William Douglas's Blog (611)

Can you trace your lineage to any of the Earls of Angus, barons of Drumlanrig or the Earls of Morton?

Do you have strong links going back to around 1600?

The Douglas DNA project has accumulated some funds in the 'kitty' to help those who might otherwise be bale to afford testing of their DNA to help prove lines back to early Douglases.

You can read more about the group here: …

Sally Douglas has kindly supplied me with yet more details of Douglas clock and watchmakers.  I am continually astonished at how many there were.

These are collected together as lists, and no attempt has yet been made to link the page together as narrative. As a result, if you are seeking a clock or watch maker, you will need to use the search function…

Read more: http://j.mp/1jNRX2G

Sir Russell Drysdale was inspired to paint his work West Wyalong in 1949 after going for a drink at the Tattersall's Hotel on the main street of the town that gave the work its…

With worldwide interest in the sport following the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, it seemed appropriate to print this extract from John Kerr's book 'The History of Curling', published by David Douglas in Edinburgh in 1890.

In a poem* written by Captain Paterson about the beginning of this century are duly celebrated the deeds of Thomas Haddow (who is said to…

Bristow-Douglass "The Rev. James Bristow and Sarah Douglass Bristow" Their Ancestors and their Descendants 1640-1961 Compiled by Julia J. Bristow

Can anyone help?

Each year, the Museum of the Everglades hosts the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Festival to celebrate her life.

Rick Hirsch of the Miami herald writes about her time on the Miami Herald, here:…

The ink sketch is haunting: A roughly clad Scottish Highlander and his young wife on snowshoes, trekking alone in swirling snow 200 years ago near Hudson Bay.

He's wearing a highland bonnet, shouldering a musket. She holds a bundle wrapped in tartan to her heart.

The bundle is a baby, born hours earlier in a tent banked in…

The founder of Douglas Pharmaceuticals, Sir Graeme Douglas, has announced his retirement as the company’s managing director, effective February 1. He will remain as chairman of the Board and his son, Jeff Douglas, the current chief executive, will assume the role of managing director of the Douglas Corporate Group, New Zealand’s largest pharmaceutical…

I saw this interesting stone in New Abbey today - I guess they were genealogists!

Amongst those recognised by the Queen in the New Year Honours list 2014 are:

The Rt Hon David Alexander Cospatrick Douglas-Home, the Earl of Home CVO, CBE who has been appointed to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, and

Anthony John William Douglas. Music Teacher, Morley College, London was awarded an MBE for services to Further Education. (London)

Congratulations to them both.

I have added some new detail to the genealogy database, which will be the last for the year.  It currently includes entries for which the photographs are missing.  This is information that i received from elsewhere, and the images were not included, but the database thinks they should be there! I will work my way through these correcting the entries over the next couple of…

David Douglas of St Vigeans, Angus (1777- c1855) Driver, Royal Artillery Corps from 1794-1815. Served 20 years in East or West India Services

The above entry has been added to the page listing Douglas surnames in Wikipedia.  However, there is no entry for this David Douglas. Perhaps this is not surprising, as he was apparently a driver in the Royal Artillery, and so is unlikely to have had…

"Wasp" reviews  La piedra del destino by Jesús Maeso de la Torre:

This doorstop of a Spanish novel deals with the death of the Scots knight Sir James Douglas at Teba (southern Spain) in 1330. He had traveled there in fulfillment of a promise to his friend and lord, the late King Robert Bruce of Scotland. On his death bed the Bruce had asked that his heart be carried in battle against the Muslim 'enemies of God' as a token of his unrealised vow to go on crusade and so purge his soul…

Review by "Wasp":

This was a frustrating book to read. It is a lot more sensible than many patriotically inspired histories and avoids many of the pitfalls of the Douglas legend, only to tumble headlong into…

Every now and then, I realise that there are sufficient articles on a topic to require a catalogue, and reorganisation of the layout of my files, which I hope will help researchers find what they are looking for.

Today, I have introduced a new section listing Douglas presentation swords.

Along the way, I often discover new articles on the same topic. One such was about the…

The Office of Lord Lyon King of Arms will fall vacant at the end of December 2013, when Mr David Sellar the current Lord Lyon steps down. The Lord Lyon is appointed by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the First Minister under section 3 of the Lyon Kings of Arms (Scotland) Act 1867.

The Lord Lyon is the sole King of Arms in Scotland. He is the Head of the Heraldic Executive and the Judge of…

Richard Brown, a keelman, was executed on the Town Moor, Newcastle, on the 21st of August this year (1751) for the murder of his daughter; and on the 27th of the same month, Henry Douglas, a surgeon in the navy, on half-pay, was killed in a scuffle with Edward Holliday, a seaman, in the house of David Shield, an innkeeper. 

Capt. Douglas, late of the Cambridge (who was presented to Her Majesty, and knighted), having heard, whilst at Singapore, of the seizure of Capt. Elliot and the British residents at Canton, sold his cargo, and purchasing some 32-pounders and ammunition, sailed, with an addition to his crew, to their…

The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis, a Scottish Charitable organisation which is run entirely by volunteers, launch Phase I of their Public Appeal for the restoration of the Monteath Mausoleum.

The…