The Douglas Archives

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At 19:34 on February 5, 2018, Henry Barraud Hunt, Jr. said…

William when I am writing a blog-I am having a severe problem and I need your help. For the past week when I write a blog I am unable to post it. What happens is a notice pops up in capital letters RECAPTCHA with a statement 'I am not a robot.'Also it states privacy terms and just nor it is attached to my note to you. I just clicked on terms and it brought up Google privacy terms.  My blog is frozen and then disappears. I have rewritten the blog twice. Regards, Henry

At 16:50 on February 4, 2018, Henry Barraud Hunt, Jr. said…

HI William- Thanks for your comments on the Seniors, but sorry to say, all I get is that you have left me comments. This also happened when you made comments on Gertrude Harmanson. There is, absolutely, nothing for me to read. You give me some hope when you tell me of your frustrations with softwear. I, certainly, know the feeling when I am unable to communicate with computers.Regards, Henry

At 14:26 on February 4, 2018, ANGELA TATTAN said…

Hi William,

My hunt for my birth mother ( I have adopted in 1958) has led me to the Douglas archives as all indications are that she was married to James Malcolm Palmer-Douglas as follows,

http://www.douglashistory.co.uk/famgen/getperson.php?personID=I21930&tree=tree1 

My adoption paperwork indicates that her name was Dorothy Margaret Palmer Douglas DOB 14 July 1926 and that she had two children, one possibly adopted. An affair with my birth Father, Frank Eley, saw her head down to Surrey before I was born on 14 August 1958 and named Alison Sylvia Douglas, thereafter adopted myself.

It appears that they were both 'circuit judges' in the the equestrian or dog fields.

It has been difficult to find any information about her, but her date of birth, name and the fact that her daughter Helen is mentioned in the adoption paperwork,  now means that I have probably discovered her maiden name, Dorothy Margaret Campbell which is a big step forward.

Naturally, and a decision I respect, James Malcolm Palmer-Douglas wanted nothing to do with Dorothy, me or the adoption as so recorded in a letter from his solicitors, Andrew Haddon and Co.

My search is solely to trace my birth Mother and not to cause any distress to anyone involved at that time.

If any of your records show anything to do with my birth Mother it will greatly assist me in endeavor.

With kind regards,

Angela

 

At 1:37 on January 27, 2018, Dennis Gordon Douglas said…

William...regarding :Dorothy Moore:  Yes, Dorothy Louise (Ray) Moore (Douglas) was my stepmother.  Dorothy was born 16 June 1916 and died 26 April 2004.  Dorothy had three daughters from her previous marriage: Beverly Jean (Ray) Chelf (21 August 1935 - 11 December 2014); Bonnie Lou (Ray) Vawter (22 October 1936 - 28 November 1999) and Karen Sue (Ray) Morrelli (7 October 1947 - ...).  My dad(Durward George Douglas) married Dorothy after my folks divorced.

At 6:10 on January 26, 2018, Dennis Gordon Douglas said…

Hi William.  Thank you for your welcome message and for the first gambit in what seems like an endless game.  

The information I have starts with father, Durward George Douglas (born on 25 March 1912 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; died on 25 January 2003 in Tulare, California) and his father, George Gordon Douglas (born on 26 June 1885 in South Shields, Durham, England; died on 26 May 1966 in Oakland, California).  George Gordon Douglas (1885-1966) married in 1911 to a lady named Anna Lydia (Bligh) Bleich (1894-1976).  

My father had given me a swath of cloth (a tartan?) with what he said were the colors of our clan from olden times.  It’s put away somewhere but I recall it being a green background, with some yellow and perhaps a bit of red in it. My dad said told me we came from the Black Douglas side of things.  Years ago, when I was in the UK on business, my wife and I went ‘up North’ a visited what was left of ‘Castle Douglas’; not very impressive, but fitting for relative that hung his enemies from the entrance of his castle (“he dangled his tassels from his knob”).  Hah!

I’m trying to put together things that might interest my granddaughter-to-be, so the Douglas family history could be an important facet.

Regards,
Dennis Douglas

At 18:46 on January 23, 2018, John Brent Alley said…

The information I have on Catherine Anne Douglass is quite limited and my efforts to research her ancestors have been met with many dead ends.  What information I have has largely been passed down from my grandfather and my father. My father did some further research as follows:

Alan Judd notes in his research on the Aitken family of a cathedral in Limerick that Catherine, daughter of William Douglass, merchant married Thomas Alley in 1793. One of my grandfather’s notes referred to Catherine Douglas, daughter of William Douglas was born in Carlowrock, Scotland.  Thomas Alley and Catherine are said to have emigrated to Canada with their children in 1775 sailing from Cartshorn on May 1. 

I have more more information which I will research and send more information that I dig out out from the files 

Brent 

At 13:15 on December 29, 2017, John Douglas said…

Thank William,

This is a great resource, I'm sure I will find it very useful.

