The Douglas Archives

A collection of historical and genalogical records

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Bonnie Prince Henry?

Charles Edward Stuart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, the man who in life was hailed by his Jacobite followers as the Young Pretender and disguised himself as an Irish maid to escape the clutches of his foes is the victim of mistaken identity.



Prince Henry?

The painting, by Maurice Quentin de La Tour, has hung in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery since it was bought for £22,000 in 1994.



Now a leading expert believes the pastel… Continue

Added by William Douglas on December 15, 2009 at 19:17 — No Comments

Protection against identity theft

I thought that I should review the website's privacy policy. It is not something I look at very often, and, according to Google Analytics, nor does anyone else! However, safeguarding information is important and it seemed prudent to have another look.



Our privacy policy covers data collected through marketing, registration and similar methods. It does not focus on the content of the genealogy database. Perhaps it should?



Principal concerns with genealogy data are how it… Continue

Added by William Douglas on December 7, 2009 at 15:24 — No Comments

Scot's £220,000 bequest to 20 towns called Douglas

A man has left about £220,000 in his will to towns across the world which share his Douglas surname.



Solicitors acting on behalf of Eric Gordon Douglas, from Edinburgh, have sent a cheque for £10,887.73 to Douglas Borough Council on the Isle of Man as part of the bequest.



But the council for the island's capital has appealed for more information on Mr Douglas in order to recognise his donation.



Council leader David Christian said: "There was around £220,000 left… Continue

Added by William Douglas on December 6, 2009 at 11:00 — 1 Comment

Douglases of Dalmahoy

I recently visit St Mary's Church, at Dalmahoy, in the graveyard of which are buried several members of the earl of Morton's family, amongst them my grandfather.



This led me to reviewing the entries in the database, updating some of the biographies in the history section, and developing an entry on Wikipedaia. It has also drawn attention to some holes in the Douglas Archives, which I am working to fill.



I am helped in this task by the 81st edition of Burkes Peerage. I… Continue

Added by William Douglas on November 30, 2009 at 22:59 — No Comments

Whose cousin am I?

Sorting out the difference between once removed and 2nd cousins, etc, has always been a challenge for me.



There is a chart in the Douglas Archives, but this one from Wikipedia is very helpful:

Family tree showing the relationship of each person to the orange person.

Cousins are colored green. Generations are shown by alternating stripes of gray and… Continue

Added by William Douglas on November 28, 2009 at 12:00 — 1 Comment

Admiral Sir Charles Douglas - a new biography

It is always exciting when a new biography apppears, charting the history of one of the family who made an imprint on world history.



Fortune's Favorite: Sir Charles Douglas and the Breaking of the Line

Sir Charles Douglas played a pivotal role in many of the most important events of the late eighteenth century, and yet his name appears only in short passages and… Continue

Added by William Douglas on November 12, 2009 at 19:00 — 3 Comments

Is Google Wave the future of collabrative genealogy research?

Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.



A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and… Continue

Added by William Douglas on November 6, 2009 at 14:00 — No Comments

Marksberry/Marksbury family name a Douglas derivative?

I recently came across the following story:



The "Queensbury" title, one of many with which the Scottish house of Douglas is associated, originated in the creation of Sir William Douglas (d. 1640) as Earl of Queensbury in 1633. He was the eldest son of Sir James Douglas of Drumlanrig (d. 1616). His grandson William the 3rd Earl (1637-1695), was created "Marquess of Queenserry" in 1682 and "Duke of Queensberry" in 1684. All of these titles and positions were created under the rule… Continue

Added by William Douglas on November 3, 2009 at 20:57 — 4 Comments

Douglas Barony for sale

I have been working on the Douglases of Brigton, and their connection with Dudhope Castle. As I was writing up the ancestry and history, I did not know that there is an opportunity to buy the Barony of Dudhope!



But checking on some amendments on peerage.com, I went back to my research and found that The Lordship and Barony of Dudhope are being offered for sale at a cool £75,000.



Any takers?



Further details can… Continue

Added by William Douglas on October 30, 2009 at 0:00 — No Comments

New Scotland history site goes live

A wealth of information about Scotland's past is now freely available through an online resource developed for the use of pupils, teachers and those seeking to put their ancestors into an historical context.



Scotland's History Online covers a range of subjects, from prehistoric through to 21st Century Scotland. With more than 200 topics that include links to over 1,000 other online sources and a wide range… Continue

Added by William Douglas on October 28, 2009 at 13:30 — No Comments

Douglas of Brigton

Prompted by my friend Tony Stapleton on the Genwise network, I have been working at developing the history and ancestry of the Douglas of Brigton branch of the family.



