Archibald Douglas, 13th of Cavers was a Scottish politician. In 1701, prior to the Union of Scotland and England, Douglas had been able to return himself as one of Roxburghshire's four

Commissioners A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a Wiktionary: commission, commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissi ...

to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

. In his electoral capacity, he consistently opposed the Roxburghe interest both in the Scottish and British Parliaments. Repeated successes prompted his son William to remark with pardonable exaggeration in 1712 that "you have it in your hands to make the Member for the county." He came from an ancient

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

family with a strong Covenanting tradition. He was the

heritable Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of Phenotypic trait, traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cell (biology), cells or orga ...

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Teviotdale Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

, Roxburghshire and sat in the 1st Parliament of Great Britain in 1707–8. He was the Member of Parliament for Dumfries burghs for 1727–34. His father William Douglas 11th of Cavers had been deprived of the hereditary sheriffdom on account of his opposition to the

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

, and his mother, Katherine Rigg the reputed 'good Lady Cavers', was imprisoned in

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

in November 1682. She was only released permanently in December 1684, when, upon being given the choice of conforming or leaving the country, she took up residence in England. The family's status naturally revived with the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, whereupon the heritable jurisdiction of Roxburghshire was restored. Douglas succeeded his elder brother, William, to the sheriffdom and the estate of Cavers in 1698. He was Receiver-general for Scotland 1705-18 and

postmaster-general A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government officia ...

in 1725. Archibald Douglas married Anna, daughter of Francis Scott of Gorrenberry.stirnet.com He died in 1741, the estate of Cavers passing to each of his four sons in succession.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Archibald 18th-century Scottish politicians Scottish sheriffs Covenanters People from the Scottish Borders Archibald Shire Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Politics of the Scottish Borders Politics of Dumfries and Galloway Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1689–1702 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1702–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1727–1734 1741 deaths