Best regards,

John

At 13:06 on September 2, 2017, Sara Douglas Burns said…

Thank you for your welcoming message, William. Regarding the Douglas Cemetery, I went there almost annually as a young girl with my parents, who lived just north in Springfield, MO. In 1992, Cousin Gus Douglas of OK sent me an article - perhaps from Forbes magazine - about the impact of the new regional Bentonville Airport. My most recent visit was in 2004, when we put together a small reunion at the Memorial Day gathering. 

Archive member David Douglas has been working with me on the heritage of Jesse T. Douglas; thanks to him our family has hope of breaking down this very big brick wall. Y-DNA is playing a big part in this search.

Best regards, Sara Burns

At 23:06 on August 20, 2017, glenn winton gillery said…

thank-you william for allowing me to join your douglas archive group

At 0:19 on August 13, 2017, Rhonda Killeen said…

Hi William

Yes indeed he is difficult to unearth.

I am aware of the Thesis that came out recently for James VI & I Royal household to 1603 and note Alex Douglas as an ordinary Macer.

I have managed to track that Alexander now.....to a certain extent...and will post it when I have it ordered. He is recorded as Macer, Portioner of Rathobyres,  possibly also referred to as Gogar, when he received the estate of Cramond from Douglas of Kilspindie which he had from 1600 - 1624. He has a son William, also a Macer. 

Can you tell me did you find exacting information that he returned to Reeth from London....what I found said he had resigned his position in London to return to Scotland..

Best Rhonda

At 18:00 on July 11, 2017, Michael Ferrier said…

William

Thank you for your posts.  The reference to Col. The Hon James Stuart (1741-1808) dying unmarried has had me baffled for some time as I had started working from the top (8th Earl of Moray) of the handwritten tree (which unfortunately has no dates) down so I started from the bottom up (my father).  There was some evidence for the existence of everyone up to Maria Tomasa Stuart (b ?- d.1830) but no actual evidence of her marriage to the James Stuart.  The tree which I have, shows her and James Stuart having four children :

James Stuart (unmarried)

Maria Stuart (unmarried)

Margaret Flora Stuart (married James Douglas)

John Stuart (married Gertrude Weston)

As to evidence for this :

  1.  The Information on the memorial at Inveresk (Saint Michael, Musselburgh) Cemetery starts with ‘Sacred to the memory of Maria, widow of the Hon Colonel James Stuart died 30th. July 1830’. It continues ‘also …. James Stuart Esq. Captain RN died 17th. November 1838 : Maria Stuart, spinster died 15th February 1846 : Margaret, widow of Archibald Douglas Esq died 24th April 1847 and Margaret Flora Douglas (dau. of Margaret and Archibald) relict of the late John Campbell Esq…. died September 5th. 1882’
  2. ‘MARRIAGE: August 24, 1818. At Calcutta, Mr J. Campbell of the Bengal civil service, to Margaret Flora, daughter of the late Mr Douglas, West Indies, and niece of Major J. L. Stuart, honourable East India Company's service.’  This clearly implies two things – Mr Douglas was dead by 1818 and Margaret Flora Douglas was the niece of JL Stuart which means her mother was a Stuart.
  3.  Entry in the Edinburgh Sheriff Court Inventory (17th. August 1831) shows the following : ‘Inventory of the Honble Mrs Maria Stuart widow of the Honble James Stuart Lieutenant Governor of Fort George who died on the. First of August  eighteen hundred and thirty given by Captain James Ferdinand Stuart of the Royal Navy and Mrs Margaret Flora Stuart or Douglas widow of the deceased Archibald Douglas sole executors of the said deceased Honble Mrs Maria Tomasa Stuart conforms to her last will and settlement dated December tenth eighteen hundred and twenty one.’

While none of the above is conclusive, I do consider, on the balance of probabilities, that James Stuart married Maria Tomasa and one of their children married Archibald or James Douglas.

So the questions remain – why was James Stuart shown as unmarried and who was this Archibald Douglas.  With regard to the former question – either one believes in the cock-up or the conspiracy theory of history.  It could have been a simple error, or, in my view a strong possibility, that James Stuart coming from a staunch Protestant background married a Catholic and the marriage was not recognised by his family.  The identity of Maria Tomasa is a mystery.  My handwritten tree describes her as Maria Esperanza (Lady), de Valliers a younger daughter of the Royal House of Spain who father was Don Joseph Corrones, a Colonel in the Dragoons who left Gibraltar when taken by the English and went to Vienna 1807.  I can’t verify any of this except that there was a Jose Corrones in Gibraltar whose daughter was christened in 1707 and that Esperanza continued as an additional Christian name down to my grandmother.

Archibald Douglas clearly died before 1818 and would presumably have been born at a roughly similar time to Margaret Stuart – 1771.   I don’t think that any of the Douglas’s you mention would fit those dates.  If I can identify him it would be another link in the chain, as he would be my Gt-gt-gt-gt grandfather and might provide further information as to Margaret Stuart’s parents.

