Elizabeth Douglas,Countess of Buchan

1385–1451

Thanks. The info on George's mother is new to me so adds another piece to the jigsaw. I'll check it out further.

By coincidence, I found this auction information also yesterday. Sad to see. I don't know who sold them but will make some enquiries; thanks.

Regarding Ronald: as he died in the USA its proving tricky to get information about his death/family out there. Maybe someone on here - his daughter June or her family? - will one day make contact :)

Thanks, William. Will check this out.

Yes William, that is my ancestor. I am very excited about this!  The information I have includes almost exactly what you sent to me.  I will send you the information I have; what I have deciphered so far.  The original is handwritten and I have a copy of the original and it has taken me awhile to figure out all that it says.  By the way, my brother's name is William Douglas Newman.  :)

Hi William, thanks so much for this but I really am interested in finding DOUGLAS in Ireland - Edenburt especially.  My Great Grandmother was an immigrant to Whitehaven from Edenburt, Lurgan, Co. Cavan. Her Brother John must have come with her because he turned up in Liverpool, Lancashire whilst she married Thomas BENNET in St Bees, Cumberland in 1835.  I found a Thomas BENNET in Edenburt too - he came up on the census at Whitehaven but born in Ireland.  She was kind enough to visit her brother on census night - otherwise I might never have found her.

Yes that is the same man, he did have a son William Eagles. Do you have a genealogy that includes Frank Johnson Douglas?

Kathleen

Following up some SRO enquiries re the Douglasses of Cockpen I was wondering if anyone had any more information regarding a Jonet Douglas born 1681 to John Douglas and Isobel Hardie. I think that this is the same Janet who married a Cochrane in 1707 (in Newbattle) but that is yet to be confirmed. The Doulas Hardie marriage had 9 children at around the same time as the Douglas/Witherspoon marriage mentioned previously.

It would also be useful of anyone had more info re this John Douglas - albeit there are quite a number.

Jim

Ancestry%20Douglas.xlsx

I think I may have now managed to attach a file of the Douglas birth data for Cockpen and Newbattle from 1650. An potentially interesting point is that prior to that date there are no Douglas births so either the records are not held at SRO or there were none to record. The fact that William married to a Witherspoon was born in Dumfries may indicate that the Douglas connection is after 1650 in that locality   

William

Just had a look at the update on the stub re Cockpen Douglas I would think that the key thing is sorting out the suggested relationship between William Douglas  Awith Grishild McK.

What is known is that a William Duglass and Janet Witherspoon  DID have six children between 1694 and 1706 (all Cockpen) and on that basis a birth date of 1668 and a marriage of 1694 does not seen unreasonable.

Clearly that could not reconcile with a Marriage to GMCK in Penninghame in 1693 with children being born from 1693 onwards.

The only provisional conclusion that I can draw is that there are two marriages there and that the GMK one is a bit of a red herring  

Douglas

Thanks. No probs I am up north towards Pitlochry for the next few days and I will pick up when I return.

It does strike me that what is known is that there were two or three Douglas families in Cockpen/Newbattle at the time. It is certain that a William D did marry a Witherspoon and if his DOB and marriage is correct I can see where that gels with the backstory.  That however does not explain the Penninghame angle, if there is one. It may be as simple as two Williams and two marriages getting conflated. 

Also it does not necessarily shed any light on the  John Duglass who, I suspect may be my direct ancestor. The birth dates of Johns and Williams first children are circa 25 years apart so we are probably dealing with an earlier generation and there may be no actual connection to William D/Witherspoon.

You will probably know this already but it would be good to know when Cockpen records started as a separate parish. Given the history with the Kers I suspect that Newbattle is older and in fact there is a marriage between James of Queensberry and Mary Kerr in 1692 - again probably down to the Ker base at Newbattle 

I have updated the spreadsheet to include the other births.Ancestry%20Douglas.xlsx

Thankyou William,

The F.A D. -April 1974 etc. Fairly sure he is not our branch.

The Frederick Austin and Elizabeth Ann nee Blake are my husbands (Robert John) parents.

They had four sons all born St Helens, Lancashire (Registered in Preston)

Francis Joseph D b28/10/38 d in NZ 21/4/2008; (my husband) Robert John, b 7/11/40; Austin Frederick D b 11/4/43-d in Kelowna BC 27/2/2008;John Christopher b 21/6/50-d in NZ 21/9/1997

That is my husbands (Robert John) father - Fred on the Banjo. (Probably posted by Anne Sherriff, a 2nd cousin,I think) We are looking for Freds older brother, Robert Francis Douglas

William.

