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Apr 10, 2023

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Which Douglas line are you researching? Dates and places help making connections.: Primrose Douglas married Canongate Church to Jane Thomson

Who is your earliest known Douglas ancestor?: Primrose Douglas

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At 13:36 on December 3, 2012, Alex Skinner said…: Hi Maria

Thank you for your comments. I had noticed the age difference between Mary Ann and John, but I do not tend to take too much notice of years of birth the further back in time we go. This is because age and dates meant so much less to people than it does to us now. It is possible that she was older than him by that much, of course.

With respect to Primrose Douglas, here is more on what I have on him:

Primrose was born 1st February 1787 in Leith, Midlothian Scotland.   He died 7th January 1862 in Southwark (London).   In between he had quite an interesting life:

He at sometime joined the Royal Wagon Train, and was stationed in Cambrai in northern France with the Duke of Wellington (1815-18).   (Wellington had his Field Headquarters there). Some of his children were hence born as British subjects in France whilst others were born where the Wagon Train was garrisoned, i.e. Croydon Surrey. Primrose became one of Britain's first policemen: He was a member of the Bow Street Mounted Patrol from 1821 to 1840.   He gave evidence in a trial at the Old Bailey: www.oldbaileyonline.org Ref: (t18270215-61) as an arresting officer.

He was twice married, as he outlived his first wife. First, to Jane Thomson (who was from Dumfries) on 1st January1810 at Cannongate, Edinburgh and then aged 65 on 24th October 1852 to Harriet Ward in Marylebone, Middlesex.

Primrose's parents were Jean Haswell (born 6th October 1746 in Lasswade, Midlothian; died 30th December 1801 Edinburgh); Father was Donald Douglas (born 1739 Midlothian county).

The above is more or less the information sent to the BBC in Scotland.   The account of the arrest made by Primrose is quite a fascinating read.   The police line seems to have passed down the family - my Dad and brother were both in the police, although Dad did not make it his chosen career, but bro did and served 30 years in the Met, and is now retired.

Looking at Primrose again, by the time his daughter Harriet was born he was 66! This means that, given she lived until 1939, their lives spanned three different centuries.   Also, Primrose's daughter Agnes married Daniel Macord Osborn in 1853, the same year as Harriet's birth, and the profession of the bride's father is given as 'gentleman'. I think that there is something rather endearing in that.

I had noticed that some other Douglas men had the name Primrose. I hope that we can find out the origins; maybe someone from Debretts can tell us?!

Best wishes

Alex

At 23:50 on November 26, 2012, Alex Skinner said…: Hi everyone

As you can see, I am a Skinner, and Primrose Douglas (Birth 1 Feb 1787 in Leith, Midlothian, Scotland
Death 7 Jan 1862 in 8 Lant St, Borough Rd, Southwark Surrey) is my 4 x great grandfather. Charlotte Douglas is my 2 x great grandmother, being married to Benjamin Skinner. My grandfather Henry (son of William Skinner) was born in Battersea and Sylvia is quite correct on the point that the family lived in the area for years. However, my grandfather was in the Royal Navy and so the family moved around a lot. I have a tree on ancestry which has public access. The furthest I have gone back is Donald Douglas and Jean Haswell. However, as you probably know Primrose was married twice. Jane Thomson (Birth 13 February 1785 in Dumfries, Dumfries-shire, Scotland
Death 5 October 1845 in Tudor Lodge, Battersea, London) was his first wife and her parents were John Thomson (Birth 2 February 1764 in Dumfries, Dumfries-shire, Scotland
Death 21 April 1827 in Dumfries, Dumfries-shire, Scotland) and Mary Ann Boyd (Birth abt 1750 Dumfries).

The information that I have on the origin of Primrose being so-named with a 'female' name for a man is that this is something of a mystery. There is a possibility that James Primrose, of the Dalmeny estate, eloped with a housemaid and that she was a Douglas, and also was Primrose's paternal grandmother. This is something which remains to be proved, and I emailed this to BBC Scotland's radio programme called 'Digging up your roots'. Unfortunately, it was not a story which the producers seemed to be interested in.

I am in contact with another member of ancestry who supplied me with much of this information, so I am indebted to him - he is married to a Douglas descendant, and she is a 6th cousin to me. Please feel free to write and comment.

Best wishes

Alex Skinner

At 19:32 on October 9, 2012, Ian William Douglas said…: Hi Maria,

I have been tracing my ancestry and I am a descendant of Primrose Douglas.My Great Grandfather X4 was William Douglas a son of Primrose Douglas. William was born in Cambrai in France in about 1819. Primrose at the time I belive was a soldier in the Royal Waggon Train.

William married Sarah Porter at St Mary Cray in Kent and they had, about 8 children. The eldest son William is my Great Grandfather x3. William and Sarah did have a daughter, called Charlotte, and a son called James Primrose who had 10 Children. I have carried out a bit of research in to the family history and would be very interested to share any information.

Kind Regards, Ian Douglas

At 12:09 on May 11, 2012, William Douglas said…: Maria,

Are you the grand daughter of George Charles Douglas and Kathleen Gaffney? I am trying to tie the differing lines together.

I have just published an article about James Douglas, cattle breeder, grandson of Donald Douglas and Jean Haswell, which might be of interest: http://douglashistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mr-douglas-of-athelstaneford It does not help with Douglas genealogy, but if you own Shorthorn cattle...!

Yours aye,

William

At 8:34 on April 13, 2012, Sylvia Snipp said…: My father's great grandmother was Charlotte Douglas b 7 Mar 1845 died about June 1918 married Benjamin William Skinner b 1842 d 1918. Charlotte's parents were William Douglas 1819 - 1886 m Sarah Porter b 21 Jan 1819. William was born in France, 'British' - his parents were Primrose Douglas b 1787 d 1862 and Jean Thomson b 1785 d 1845. As you know, Primrose's parents were Donald Douglas b 1760 d 1821 and Jean Haswell b 1746 d 1801.

My father's mother was Florence Maud Skinner b 1888 d 1962 and her parents were William Benjamin Skinner b 1864 and Catherine Hooper b 20 Nov 1865 . The Skinner family lived for generations in the Battersea area of London. The men were bricklayers.

At 22:23 on April 9, 2012, William Douglas said…: Is there a connection with Major-General John Primrose Douglas (1908 – 1975)?

At 13:22 on April 8, 2012, Sylvia Snipp said…: I have Primrose's parents as Donald Douglas b 1760 d 1821 and Jean Haswell b 1746 d 1801.

At 12:58 on April 8, 2012, Sylvia Snipp said…: Did you know that Primrose Douglas married Jean Thomson at Canongate Kirk (Church) in Edinburgh in Jan 1810? That was the church where Queen Elizabeth 2nd's Grand-daughter married last summer. Primrose was a soldier based in Edinburgh Castle and was in France with the Duke of Wellington.

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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?

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