I have just been looking at the excellent website The Connacht and Munster Landed Estates, and come across this entry:

The Nicholsons received grants of land in Sligo under the Acts of Settlement and one of them became High Sherrif of Sligo in 1671. In 1675 Edward Nicholson, described as of Cummin or Knocknaray, served as High Sheriff of Leitrim. The Nicholson estate extended in to the Barony of Leyny, covering part of the parish of Achonry. This estate was sold in the Landed Estates court in 1876 on behalf of Agnes Mary Nicholason, an infant. McTernan states that the Gethin family were the purchasers and they in turn leased it to several other parties. There were also legal proceedings within the family due to loans and mortgages. Two granddaughters of James Nicholson (d.1810), Emily and Harriett Douglas, were married to Adam Mossman and Thomas White, who also held land in Sligo. Adam Mossman was a Liverpool merchant. Various members of the Mossman family, who were married into the Nicholason family, held c.1000 acres in County Sligo in 1876. In November 1865 James C. Whyte Douglas offered lands at Luffertan, Woodpark and fishing rights at Culleenduff for sale in the Landed Estates Court. The original leases were between James Nicholson and the Earl of Erne's estate. George W. Douglas was still the owner of 70 acres at Culleenduff, in the 1870s.

Can anyone identify these Douglases?

There is a brief reference in "The geographical distribution of Irish ability" to a George Alexander Douglas from Roscommon, Ireland, who held a high offical appointment in Kingston, Jamaica. It does not say when he arrived there, how long he was there or if he and any of his family died out there which is what I am trying to find out.

GAD was the father ofMajor General Henry Edward Manning DouglasVC, CB, CMG, DSO (11 July 1875–14 February 1939), a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. 

Does anyone have these in their family tree?

Re: James C. Whyte Douglas 

I have just received the following information:

Pour une association généalogique en Bretagne, je suis en train d'étudier l'ouvrage du pasteur E.W.L. DAVIES "Wolf-hunting and wild sport in lower Britanny". Dans ce livre apparaît un nommé "Shafto" qui est en fait James-Charles WHYTE DOUGLAS. Voici sa généalogie :
- James-Charles WHYTE DOUGLAS
°29/11/1819 Cluden Bank, Holywood, Dumfries (Scotland)
son of Thomas WHYTE (+12/5/1861) and Emily-Olivia DOUGLAS (+6/2/1838).
He lived in Laz (Finistère, Britanny, France)
He died 3/4/1885 at Huelgoat (Finistère, Britanny, France)
He married 31/8/1885 at Belle-Isle-en-Terre (Côtes-d'Armor, Britanny, France)
with
- Mathurine MOY (not MOYA)°8/3/1825 at Langast (Côtes-d'Armor, Britanny, France), daughter of Julien MOY and Françoise GROSVALET.
They have got 2 children :
- George-Marie MOY DOUGLAS (sic) °12/11/1849 at Plouguenast (Côtes-d'Armor, Britanny, France)
- Helène-Rosalie-Marie WHYTE DOUGLAS °4/9/1851 at Plouguenast (Côtes-d'Armor, Britanny, France), she married 20/2/1875 )at Belle-Isle-en-Terre (Côtes-d'Armor, Britanny, France)with Nathaniel KEMP.

Ireland's Military Archives have been made available online for the first time. By March it plans to publish the Bureau of Military History Collection 1913 to 1921.

The Archives, which are held in Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines in Dublin, can now be accessed via a new website - militaryarchives.ie. A quick visit to the site did not imediaely make it clear how one is supposed to search the site, but perhaps that will become clearer in March.

The site has been launched in conjunction with the National Archives of Ireland, and is designed to appeal to historians, genealogists and members of the public researching their family tree.

By March, it plans to publish the Bureau of Military History Collection 1913 to 1921, online, including 36,000 pages of witness statements, digitised and fully word searchable.

This will be followed by the first release of the Military Service Pensions Project - material which the Defence Forces say "will provide a major and never before seen insight into the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence in particluar".

Many researchers confuse the Military Archives as a place of deposit for the records of all Irish people who have served in other armed forces. In fact, the Military Archives holds only the personnel records of those who served in the military of the Irish Free State from 1922 to the late 1970's, as well as material pertaining to the Irish Volunteers and the Independence movement, 1913-1921. Information about British Army records, including those for the Irish regiments, can be obtained at The National Archives of England at Kew in London.

What Happened to the Douglass clan and why does it seam we dissapeared?

William Douglass has 2 esses in his name . Why do many archives only show 1 ess?

I am not sure, but Frederick Douglass was a black man.  Do we have a lot of ancesters that were Black?

Fred,

Welcome to our group.

I am not sure which William Douglass , or Douglas, you are referring to, but there is no historical difference between one and two 'esses'.  Names were often written down by official recorders who did not know whether there should be one or two, and once people learned how to read and write, they adopted whatever had been written. This older Douglass families may have used Douglas.

Yours aye,

William

I do not think that Frederick Douglas had any known Irish ancestors? (This is an Irish forum).

You can read about him here: http://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/frederickdouglass.htm 

Although one branch of the Douglas family are 'Black Douglases', this does not refer to skin colour, just as the 'Red Douglas' branch are not red.

The Douglas Clan has not disappeared!

You can read about the head of the clan (or lack of)  here: http://douglashistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/head-of-the-clan-a-de...