Thanks.

Just back after the trip. I double checlked and the date of that marriage with a

Ker is 1692. The fact that all this was happening in Newbattle/Cockpen does gel with other bits of family history - geographically that is in that stretch of territory in an arc south of Edinburgh.  It may be that it proves impossible to find out more about John D but some other bit of evidence may be out there.

William.

Just picking up on some more information on the Cockpen people re the information in the stub.

It does appear to be the case that there were two William Douglasses alive, married and having children at the same time. One partnership was with Grissell Mckeand in Penninghame and the other with Janet Witherspoon in Cockpen/Newbattle. It would be remarkable if he could have managed  both - based on the dates!  - details as per the spreadsheet. I am not sure if this still means that the Cockpen William was born in or is connected to Penninghame.

Book1.xlsx

yes, this is the Samuel H Douglass born 1726 and I have in Albemarie Co. Virginia. He died 1755 in Chilhowee, Johnson Co., MO. I don't have any other information other than he married Mary ?Denison?/maybe Davis 2 Nov 1749 in New London, Campbell Co., Virginia. From this point on, I am confused as to his father and so on. I originally had Archibald, born 1695 in Scotland, but another shows a Capt. Richard Douglass, b. 1682 and died 26 Nov 1756 in Lancaster, PA. I sure would like to get to Scotland and confirm my Douglass lineage. Thank you Judy 

Thank you, William.  I don't use Facebook or Twitter or any other social media, so I don't really know how or where to add this information.  Can you give me suggestions? I have a family history, though I don't know how accurate it is, that I could post somewhere.

Thank you, William!  I'll try the forum first and see if that will work.  My sister and I plan to visit Scotland next September and would like to see some "Douglas castles" and any other pertinent sites.  If you could recommend some?  Thanks again!

Hi William

thankyou for the information. It seems the headstones in Hounam are of some of my direct ancestors. The George Douglas 1727 - 1794 and Agnes Robson 1733 - 1795 are my Great grandparents x 6.

I am coming up to Edinburgh on Thursday 7th July for 4 days so I don't know if I would be able to meet some current Douglas's and I will try to get out to Hounam.

I would appreciate any more information you can give me.

Thanks

Sharon 

William, Yes, that's my family, and I've written to Kentucky to see if they have

any 1797 local information.  I have some info about William and Hugh D or David Hugh being in the Civil War, although William obviously older. The wife is Caty or Catherine, Born 1799, married 15 Aug 1822, Adair, KY, and her father was Levi Conover.  My info on him goes back to John W Couwenhoven, born 1681, and Wm. Updike, born 1704.  Maybe you have this. Great to have another person to relate to.  I recently visited Douglas Brides mausoleum in Scotland.

Hello William,

I added to the forum some of the older info. I have from a relative's notes.  They start with the James Douglas of the 1700's and work back.  Do you have any suggestions how I can trace the lineage from James going back?  

Steve Dougals

It's on "my page".  Is there some other place I should put it?  I'm woefully unfamiliar with how these sites work.

William,

Were you able to find the info. I posted on my page?  If not, do you know how I can get that to you?

Steve

thanks William,

I have been able to work my way back a ways in the last month,  and I know have the following info as latest known Douglass:

John C Douglass  b.1856  Wife- Susie A.   b.1868     I also belive that his father was a T. E. Douglass I am assuming this is a Theodore Douglass ,  and i think he was born 1827 married to an Elizabeth born 1834.  unfortunately i cannot find much on T.E.  other then a 1850 census report showing him as born in NY and at 23 years old living in a multi family home with Connors and Whallans

Thanks a lot. Im very happy about your information.

Jens

Edward Fenner Douglass b 17 Feb 1880 in Houghton Co Mi

He Married Dorothea J Weber in Ontonagon, Mi 26 Oct 1903

He died in Chicago 1968. Looking for obituaries for him and his wife Dorothea, her dc has her as Dorothy Anna Douglass she died 19 Nov 1933. Also looking for obits on their children Edward Fenner Douglass b 1904 in Houghton co Mi died Md 1998 daughter was Dorthy C Douglass she married Melville F Johnson from Clinton Co Oh they divorced I believe she was living in the Chicago area. I can't find a death date for her nor obit. last child was Roland Douglass I believe he died in CA.