I have not yet determined how the estate came into the family, and am a bit bogged down with what happened after the Douglas Vs Douglas… Continue

Added by William Douglas on October 26, 2009 at 13:37 — No Comments

Catherine Douglas wins the Ig Nobel Prize

Newcastle scientists Dr Catherine Douglas and Dr Peter Rowlinson have won the Ig Nobel Prize for Veterinary Medicine for their work looking at reducing stress levels in dairy cattle. In a paper published earlier this year, they described how giving a cow a name and treating her as an individual can increase a farmer’s annual milk yield by almost 500 pints.



Led by Dr Douglas, the research found that just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more… Continue

Added by William Douglas on October 6, 2009 at 21:23 — No Comments

Douglas history slideshow

For an overview of the history of the Douglas family, view this video from The Douglas Heritage Museum, in Douglasdale.

Added by William Douglas on October 3, 2009 at 11:00 — No Comments

“Jesus was also a traveller” - Charlie Douglas

When I am asked 'Where do you come from?', I invariably open my response with 'My wife and I were both Gypsies'. Not very PC, perhaps, but it reflects the fact that we both spent the time before we maried in many diferent places, never spending enough time in any to call it home.



I never, in all the times I have had these discussions, imaginged that amongst the douglases there was some one who revelled in the title "King of the Gypsies", awarded him by his own Romany people for his… Continue

Added by William Douglas on September 29, 2009 at 10:17 — No Comments

Pauper cemetery clearance reveals Douglas graves

Source: Nebraska City News-Press, Nebraska City, Otoe Co., Nebraska, Tuesday, July 29, 2003



Joshua Goebel assembled volunteers from Boys Scouts Troop 246 Thursday to clear Otoe County’s pauper cemetery.



"Located on high ground at the edge of what once was the Otoe County Poor Farm, Goebel said a 1927 report indicated there were 30 graves there."



Amongst them were the graves of James and Mary (Molly) Douglas.



"After removing enough dead-wood to fill… Continue

Added by William Douglas on September 20, 2009 at 18:00 — No Comments

Getting it right

Yesterday, I fell for one of those spoof emails that goes around, and around.



It made me laugh out loud, and, funnily enough, I called it 'Getting the story right'. But the laugh is on me. Shortly after I decided to pass it on, via the GenWise website, where I also have a blog, Ed Douglasss sent a warning:



Maybe this is a clever joke. Maybe it is dead serious. I don't know.… Continue

Added by William Douglas on September 17, 2009 at 9:34 — No Comments

Lochleven Castle

LochLeven Castle

Standing on an island in a picturesque loch, Lochleven Castle consists of a small ruinous 15th century keep, rectangular in plan, standing at one corner of a 14th century courtyard.



The castle used to occupy most of the island, but the level of the loch has been lowered. Lochleven was a royal castle from 1257, and was stormed by William Wallace after being captured by the English.



The English besieged the castle in 1301, but it was… Continue

Added by William Douglas on September 14, 2009 at 14:30 — No Comments

Randini – the man who helped Houdini

Randini book cover



Houdini; the Man Who Could Escape From Anything Or Anywhere; the Man Who Could Walk Through Walls and Cheat Death. And yet the stunt that helped to make Houdini a legend- escaping from a strait jacket whilst suspended hundreds of feet in the air wasn’t invented by the Master Mystifier. That honour belonged to a long forgotten Sheffield schoolboy...



Randini-The Man Who Helped Houdini is the remarkable story of a fan who helped reinvent… Continue

Added by William Douglas on September 3, 2009 at 10:30 — No Comments

Should Scotland repeat The Gathering?

Homecoming 2009 is a Scottish celebration of not only Robert Burns but some of Scotland's great contributions to the world: Burns, Golf, Whisky, The Enlightenment and Innovation, as well as our rich culture and heritage which lives on at home and through the many people of Scots descent who live out with our shores. One of the highlights was The… Continue

Added by William Douglas on September 2, 2009 at 17:30 — No Comments

Why is Jimmy Douglas in the news?

Jimmy Douglas, an Aberdeenshire farmer is the talk of the farming world after his exploits in Lanark Auction Mart.

Already an expert sheep breeder, he is now hoping his record breaking purchase will take him to new heights.

Read our full story, and if you can help fill in any biographical details, please let us know.

Added by William Douglas on August 29, 2009 at 11:30 — No 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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