All Blog Posts (945)

Thomas Gainsborough  (1727 – 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. One of his sitters was Frances Browne, Mrs John Douglas, who appears to be born in 1741 and died in 1811.

The portrait hangs in Waddesdon Hall, the property of the Rothschild Family.

Also in…

James Douglas was the 14^th Earl of Morton, a Scottish peer dedicated to science with a keen interest in astronomy.  He was a founding member and President of the Society for Improving Arts and Sciences in Edinburgh, and elected as President of the Royal Society in London in 1763. 

On the eve of…

Something to consider and could use input on. The Douglas of Glendinnig, could originally be Glendowin. Since Glendinning was in the area to the west, and became predominately know, the Doulgas of Glendowin, became the Douglas of Glendinning.

In 2013, I was informed by a young woman of details of her family.

I included these in the Douglas Archives, in good faith.

Last night she sent me an email informing me that her family circumstances were not as she had provided them, and asked me to remove them.

It transpires that she had made a marriage 'contract' on the basis of her connection to a prominent Scottish family, and this had proved to be false.

Was I duped, and used to promote a false identity? Or…

Blaeu map 1654 Morton Castle and Kirk with ThorhillMorton Castle with Thorhill on Google…

Congratulations to:

James Arthur DOUGLASS, Police Staff, Metropolitan Police Service. For services to Policing and to National Security, who was appointed to the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Years Hounours

Along with the Birthday honours, the New Year’s Honours list is the most significant announcement of civilian and military gallantry awards.

Rob Douglas, of Western Australia, has published a collection of notes and photographs about his grandfather, Henry, and grandmother, Mina. Rob uncovered a wealth of anecdotes and recollections of their lives.

If your family history merges with theirs at any point, then I am sure you will find this publication as fascinating as…

named.publicprofiler.org/

Hello everyone,

I'm pleased to announce that after years of procrastination, research and even more procrastination, I have finally embarked upon a book project focussing on a critical time in Clan Douglas history. A time of the rise and tragic fall of the Black Douglas…

I have had a session adding to my map of places in Douglas history. Still a long way to go! https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1F-UPddN4htCLFLz75kSfJlucn5g&ll=10.299642456804598%2C0&z=2

(Click the link, not the map)…

Robert the Bruce's link to the Clan Douglas
Sir James Douglas was the knight chosen to take the heart of Robert the Bruce to the holy land. Paul Murton retraces the steps of the knight. BBC

Release date:17 February 2011
Duration:
3 minutes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00f44kn

Something to ponder on

Extracted from la genealogia de la antiquissima y nobilissima familia Brigantina o Douglas

On 21st June 1861, the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, the master gunner of Dumbarton Castle carried William Wallace’s sword to the laying of the foundation stone at the Wallace Monument, while a servant of the Earl of Elgin carried King Robert Bruce’s sword. Up to 100,000 people are said to have attended.

Other historical swords in the…

Henry Alexander Douglas progressed from being Vicar of the Church of St Margaret of Antioch, in Abbotsley, now in Cambridgeshire, but in an area formerly known as Huntingdon, via South Africa to becoming Bishop of Bombay.

I have known of him for a while, but have not been able to piece together his full story. Yesterday, another fact emerged.

I was attending a family service in the church of St Margaret of Antioch, which sits in the village of Abbotsley. The earliest record of…