His father was Edward Fenner Douglass 17 May 1854 died 1902 Houghton Co Mi 

Appreiciate and help offered

Marsha

Hi, I did leave message but perhsps it was never received.  I hold extensive Douglas/Palmer Douglas and other related families.  Please let me know how I can help and exactly what you want to know.  Helen

William, was it my brother Nigel Emery (adopted) or my half brother Stephen Palmer Douglas that your caller was trying to get hold of?  Cavers House is still up for sale, so naturally I am still interested in what happens to it, especially as I was born there, so if you can remember who the interested party was, I would really like to know.  Also does anyone know who and when the two chestnut trees were planted at Cavers House.  One tree died very many years ago, the other one , known as 'The Tradition Tree' was 'demolished' in the late 1990's.  The tree also had a family curse with it - does any know anything about that.

I don't know that part of the world, but yes, I believe it is Shankhill Belfast. The names William and Nina appear on a memorial for Woodrow, but that was definitely a mistake.

Thanks William. I think the issue is that there are two lots of Douglas's in the West Indies. The European ones and the descendants of former slaves who took the Douglas surname. The two are not really related to each other. My wife is of Jamaican origin and her grandfather was a Douglas. Quite a few of her Douglas's ended up here in the UK.

My wife did her DNA and came back 1% British! So maybe.

Thank you, William. I'm excited to have found your group. I have updated my page with the lineage passed to me. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of specifics. I'm eager to see what your site has to shed any light on my family's path from Scotland. Thank you again! 

fd

These Douglases are, indeed, inaccurate accounts. I found Alexander's will and he mentions no Aaron ... also passed through a totally unrelated area of NJ.

I'm trying to find primary records for which William Douglas/s is father to Capt. Aaron b. 1753 m. Phebe Lewis. He died in Mendham, Morris County, NJ, and she moved with most of their kids to Knox County, Ohio.

To do this, I'm tapping both NJ and CT sources to try to find record of his ancestral migration. I'm interested in one theory they came with Rogerenes. We've also established by maps and historical accounts another possibility: an ore/gold rush mid-1700s in Morris County, NJ.

The sole Douglas Rogerene mention I found so far seems to have come to NJ about 50 years earlier, but was in the line of William b. 1708.

I believe Aaron's father is William b. 1710, a first (?) cousin). Strong evidence from birth/name patterns show Aaron's father William came to NJ to marry his brother Joshua's widow, who had 3 kids under 10 in the small area called Comb's Hollow, exactly where we find Aaron's dad starting his family about a year after Joshua died, with a wife by the same first name as Joshua's Sarah (Foote).

My William's wife has no formal record of a surname except Douglas, which makes sense if she was widow Sarah Foote Douglas. Perhaps a reference to Aaron being buried beside his brother(s) refers to his half-brothers, Joshua's two sons, if William 1710 married his brother's widow.

Hello William.

Lovely to hear from you and I am so pleased to be able to access your site.

I think that James Douglas circa 1688 is probably the Laird of Mains but my source is in Ancestry where there are a few mistakes so I would be grateful if you could confirm that he is. He married Jean Farquhar. Their son, Hugo 1713 married Margaret Gilmour and they appear to have had about 18 children, some of whom died early. They had a son called Mungo, 1741, who married Mary Wilson. These are my 4x great grandparents, Hugh and Margaret my 5x and James and Jean my 6x great grandparents. I have not managed to get back beyond James yet so any info on that score would be most welcome.

I have many Douglas' on my tree, some of whom married into the royal Stewart line from which I am also descended. So, these Douglas' may be a different line.

Would love to hear from you.

Best regards,

Sheila

William

Thank you for your posts.  The reference to Col. The Hon James Stuart (1741-1808) dying unmarried has had me baffled for some time as I had started working from the top (8^th Earl of Moray) of the handwritten tree (which unfortunately has no dates) down so I started from the bottom up (my father).  There was some evidence for the existence of everyone up to Maria Tomasa Stuart (b ?- d.1830) but no actual evidence of her marriage to the James Stuart.  The tree which I have, shows her and James Stuart having four children :

James Stuart (unmarried)

Maria Stuart (unmarried)

Margaret Flora Stuart (married James Douglas)

John Stuart (married Gertrude Weston)

As to evidence for this :

