we may not be able to post images as we now can.…Continue

Blog Posts

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

Provosts of Kirkcudbright - and their lamp

Posted by William Douglas on November 4, 2025 at 15:57 0 Comments

THE PROVOST'S LAMP

A Provost was the chief magistrate of a Scottish burgh or town. In the nineteenth century the responsibility for lighting the streets and maintaining public order lay with the local council and the Provost was held responsible for the safety and security of the burgh. He was a prominent and honourable figure…

Continue

Garallan

Posted by Dan on November 3, 2025 at 18:19 1 Comment

Can anyone tell me anything about the Douglas Boswell family at Garallan Ayrshire circa 1880?

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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.

Cookies

Created by William Douglas Oct 25, 2012 at 5:21pm. Last updated by William Douglas Oct 25, 2012.

Why use our Community Network?

Created by William Douglas Jan 17, 2012 at 1:50pm. Last updated by William Douglas Jan 17, 2012.

William Douglas, b1610

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

Welcome!

Created by William Douglas Jan 24, 2010 at 6:35pm. Last updated by William Douglas Jul 23, 2010.

Clan Douglas Associations

Created by William Douglas Jun 23, 2009 at 10:50am. Last updated by William Douglas Jun 23, 2009.

Notes Home

Created by William Douglas Jun 12, 2009 at 6:16pm. Last updated by William Douglas Jun 12, 2009.

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