The Douglas Archives

A collection of historical and genalogical records

William Douglas
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William Douglas's Discussions

Mapping

Started this discussion. Last reply by Jackie Stoddard May 30, 2018. 1 Reply

Douglas of Burnbrae

Started this discussion. Last reply by William Douglas Dec 7, 2020. 1 Reply

Clan Gathering 2014

Started this discussion. Last reply by William Douglas May 1, 2013. 2 Replies

 

William Douglas's Page

Latest Activity

William Douglas posted a blog post

What's new?

I have today added several documents to the Douglas Archives.  In themselves, these are not significant enough to qualify as being listed in  'Whats new?' or 'Recently revised' but will be useful to those who stumble upon them as part of their family research.I note that there is deep research being done on the Northamptonshire Douglases, probably in connection with our mystery man, William Douglas born 1610.  He popped up in research into my mother-in-law's family with a totally erroneous…See More
26 minutes ago
Ronald Drysdale commented on William Douglas's blog post Knockdolian Castle
""Maybe he will name himself here...." I prefer to remain anonymous!"
23 hours ago
William Douglas posted a blog post

Knockdolian Castle

Knockdolian Castle is a ruined small 16th century pele-tower once occupied by the Grahams, the McCubbins and the MacConnels.It has come to my attention through research by another (Maybe he will name himself here?) as we dig deeper into my mother-in-law's family history.Elspet Brok married Adame Dowglase in 'Inveresk with Musselburgh, Midlothian, Scotland' on 25 Nov…See More
yesterday
William Douglas left a comment for Mattix Sheldon (Douglas)
"Welcome to our community group, Matix. Would you be descended from Ruil Clyde “Big Ruil” Douglas Sr.?William"
yesterday
William Douglas commented on William Douglas's group Drysdale - a Douglas sept
"I have just been down the wrong rabbit hole, but still an interesting excursion:https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/P9BR-SK1 Douglas and Drysdale in Northumberland."
Monday
William Douglas posted a blog post

Genealogy Database User Benefits

The Douglas Archives has thousands (yes, really!) of visits daily, but almost all of those visitors are unable to access some of the benefits available to registered users.By registering, you can:• view information for living individuals,• download GEDCOMs,• download PDFs,• view LDS information when available, and• edit user profile and change your password.You'll also receive our e-newsletter with updates about the website. Information on private individuals and private notes is restricted to…See More
Jun 13
William Douglas posted a blog post

Forum Rules & Code of Conduct

Regrettably, it has become necessary to apply rules of behaviour. This does not reflect on existing members (11 June 2025), but might help keep out the riff raff.Those of you who have been spammed will understand.https://douglashistory.ning.com/page/forum-rulesSee More
Jun 11
William Douglas posted a page
Jun 11

Profile Information

Which Douglas line are you researching? Dates and places help making connections.
All areas of Douglas history and genealogy are of interest to me.

I am keen to track back family lines that are considered 'brick walls', and hope to be able to do this through the networking opportunities that arise through media such as this.
Tags/keywords - used to help people find you
Scotland,worldwide,history,genealogy
dna haplotype
R1b1b2
Website address
http://www.douglashistory.co.uk

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William Douglas's Blog

What's new?

Posted on June 19, 2025 at 13:56 0 Comments

I have today added several documents to the Douglas Archives.  In themselves, these are not significant enough to qualify as being listed in  'Whats new?' or 'Recently revised' but will be useful to those who stumble upon them as part of their family research.

I note that there is deep research being done on the Northamptonshire Douglases, probably in connection with our mystery man, William Douglas born 1610.  He popped up in research into my mother-in-law's family with a totally…

Continue

Knockdolian Castle

Posted on June 18, 2025 at 12:32 1 Comment

Knockdolian Castle is a ruined small 16th century pele-tower once occupied by the Grahams, the McCubbins and the MacConnels.

It has come to my attention through research by another (Maybe he will name himself here?) as we dig deeper into my mother-in-law's family history.

Elspet Brok married Adame Dowglase in 'Inveresk with Musselburgh,…

Continue

Genealogy Database User Benefits

Posted on June 13, 2025 at 12:08 0 Comments

The Douglas Archives has thousands (yes, really!) of visits daily, but almost all of those visitors are unable to access some of the benefits available to registered users.

By registering, you can:

• view information for living individuals,

• download GEDCOMs,

• download PDFs,

• view LDS information when available, and

• edit user profile and change your password.

You'll also receive our e-newsletter with updates about the…

Continue

Forum Rules & Code of Conduct

Posted on June 11, 2025 at 10:25 0 Comments

Regrettably, it has become necessary to apply rules of behaviour. This does not reflect on existing members (11 June 2025), but might help keep out the riff raff.

Those of you who have been spammed will understand.

https://douglashistory.ning.com/page/forum-rules

Tree planting ceremony at Balmoral Castle

Posted on May 27, 2025 at 17:36 0 Comments

On 11th April 2025, HM the King, as Royal Patron of the Regimental Association of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, planted a tree in the grounds of Balmoral Castle. Prayers of dedication, led by The Rev Col G A Douglas OBE, Regimental Chaplain, were offered along with thanksgiving for all that the late Queen did for the Regiment as Colonel in Chief,…

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Comment Wall (487 comments)

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At 16:09 on June 1, 2025, Simone Collins said…

Thank you! I have Bob's book on the descendants of Tom and Phoebe Douglas but I didn't know about his more recent manuscript. I'll follow up with Bob about that resource!