At 10:03 on June 16, 2017, Sheila Mary Jackson said…

Hello William.

Lovely to hear from you and I am so pleased to be able to access your site.

I think that James Douglas circa 1688 is probably the Laird of Mains but my source is in Ancestry where there are a few mistakes so I would be grateful if you could confirm that he is. He married Jean Farquhar. Their son, Hugo 1713 married Margaret Gilmour and they appear to have had about 18 children, some of whom died early. They had a son called Mungo, 1741, who married Mary Wilson. These are my 4x great grandparents, Hugh and Margaret my 5x and James and Jean my 6x great grandparents. I have not managed to get back beyond James yet so any info on that score would be most welcome.

I have many Douglas' on my tree, some of whom married into the royal Stewart line from which I am also descended. So, these Douglas' may be a different line.

Would love to hear from you.

Best regards,

Sheila

At 20:19 on June 5, 2017, Linda Hildebrand said…

These Douglases are, indeed, inaccurate accounts. I found Alexander's will and he mentions no Aaron ... also passed through a totally unrelated area of NJ.

I'm trying to find primary records for which William Douglas/s is father to Capt. Aaron b. 1753 m. Phebe Lewis. He died in Mendham, Morris County, NJ, and she moved with most of their kids to Knox County, Ohio.

To do this, I'm tapping both NJ and CT sources to try to find record of his ancestral migration. I'm interested in one theory they came with Rogerenes. We've also established by maps and historical accounts another possibility: an ore/gold rush mid-1700s in Morris County, NJ.

The sole Douglas Rogerene mention I found so far seems to have come to NJ about 50 years earlier, but was in the line of William b. 1708.

I believe Aaron's father is William b. 1710, a first (?) cousin). Strong evidence from birth/name patterns show Aaron's father William came to NJ to marry his brother Joshua's widow, who had 3 kids under 10 in the small area called Comb's Hollow, exactly where we find Aaron's dad starting his family about a year after Joshua died, with a wife by the same first name as Joshua's Sarah (Foote).

My William's wife has no formal record of a surname except Douglas, which makes sense if she was widow Sarah Foote Douglas. Perhaps a reference to Aaron being buried beside his brother(s) refers to his half-brothers, Joshua's two sons, if William 1710 married his brother's widow.

At 13:36 on April 4, 2017, Frank Paul Douglass II said…

Thank you, William. I'm excited to have found your group. I have updated my page with the lineage passed to me. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of specifics. I'm eager to see what your site has to shed any light on my family's path from Scotland. Thank you again! 

fd

At 11:40 on March 31, 2017, Gordon Hudson said…

My wife did her DNA and came back 1% British! So maybe.

At 10:47 on March 31, 2017, Gordon Hudson said…

Thanks William. I think the issue is that there are two lots of Douglas's in the West Indies. The European ones and the descendants of former slaves who took the Douglas surname. The two are not really related to each other. My wife is of Jamaican origin and her grandfather was a Douglas. Quite a few of her Douglas's ended up here in the UK.

At 11:39 on March 21, 2017, Robert Douglas said…

I don't know that part of the world, but yes, I believe it is Shankhill Belfast. The names William and Nina appear on a memorial for Woodrow, but that was definitely a mistake.

At 11:48 on December 3, 2016, helen lorenz said…

William, was it my brother Nigel Emery (adopted) or my half brother Stephen Palmer Douglas that your caller was trying to get hold of?  Cavers House is still up for sale, so naturally I am still interested in what happens to it, especially as I was born there, so if you can remember who the interested party was, I would really like to know.  Also does anyone know who and when the two chestnut trees were planted at Cavers House.  One tree died very many years ago, the other one , known as 'The Tradition Tree' was 'demolished' in the late 1990's.  The tree also had a family curse with it - does any know anything about that.

At 8:12 on December 2, 2016, helen lorenz said…

Hi, I did leave message but perhsps it was never received.  I hold extensive Douglas/Palmer Douglas and other related families.  Please let me know how I can help and exactly what you want to know.  Helen

At 18:25 on November 17, 2016, Marsha Broms said…

Edward Fenner Douglass b 17 Feb 1880 in Houghton Co Mi

He Married Dorothea J Weber in Ontonagon, Mi 26 Oct 1903

He died in Chicago 1968. Looking for obituaries for him and his wife Dorothea, her dc has her as Dorothy Anna Douglass she died 19 Nov 1933. Also looking for obits on their children Edward Fenner Douglass b 1904 in Houghton co Mi died Md 1998 daughter was Dorthy C Douglass she married Melville F Johnson from Clinton Co Oh they divorced I believe she was living in the Chicago area. I can't find a death date for her nor obit. last child was Roland Douglass I believe he died in CA.

His father was Edward Fenner Douglass 17 May 1854 died 1902 Houghton Co Mi 

Appreiciate and help offered

Marsha

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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