1.  The Information on the memorial at Inveresk (Saint Michael, Musselburgh) Cemetery starts with ‘Sacred to the memory of Maria, widow of the Hon Colonel James Stuart died 30^th. July 1830’. It continues ‘also …. James Stuart Esq. Captain RN died 17^th. November 1838 : Maria Stuart, spinster died 15^th February 1846 : Margaret, widow of Archibald Douglas Esq died 24^th April 1847 and Margaret Flora Douglas (dau. of Margaret and Archibald) relict of the late John Campbell Esq…. died September 5^th. 1882’
2. ‘MARRIAGE: August 24, 1818. At Calcutta, Mr J. Campbell of the Bengal civil service, to Margaret Flora, daughter of the late Mr Douglas, West Indies, and niece of Major J. L. Stuart, honourable East India Company's service.’  This clearly implies two things – Mr Douglas was dead by 1818 and Margaret Flora Douglas was the niece of JL Stuart which means her mother was a Stuart.
3.  Entry in the Edinburgh Sheriff Court Inventory (17^th. August 1831) shows the following : ‘Inventory of the Honble Mrs Maria Stuart widow of the Honble James Stuart Lieutenant Governor of Fort George who died on the. First of August  eighteen hundred and thirty given by Captain James Ferdinand Stuart of the Royal Navy and Mrs Margaret Flora Stuart or Douglas widow of the deceased Archibald Douglas sole executors of the said deceased Honble Mrs Maria Tomasa Stuart conforms to her last will and settlement dated December tenth eighteen hundred and twenty one.’

While none of the above is conclusive, I do consider, on the balance of probabilities, that James Stuart married Maria Tomasa and one of their children married Archibald or James Douglas.

So the questions remain – why was James Stuart shown as unmarried and who was this Archibald Douglas.  With regard to the former question – either one believes in the cock-up or the conspiracy theory of history.  It could have been a simple error, or, in my view a strong possibility, that James Stuart coming from a staunch Protestant background married a Catholic and the marriage was not recognised by his family.  The identity of Maria Tomasa is a mystery.  My handwritten tree describes her as Maria Esperanza (Lady), de Valliers a younger daughter of the Royal House of Spain who father was Don Joseph Corrones, a Colonel in the Dragoons who left Gibraltar when taken by the English and went to Vienna 1807.  I can’t verify any of this except that there was a Jose Corrones in Gibraltar whose daughter was christened in 1707 and that Esperanza continued as an additional Christian name down to my grandmother.

Archibald Douglas clearly died before 1818 and would presumably have been born at a roughly similar time to Margaret Stuart – 1771.   I don’t think that any of the Douglas’s you mention would fit those dates.  If I can identify him it would be another link in the chain, as he would be my Gt-gt-gt-gt grandfather and might provide further information as to Margaret Stuart’s parents.

Hi William

Yes indeed he is difficult to unearth.

I am aware of the Thesis that came out recently for James VI & I Royal household to 1603 and note Alex Douglas as an ordinary Macer.

I have managed to track that Alexander now.....to a certain extent...and will post it when I have it ordered. He is recorded as Macer, Portioner of Rathobyres,  possibly also referred to as Gogar, when he received the estate of Cramond from Douglas of Kilspindie which he had from 1600 - 1624. He has a son William, also a Macer. 

Can you tell me did you find exacting information that he returned to Reeth from London....what I found said he had resigned his position in London to return to Scotland..

Best Rhonda

thank-you william for allowing me to join your douglas archive group

Thank you for your welcoming message, William. Regarding the Douglas Cemetery, I went there almost annually as a young girl with my parents, who lived just north in Springfield, MO. In 1992, Cousin Gus Douglas of OK sent me an article - perhaps from Forbes magazine - about the impact of the new regional Bentonville Airport. My most recent visit was in 2004, when we put together a small reunion at the Memorial Day gathering. 

Archive member David Douglas has been working with me on the heritage of Jesse T. Douglas; thanks to him our family has hope of breaking down this very big brick wall. Y-DNA is playing a big part in this search.

Best regards, Sara Burns

Thank William,

This is a great resource, I'm sure I will find it very useful.

Best regards,

John

The information I have on Catherine Anne Douglass is quite limited and my efforts to research her ancestors have been met with many dead ends.  What information I have has largely been passed down from my grandfather and my father. My father did some further research as follows:

Alan Judd notes in his research on the Aitken family of a cathedral in Limerick that Catherine, daughter of William Douglass, merchant married Thomas Alley in 1793. One of my grandfather’s notes referred to Catherine Douglas, daughter of William Douglas was born in Carlowrock, Scotland.  Thomas Alley and Catherine are said to have emigrated to Canada with their children in 1775 sailing from Cartshorn on May 1. 

I have more more information which I will research and send more information that I dig out out from the files 

Brent 

Hi William.  Thank you for your welcome message and for the first gambit in what seems like an endless game.  

The information I have starts with father, Durward George Douglas (born on 25 March 1912 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; died on 25 January 2003 in Tulare, California) and his father, George Gordon Douglas (born on 26 June 1885 in South Shields, Durham, England; died on 26 May 1966 in Oakland, California).  George Gordon Douglas (1885-1966) married in 1911 to a lady named Anna Lydia (Bligh) Bleich (1894-1976).  

