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A collection of historical and genalogical records

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Clan Gathering a great success

Organisers today hailed the weekend's huge clan gathering a success, after almost 50,000 people flocked to Holyrood Park from all corners of the world.

Clan chiefs, ex-pat Scots and curious locals were among those soaking up the atmosphere – and occasional sun – yesterday on the second day of Homecoming centrepiece The Gathering.



They enjoyed traditional Highland Games, dancing displays and live performances.



And organisers hope the event will become… Continue

Added by William Douglas on July 27, 2009 at 16:00 — 1 Comment

Clan Gathering - Edinburgh

I had an enormously enjoyable morning at the Clan Gathering, part of Scotland's Homecoming, in Edinburgh today.



Many Douglases, and those associated with the family through septs, stopped off at the clan tent to say 'Hullo' and tell me about their own family history. It was great to meet so many people from all around the world who were so interested in their family backgrounds, and who had spent time in Scotland visiting places associated with the family.



I was put to… Continue

Added by William Douglas on July 25, 2009 at 19:21 — No Comments

Online bookstore

I received a blatant bit of advertising through a forum posting, but as it does seem potentially useful, I am passing it on.



The following books were listed at Ancestral Books:



A Collection of Family Records With Biographical Sketches, and Other Memoranda of Various Families and Individuals.. - by Douglas, Charles Henry Providence, RI , 1879



My Father's Family (Douglas) - by Rudder, Edith A.

Salem,… Continue

Added by William Douglas on July 21, 2009 at 10:36 — No Comments

Spelling of Douglas, Douglass, etc

Interesting research in the Douglas DNA group has revealed futher spelling variations of our name.



I already record that there are family members whp spell their names:

Dowglass,

Dowglas,

Dowglasse,

Dowglace,

Dovglas,

Dulglas,

Douglace,

Douglas,

Douglass,

Douglase,

Dougles,

Douglles,

Douglis,

Dogles,

Duglas,

Duglass,

Drysdale



and have noted the gaelic spelling:… Continue

Added by William Douglas on July 18, 2009 at 18:20 — 1 Comment

New CDSNA president



Congratulations go to President is James Douglas Jacobs of Spring, Texas, (left) who has been elected President of the Clan Douglas Society of North America.



He succeeds Mark Douglas(right).…



Continue

Added by William Douglas on July 17, 2009 at 21:00 — No Comments

Google Books help family history researchers





Google are continually adding to their library of out of print books that they are making available on-line. Whilst some are, frustratingly, not available in the UK because of copyright issues, many are.



I have recently been referred to Debrett's The baronetage of England for a particular reference, but by entering 'Douglas' in the search box, I was able to call up many interesting references.…



Continue

Added by William Douglas on July 17, 2009 at 16:30 — No Comments

Lady Alice is in the swim

One member of the extended family who is seldom out of the news is Lady Alice Douglas, the daughter of the 12th Marquis of Queensbury.



This photograph has just circulated the world as 'Photo of the week'.





Lady Alice Douglas swam in lake Llyn Mymbyr in Capel Curig, Wales, Tuesday. She has been swimming in lakes and rivers since her… Continue

Added by William Douglas on July 5, 2009 at 11:35 — No Comments

Avatars

The little photograph that accompanies members entries is called, I think, an avatar. Mine appears at the top of this article (could be better, I know!) I thought it would be fun to change the default shaddowy image to a Douglas 'personality'.

However, now that I see it in use, it does not seem so suitable for our lady members!



So, I will take advice. Do we keep it, or junk it?



It does not seem possible to have one for men… Continue

Added by William Douglas on June 30, 2009 at 10:43 — 1 Comment

Signet ring with a history?

A little while ago, I was sent some photographs of a signet ring. Whilst the email came from France, the ring apparently became the property of this particular family in California.



As can be seen, it bears the Douglas crest of the wild boar and the oak tree, and the motto, Lock Sicker. The Douglas heart is clear, but what is depicted in the other quarters?



Does anyone know whose crest this might be? And how it got to… Continue

Added by William Douglas on June 27, 2009 at 17:13 — No Comments

Nice idea

Nice idea William- I hope your site users take it up. Your site is the only Douglas site which is not geographically based that I know of, so this social networking facility could become the gathering place for Douglases internationally. Well done

Added by Beryl Turner on June 18, 2009 at 11:00 — 1 Comment

New GEDCOM uploaded to the database

One of the most common methods used for genealogy information exchange is the GEDCOM, an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication. In simple terms it is a method of formatting your family tree data into a text file which can be easily read and converted by any genealogy software program.



A GEDCOM is used between the database on my home PC and the database that drives the genealogy website. Whilst it is possible to update records on-line, using TNG, my preferred route is to main… Continue

Added by William Douglas on June 17, 2009 at 13:30 — No Comments

James Douglas, 14th earl of Morton and his family



James, 14th Earl of Morton married twice. He married Agatha Halyburton before 1731. Agatha was the daughter of James Halyburton. Agatha died in 1748 in Edinburgh. James had 5 sons by Agatha Halyburton, 4 of which predeceased him. After Agatha's death in 1748, James married Bridget Heathcote with whom he also had a son. James died in 1768 and the family possessions passed to his only surviving son by Agatha Halyburton.



He married… Continue

Added by William Douglas on June 16, 2009 at 9:50 — No Comments

A visit to Douglasdale

It might seem strange that I have only just paid my first visit to the village of Douglas in Lanarkshire. I have driven passed the village on the motorway innumerable times, but this week, I made a special journey to the cradle of the Douglas family.

Castlemains, Douglas, Lanarkshire



I was fortunate to have as my guide, Jim Fleming, who wrote the history of St Bride's Church - and kindly gave me a copy to add to my Douglas library. Jim was… Continue

Added by William Douglas on June 12, 2009 at 16:00 — 6 Comments

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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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