At 16:53 on May 29, 2025, Ronald Drysdale said…

Paul,

You are welcome & good luck with your future research 

Best regards

Ron

At 16:32 on May 29, 2025, Paul A Douglas said…

Ron, that is great info and I vaguely remember coming across that years ago when I first pieced this possible line together (I descend from Archibald's son William Harvey Douglass...the man loved "Harvey" for sure!).  It's been long enough I think I need to dedicate come time to reassessing this information and you guys have been a great help!  If you come across anything else I would be in your debt!  But I think I'm going to reup my subscriptions on the relevant search sites and get back to work!  Thanks so much!  Paul

At 21:56 on May 28, 2025, Ronald Drysdale said…

Hi Paul

I understand the nature of the problem you have - too many possibilities and not enough accurate information (without even considering a possible Irish aspect!).

I think the hard information that you have is:

- the 1837 Prison record as this specifies his name clearly as  Archibald Harvey Dougla (but I am suspicious about the age quoted - 22 years)

- the 1835 marriage record, again his full name Archibald Harvey Douglas is clearly stated

There are two online Parish records: 

https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Prescot/stmary/baptisms_1839-1840.html

Baptism: 13 Jan 1839 St Mary the Virgin, Prescot, Lancashire
William Harvey Douglas - Son of Archibald Harvey Douglas & Mary
Abode: Prescot
Occupation: Dresser
Baptised By: Wm. Coombs
Register: Baptisms 1835 - 1842, Page 159, Entry 1267
Source: LDS Film 1657583


https://lan-opc.org.uk/Prescot/stmary/baptisms_1841-1842.html

Baptism: 24 Jan 1841 St Mary the Virgin, Prescot, Lancashire
John Douglas - Son of Archibald Harvey Douglas & Mary
Abode: Prescot
Occupation: Dresser
Baptised By: C. G. T. Driffield
Register: Baptisms 1835 - 1842, Page 234, Entry 1871
Source: LDS Film 1657583

Then there is the record for Henry Harvey Douglas - Christening 29 Mar 1846 Father Archibald Harvey Douglas St. Helens, Lancashire, England

and Henry Harvey Douglas's Marriage in 1868 with Archibald Harvey Douglas father - see images below:

It's obvious that Archibald likes to use his Harvey middle name.

So where does this middle name come from? Often middle names are carried down from a mother, Grandmother or other ancestor.

I briefly checked out this aspect (Douglas/Harvey) and again I come up with the Scottish connection:

 -  and it neatly ties in with the Dumfriesshire Douglases (Wilton in Roxburghshire is only 17 miles from Ewes in Dumfriesshire):

I personally don't look upon Census records as being accurate providers of genealogical data, if it confirms something that's fine - if the data deviates significantly then it is suspect. As far as I can recall none of the census records gave the 'Harvey' middle name. 

Best regards

Ron

 

At 19:06 on May 28, 2025, Paul A Douglas said…

Hello Ronald!  And thanks for the info, from William as well!  Ole Archie is a bit of a conundrum for me, as I've been stuck on him for what feels like decades now!  I had a tedious connection from him to James Douglas and Margaret Warwick from Dumfriesshire, but other than also having an Archibald born in or around the same time as mine that is all there really is to it.  Maybe they were his parents, but hard to say for sure at this point.  Especially since it's more likely he was born in the 1810s per census, a death record and his incarceration records in Liverpool in 1837.  And despite the 1841 census saying he was born in Scotland, the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census say he was born in Prescot, Lancashire.  

I also hired a professional genealogist in Liverpool to try to track him down in local and UK records a few years ago and he couldn't find anything definitive.  So while there are still bits and pieces out there I've just about run out of luck at this point.  It seems just about anyone on public sites take the connection to James and Margaret and run with it, but I'm just not confident that it was the case. 

So the search continues, and all help is welcome!  Thanks for commenting and appreciate everyone's work on this wonderful site!  - Paul

At 14:00 on May 23, 2025, Nicole Henderson said…

Haha, I love that!

Seriously, haplogroups are basically ancient family branches on the tree of humanity. They're like genetic last names passed down mostly unchanged for thousands of years. 

For Y-DNA (paternal line), a haplogroup follows you father's father's father, and so on. For mtDNA (maternal line), its your mother's mother's mother, etc. Scientists use these to group people by deep ancestry and migration patterns. 

 So when someone says they're in haplogroup R-FT353727 or I-M253, its like saying, "My ancient ancestors came from this specific region, and here is my spot on the human family tree."

 If you're a male Douglas heir, you should definitely consider joining the Douglas DNA Project over at Family Tree DNA website. It helps all of us figure out how we're connected, and your results could be the missing link. :)

At 11:08 on May 16, 2025, Vittorio Villa said…

Great thanks a lot

At 15:41 on April 17, 2025, Tim Ross said…

I've found the RNLI site that recounts the story (but no mention of Kilclief): https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/newcastle-lifeboat-station/station-history-newcastle

At 15:37 on April 17, 2025, Tim Ross said…

Fantastic! Another lead to poke at - thanks William

At 20:14 on March 2, 2025, Jevon Douglas de Fenzi said…

Hi William, 

I just found the website after a google search sent me to your post from last year with a picture of the gravestone of a John Douglas de Fenzi. Do you know where the gravestone is located? I'd be more than happy to help with any questions you might have although I'm only just starting to do some digging into my family name and don't know a great deal. I've not heard of the Douglas of Garvald family either. 

Look forward to hearing from you,

Jevon

__MSG_status_gadget__

 
 
 

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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