George Brisbane Douglas portait for sale

[William Douglas]

A 19th century portrait miniature on porcelain, "Sir George Brisbane Douglas", is due to be sold at auction.

Sir George was born on 22nd December 1856 in Gibraltar, his mother's (Dona Sanchez de Pina) homeland. Until the death of his elder brother, he looked certain to lead an academic life but managed to combine the running of a large country estate with writing prose and poetry. He had a great interest in local history and recorded many tales told by his gamekeepers and other worthies. He was widely published in his lifetime and his work includes New Border Tales (1892); Poems of a Country Gentleman (1897); Diversions of a Country Gentleman (1902) and The Border Breed (1909). His authoritative history of Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles was published in 1899 by William Blackwood & Sons.

He never married and on his death in 1935 he was succeeded by his nephew, Sir James Louis Fitzroy Scott Douglas, who never resided at Springwood Park.