All Blog Posts (900)

The chieftain line, the Elwald-Ellot-Eliott of Redheugh became of Redheugh, when land was passed from Archibald 'Bell the Cat' Douglas, fifth Earl of Angus to their family squire the clan chieftain a 10th Robert Elwald to be chief. 

Angus is Archibald 'Bell the Cat' Douglas, fifth earl of…

Renewed border skirmishing saw Henry Percy, future 3rd earl of Northumberland, defeated by Hugh Douglas, earl of Ormond, on 23 October 1448.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-37046361?fbclid=IwAR28fbqKcTXAGS0pH0HtX47lOefNbC6vX2RAQg4vEMkNi2jDodEJw-ntbc4 ;

It is always fun to discover hanky panky in the family history, and so it was not really a surprise to discover that the daughter of my 13th great-grandfather was a naughty girl, when not much more that her sixteenth birthday - she became the mistress of King James V.

Elizabeth Carmichael, also know as Katherine, bore the King a son, a son,…

Intrigued by the marriage between a Douglas and a Middleton, and wondering if there was a royal connection, I worked to find out who Rev M Middleton was, and indeed, who was Mr Douglas?

He appears to be James Alexander Douglas (abt 1762-1830), son of William Douglas and Mary Higginbotham.  James married Charlotte Douglass on 7th March 1796, in…

History of the first person in North Borneo on a motorcycle trip between Keningau, Melalap and Tambunan Road

Between 9th and 13th August 1928, an American Doctor by the named C G Campbell made a daring adventure when he took his Douglas motorcycle on a trip from Melalap to Keningau and Tambunan on an inspection…

Viewpark Conservation Group (VCG) wishes to acquire the Historic Douglas Support Estate, locally known as The Viewpark Glen through a Community buy-out. 

The Douglas Support Estate was in the ownership of the Douglas family for many generations, and forms part of the old Douglas lands of Lanarkshire. The current owners are descendants of the Douglas family, but are no longer Douglases.

The local community wishes to acquire the land to…

Some alarming facts have been added to Alexander Douglas-Douglas's Wikipedia profile.

Alexander was a naval officer, an explorer, a teamster, officer in the Native Police and a chief inspector of police in Queensland. And, it his time with the police that has been called into question.

Douglas was appointed Acting Sub-Inspector at…

An attractive motet setting for five voices (SA(orT)TTB) of Psalm 126 by a little-known Scottish composer of the mid…

Are you a descendant of the Douglas families of Bonjedward or Timpendean?

Douglas of Bonjedward has featured in a couple of recent articles, the Skirmish at Sclaterford, which followed the disaster at Flodden, in 1513, and the Raid of the Redeswire in 1575.

However, linking the correct Douglas to these events is not proving easy.

I am grateful to Sally Douglas for re-visiting this, but maybe others have researched their families and have some additional…

John Douglas was born on 6 Feb 1840 in Bury, Lancashire, the son of Daniel Douglas, a Machine Maker, and his wife Sarah.

John emigrated to Mexico and is the progenitor of the family that built, first, Douglas Chalet and then Castillo Douglas.

Does anyone have this family in their tree?

Read more…

Arguably one of the more ugly new buildings in London, The 30-storey Douglass Tower on Goodluck Hope, has been named after Sir James Douglass, the redoubtable designer of the English coastline’s two tallest lighthouses - the Eddystone Lighthouse off the Cornish coast and Bishop Rock, on the Isle of Scilly.

Born in Bow, Tower Hamlets in 1826, Sir James Douglass was chief engineer at Trinity House, the chartered authority with workshops at Trinity Buoy Wharf, the site of London…

Outlaw King - look for 'The Good' James Douglas - not yet Sir James!
http://www.tartan.tv/outlaw-king-official-trailer-hd-netflix_086cbd2af.html

Once a rustic, seeing a wolf run about in proximity to the palace, killed it; not knowing that it was the tame creature of the king; and he brought the dead beast to the king, expecting a reward. Then the prince in anger ordered the man to be cast into prison and executed. Now when Bridget heard this, her spirit was stirred within her, and mounting her chariot, she drove…

James Douglas did not, of course, have a heart in his arms - that was added later.  But might the artist just be taking a liberty? …

In a fitting tribute to Sir George, the younger brother of Sir William Douglas, who owned Lochleven Castle, a plaque was placed at Deans Court, St Andrews, on the 450th anniversary of Mary’s escape from Lochleven on May 2, 1568.

It was unveiled by Elizabeth Roads, Snawdoun Herald of the Court of the Lord Lyon,…

Hi William I enjoyed your newsletter. What you have achieved is remarkable. I have a question for you and it is unrelated to Douglas. In the early 1940s I had a friend from Scotland and I lost touch with him. It is possible that my friend and you crossed the same paths. May I mention his name to you? Henry

As stated previously, my maiden name was Morton and my great-grandfather (George Morton), and all the Mortons before him, were Scottish. Morton, being a sept or allied family of Douglas, has always given me a sense of belonging to Douglas. As I've been researching my family history, though, I've found ancestors from Auchterlonys to Youngs and a lot of things in between. There are at least 43 (possible) clans within the family history I've traced so far. It's a lot to digest. However, what…

Mary F Stafford/Horn and Robert Morton, my grandparents. Robert was the son of George Morton and was the first Morton born in England in my line. George Morton was born in Dumfries-shire but his father had been born in Loudoun Ayrshire, as had many generations before. My research indicated he was descended from John Morton (1748) from Loudoun and Mary Sandylands (1751) there are several earlier John Mortons as well, but the Sandylands line is difficult to follow.

Through marriage into…

On this day 19 July 1333 saw the Battle of Halidon Hill at Berwick, where an English army, led by Edward III and Edward Balliol, defeated the Scots forces under the command of Sir Archibald Douglas  ('Tyneman').

The defeat was mainly down to the English archers who devastated the Scottish ranks, inflicting terrible losses, including six…

Last week, I was helping a researcher who was looking for details of C K M Douglas.

Today there has been a "meteorological tsunami" - meteotsunami in Spain - a phrase coined by C K M Douglas who was a meteorologist.…