My father had given me a swath of cloth (a tartan?) with what he said were the colors of our clan from olden times.  It’s put away somewhere but I recall it being a green background, with some yellow and perhaps a bit of red in it. My dad said told me we came from the Black Douglas side of things.  Years ago, when I was in the UK on business, my wife and I went ‘up North’ a visited what was left of ‘Castle Douglas’; not very impressive, but fitting for relative that hung his enemies from the entrance of his castle (“he dangled his tassels from his knob”).  Hah!

I’m trying to put together things that might interest my granddaughter-to-be, so the Douglas family history could be an important facet.

Regards,
Dennis Douglas

William...regarding :Dorothy Moore:  Yes, Dorothy Louise (Ray) Moore (Douglas) was my stepmother.  Dorothy was born 16 June 1916 and died 26 April 2004.  Dorothy had three daughters from her previous marriage: Beverly Jean (Ray) Chelf (21 August 1935 - 11 December 2014); Bonnie Lou (Ray) Vawter (22 October 1936 - 28 November 1999) and Karen Sue (Ray) Morrelli (7 October 1947 - ...).  My dad(Durward George Douglas) married Dorothy after my folks divorced.

Hi William,

My hunt for my birth mother ( I have adopted in 1958) has led me to the Douglas archives as all indications are that she was married to James Malcolm Palmer-Douglas as follows,

http://www.douglashistory.co.uk/famgen/getperson.php?personID=I2193... 

My adoption paperwork indicates that her name was Dorothy Margaret Palmer Douglas DOB 14 July 1926 and that she had two children, one possibly adopted. An affair with my birth Father, Frank Eley, saw her head down to Surrey before I was born on 14 August 1958 and named Alison Sylvia Douglas, thereafter adopted myself.

It appears that they were both 'circuit judges' in the the equestrian or dog fields.

It has been difficult to find any information about her, but her date of birth, name and the fact that her daughter Helen is mentioned in the adoption paperwork,  now means that I have probably discovered her maiden name, Dorothy Margaret Campbell which is a big step forward.

Naturally, and a decision I respect, James Malcolm Palmer-Douglas wanted nothing to do with Dorothy, me or the adoption as so recorded in a letter from his solicitors, Andrew Haddon and Co.

My search is solely to trace my birth Mother and not to cause any distress to anyone involved at that time.

If any of your records show anything to do with my birth Mother it will greatly assist me in endeavor.

With kind regards,

Angela

HI William- Thanks for your comments on the Seniors, but sorry to say, all I get is that you have left me comments. This also happened when you made comments on Gertrude Harmanson. There is, absolutely, nothing for me to read. You give me some hope when you tell me of your frustrations with softwear. I, certainly, know the feeling when I am unable to communicate with computers.Regards, Henry

William when I am writing a blog-I am having a severe problem and I need your help. For the past week when I write a blog I am unable to post it. What happens is a notice pops up in capital letters RECAPTCHA with a statement 'I am not a robot.'Also it states privacy terms and just nor it is attached to my note to you. I just clicked on terms and it brought up Google privacy terms.  My blog is frozen and then disappears. I have rewritten the blog twice. Regards, Henry

I am not 100% sure.  I am looking into it but her name is very familiar - I will check my paperwork when I get home - and my family has resided for many years in and near Canandaigua

I have many files of documents, which I have not had time to ruffle through.  I will start doing that and see what I can find.  

Hi William,

Thanks for the welcome to this forum. The information I have comes from the book The John Douglas Family of Mississippi by Edgar Lamar Douglas (my great uncle) published in 1962. His book does a pretty thorough job of tracing my lineage back to John Douglas. My ancestor, John Douglas was an orphan in North Carolina USA. His book states that in 1758 a William Douglas from north Ireland was living in Pennsylvania with his wife Mary and children. In 1773, the will of a William Douglas in Rowan County, North Carolina, USA mentions his wife Mary and two sons Solomon  and David. In 1801 John Douglas sold a section of land that was granted to David Douglas. John Douglas b.10/4/1764 d.11/9/1839 married Nancy Denman Walden b.5/20/1774 d. 8/1836. Children: Ransom Douglas b.8/9/1805 d.6/5/1889; Jepthah Douglas b.1808; Joel Douglas b.9/13/1810 d.11/8/1884; Elisha Douglas b.6/9/1814 d.9/1/1900; and Elijah Douglas b.6/9/1814 d.1817.