Douglas
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The first record of this name
is William de Douglas, who lived in the twelfth
century. Grants of land were made to Sir James
Douglas, one of Robert Bruce’s chief
lieutenants. They became the most powerful family
in Scotland and were a constant threat to the
Stewart kings. Their title and estates were
forfeited in 1455. These Douglases were the
ancestors of the earls of Morton, Douglas,
Annandale, Moray, Ormond, Angus and Forfar and
the dukes of Touraine, Queensberry and Buccleuch
and Hamilton.
Lady Margaret Douglas,
daughter of the Earl of Angus and Princess
Margaret Tudor, married the Earl of Lennox and
their son, Lord Darnley, married Mary, Queen of
Scots, and was father to James VI and I.
Archibald, 3rd Marquis, was
created Duke of Douglas in 1703 but, dying
without issue in 1774, his marquisate and the
earldom of Angus devolved on the Duke of
Hamilton, while the Douglas estates, as a result
of the celebrated "Douglas Cause"
lawsuit, passed to his nephew and heir of line,
Archibald Stewart, Douglas of Douglas, to whom
the armorial bearings and the Douglas chiefship
were awarded by Lyon Decree 1771; he was created
Lord Douglas of Douglas 1790. On the death of the
4th Lord Douglas in 1857, the estates devolved
upon his niece, Lady Elizabeth Douglas of
Douglas, Countess of Home, whose great-grandson,
Lord Home of the Hirsel, became feudal Baron of
Douglas.
It was difficult to say who
was chief of the name and family of Douglas, and
the situation has not changed to date. The arms
and estate are merged with the earldom of Home;
and the Duke of Hamilton became, by marriage with
the Hamilton heiress, chief of the name and house
of Hamilton.
The lands of Drumlanrig in
Dumphries-shire were confirmed on the Douglases
in 1412 by King James I. Douglas of Drumlanrig
became Duke of Queensbury, but on the death of
the 3rd Duke, the title passed to the Earls of
March, and in 1810 to the Dukes of Buccleuch.
Castles held by the Douglases include Threave
Castle in Dumphriesshire, Aberdour Castle in
Fife, Tantallon Castle near North Berwick,
Bothwell Castle in Uddington and Loch Leven
Castle. |
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