My Gt Grandfather was Aaron Douglas ( abt 1838-1901) who'd emigrated to Melbourne Australia from Ireland 2 February 1858 age 20

and shortly thereafter married Rose Coffey b. 1837 from Beauparc and Yellow Furze, Meath Ireland, Arrival Melbourne 23 July 1859 Age 22.

I have obtained their marriage certificate, (attached) which lists Aaron's father as George Douglas and mother, Mary Sweeny. Aaron%20Douglas%20Marriage%2018081865.pdf

They were also Catholic..And so far, I've found a George Douglas,

 in Griffiths 1854 in the Parish of Rathcore, Townland of Rahinstown, County Meath. Poor Law Union of Trim (the Union would cover an area with towns/villages/parish's in a 12 mi. radius)Tenant of Robert Fowler.

Richard Douglas land 21 acres 3 roods 7 perches - no house so he must live elsewhere*
#2a George Douglas, house, outbuildings and land 118.0.37
this is a significant size property for the time, the rental per year would of been quite high, I don't see any renters/occupiers providing him with an income.

*Richard Douglas, Parish Athboy, Stocks Townland tenant of the Earl of Darnley, PLU Trim. property house, outbuildings and 5a 202.2.23 another extremely large property as the average person would have maybe 20- acres.

There were 18 Douglas occupiers in Meath at this time 1854 none were Aaron (he may have still been living with his father and helping run the farm but not have property in his own name, he may have not been the oldest son and chose to go to Aust. to make his own fortune? However, this is just at the end of one of the worst Famines in Irish History)

Directories for other Douglases in Ireland (below):

1881 & 1898

Daniel Douglas, Stocks, Athboy, Trim, farmer he is listed under farmer but also under Nobility, Gentry & Clergy, he isn't nobility-no title nor Clergy ie Rev.therefore part of the Gentry/Esquire class as noted above who have land that is rented out for income.
1894:
Daniel Douglas, Cherryvalley, farmer
Richard Douglas, Rathmoylan, farmer
William Douglas, Isaacstown, farmer

I'm fairly new to this, and feel like I've hot a brick wall, so if anyone has any leads of further information I'd be extremely grateful :)

My Douglass line in Joesph Douglass and Mary Orr Burgess Both born in Cork Ireland late moved to Scotland. Joesph was a Convict sent to Australia on the Baring. I have been looking for about 9 years with no luck. So i am doing DNA soon. all info is on this site....http://members.pcug.org.au/~pdownes/douglass/index.htm

Good luck Tammie! Please let us know how it goes with your DNA results..I am fascinated..Have you tried Scotandspeople.gov.uk in any of your searches to date, or Findmypast.co.uk ? Are you on any of the main sites like Ancestry.com.au? I'm about to pay for a subscription and will take a look for you in Australia. I am also 'stuck' with my other Scottish side, McFarlane, but won't give up...Hopefully paying as I go with Scotand's people, I'll have some success before long. 

Irish Lives Remembered Genealogy eMagazine Launched

Irish Lives Remembered has launched their first eMagazine - and it is free of charge.

Based in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland, their business is dedicated to preserving the memory of deceased people of Irish heritage globally by sharing information with those seeking to find their Irish ancestors.

The earliest record for our branch of the Douglas family  in Co Wicklow is the baptism of William Douglas in 1779. I dont know when we came to this area or why we came here.

Sarah,

How the Douglases came to be in Co. Wicklow in the 18th century, I dont know, but the Scots settled in Ireland as Undertakers part of the Plantation of Ulster, and William's family may be descended from them.

Research on the Douglases in Wicklow seems thin, espcialy in and around 1779, but there are a couple of interesting threads on later members of the family:

http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.britisles.ireland.wic.general... 

http://boards.ancestry.com.au/localities.britisles.ireland.wic.gene... 

Happy hunting!

Freemen of the City of Cork

Douglass Alexander Goldsmith 9/11/1770
Douglass James Esquire
Douglass William Col. 97th Regt. now in Cork. (1817)

Some resources:

http://derry.rootsireland.ie/
http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/derry/index.htm

http://www.igp-web.com/derry/index.htm
http://www.ancestryireland.com/
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nirldy/derrymr.html

http://www.ulsterheritage.com/forrest/derrybook.htm
http://www.findmypast.com.au/search?region=australasia&sourceca...

Apparently some pay to view sites are free in a public library.

Another resource:

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/search.jsp?nam...

Douglasland, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland - wonder how and when it got its name?

I received a couple of messages overnight which did not contain email addresses for a response.

1. Lurgan ancestry: family home donard view milltown roadoutside lurgan but family may have been from kinnego townland

2. a big family of douglases lived in kinnego at lough neagh moses douglas born 1740 had alot of sons one was called john the sons married and moved on its probably the same family. moses married hillary marsden and some marsdens still live in lurgan

Can anyone tell me more?

Just saying hello, I'm part of a Douglas family from Ireland. Sadly not much is known about our history as, in honesty, I was always too young to be interested. Now I am older I am starting to get interested in the Douglas history. 

The little I do know. My Mother and siblings were born into the family of James Hill Douglas and Anne Douglas. They lived in Sydenham in East Belfast. James was a local mechanic, although not professionally trained, people would come from all over Belfast to have him work on their car. His job, from what I recall, was in the Steelworks in Belfast called Sirrocco. 

Sadly that is pretty much all I knew about this side of the family.