The Douglas Archives

A collection of historical and genalogical records

January 2010 Blog Posts (10)

Search Blog Posts

JD Salinger dies - the Douglas connection

JD Salinger

The death of 'Catcher in the Rye' author, JD Salinger, brings out some painful stories of his relationship with his second wife, Claire Douglas.

Claire, daughter of art critic Professor Robert Langton Douglas, had met Salinger at a party in 1954, when she was just 19 and a student at Radcliffe College. They married the next year, and Salinger insisted that… Continue

Added by William Douglas on January 31, 2010 at 14:00 — No Comments

Thought to be dead, Thomas was held on a prison ship

THOMAS DOUGLAS, who was born about 1750, was living in New Fairfield, Conn., a few years prior to the Revolutionary war. His wife Eleanor SEELEY, was born in New Fairfield, May 21, 1754. Probably they were married in 1771. In 1773 or 1774, while their first child was an infant, they removed to Pownal, Vt.



At the breaking out of the Revolution, in 1775, Thomas DOUGLAS entered the army as a volunteer, and marched to Boston, Mass. His first engagement was at Bunker Hill, where he fell,… Continue

Added by William Douglas on January 28, 2010 at 23:12 — No Comments

The early lessons of a search.

Being new to the family research game it's fair to say that I'm rather virginal to the highs and lows of Genealogy.



So on a wing and a prayer I set forth with precious little information passed down from my mother - whom in turn recieved the same information from a long deceased family member.



My family tree is very comprehensive and complete right up to present day from the time we arrived at the great land down under.

Now unlike alot of Australians I'm rather… Continue

Added by Andrew Douglas on January 28, 2010 at 8:52 — 8 Comments

The Douglas Banner

Extract from Chambers' 1869 The Book of Days.



It will be learned, not without interest, that certain relics or memorials of the fight of Otterbourne are still preserved in Scotland. The story of the battle represents Douglas as having, in a personal encounter with Percy in front of Newcastle, taken from him his spear and its pennon or hanging flag, saying he would carry it home with him, and plant it on his castle of Dalkeith. The battle itself was an effort of Percy to recover this… Continue

Added by William Douglas on January 27, 2010 at 13:30 — 2 Comments

Protesters being removed from Douglas estate

Tree-houses have been built, the tunnels dug, the barricades erected and the arm-locks secured to branches.



Mainshill Wood, in the Lanarkshire countryside, has become Scotland's new environmental battleground this morning as an army of bailiffs moved in to evict protesters against a huge opencast mine. Scottish Coal was last year given permission to extract 1.7 million tonnes of coal from the site located on Lord Home's Douglas estate. If it goes ahead, South Lanarkshire will become… Continue

Added by William Douglas on January 25, 2010 at 16:53 — 1 Comment

Are all Sawny's evil?

I hope not! Sawney is a Scots version of Sandy, itself a shortened version of Alexander, so perhaps it was in common usage, but I have only found three examples of the name, and the stories that go with them are certainly not fairy tales.



SAWNEY BEAN was reportedly an incredible monster who, with his Wife, lived by murder and cannibalism in a cave. He was executed at Leith along with his whole Family in the Reign of James the First.





SAWNEY CUNNINGHAM was an abandoned… Continue

Added by William Douglas on January 24, 2010 at 17:30 — No Comments

Robert Burns and the Douglas Connection

Robert Burns

Burns Night, when Scots go daft over their national bard (no, I am not a fan!) is fast approaching, and it seemed appropriate to review the family links with Robert, or Rabbie, Burns.



Robert Burns had everything needed to become an icon in his native Scotland. He was working class and had to overcome grinding poverty before finding success. He was also, to put it mildly, a bit of a lad - part incorrigible womaniser, part dashing romantic -… Continue

Added by William Douglas on January 16, 2010 at 18:30 — No Comments

Douglas watch and clock makers

There appear to be two separate branches of the family tree who were watch and clock makers. but are they separate? Or is there a 'missing link' that binds then together?



I found these two extracts, but please note that details here differ from records in the Douglas Archives!



James Douglass was born around 1730-1733 to John Douglass (unfortunately I don’t know where, though family stories suggest the Douglasses… Continue

Added by William Douglas on January 12, 2010 at 12:56 — No Comments

Obituary collections now on-line

GenealogyBuff.com http://www.genealogybuff.com has recently placed several considerable data collections with DOUGLAS data online.

Here's the list:



ALABAMA - Madison County Obituary Collection

http://www.genealogybuff.com/al/madison/webbbs_config.pl



ARKANSAS - Clark County Obituary Collection …

Continue

Added by William Douglas on January 8, 2010 at 11:00 — No Comments

Mount Douglas - no points in the family quiz!

Have you ever played Scattegories, the quiz game where answers all begin with the same letter of the alphabet?



So if the 'scattegory' is 'D', all answers must begin with a 'D'.



It is a favouite family game of ours, played at family gatherings. Questions are devised to include authors, plants, body parts - and, this year, mountains.



My answer of Mount Douglas was… Continue

Added by William Douglas on January 2, 2010 at 20:36 — No Comments

Featured Blog Posts

View All

Latest Blog Posts

Most Popular Blog Posts

Monthly Archives

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

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?


© 2024   Created by William Douglas.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service