George Douglas of Parkhead, (died 1602), was a Scottish landowner, mining entrepreneur, Provost of Edinburgh, and Keeper of Edinburgh Castle.
Career
George Douglas was a son of
George Douglas of Pittendreich
George Douglas of Pittendreich (died 1552) was a member of the powerful Red Douglas family who struggled for control of the young James V of Scotland in 1528. His second son became James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton and Regent of Scotland. Initi ...
, the name of his mother is unknown. His half-sister, Elizabeth, daughter of Lady Dundas, married Smeton Richeson. He married Marioun Douglas, heiress of Parkhead or Parkheid, and so became known as George Douglas of Parkhead. Parkhead is close to the
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...
town of
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
* Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...
. He was later
Provost of Edinburgh
The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the ...
and
Captain or keeper of
Edinburgh Castle.
After the Lang Siege of Edinburgh castle was concluded in August 1573, Douglas supervised the rebuilding of part of the back wall and other repairs, buying lime, sand, slate and glass. Part of the running expenses, or "sustenation" of the castle was paid to Douglas from the customs of Edinburgh town by
Robert Gourlay.
Parkhead is credited with building the half-moon battery at Edinburgh castle, the ''Historie of King James the Sext'' records that Regent Morton appointed him captain, and caused "masonis to begin to redd (clear away) the bruisit wallis, and to repaire the foirwark to the forme of ane bulwark, platt and braid above, for the resett and ryving (receiving) of many canonis." Some building accounts from this work survive.
Douglas prospered during the regency of his brother,
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (c. 1516 – 2 June 1581, aged 65) was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he won the civil war that had b ...
, and his servant Florence Douglas was made
Rothesay Herald
Rothesay Herald of Arms in Ordinary is a current Scottish herald of arms in Ordinary of the Court of the Lord Lyon.
The office was created after 1398 when the dukedom of Rothesay was conferred on David, eldest son of King Robert III, on 28 Ap ...
. When his brother resigned the regency of Scotland in March 1579, George Douglas of Parkhead made an
inventory of the personal jewellery of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
kept in Edinburgh Castle, and of the textiles, the
royal tapestries, Mary's remaining costume, her pictures
dolls and library, and he itemised th
artillery of the castleand the tools in its workshops. The taking of this inventory was described in the chronicle attributed to
David Moysie
David Moysie () was a Scottish notary public, known as the author of the ''Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, 1577–1603''.Also Moise, Moyses, Mosey.
Life
He was by profession a writer and notary public. A notarial attestation of a lease by hi ...
.
Douglas was involved in lead mining at
Wanlockhead
Wanlockhead is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, nestling in the Lowther Hills and south of Leadhills at the head of the Mennock Pass, which forms part of the Southern Uplands. It is Scotland's highest village, at an elevation of ar ...
and Glengonnar or
Leadhills
Leadhills, originally settled for the accommodation of miners, is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, WSW of Elvanfoot. The population in 1901 was 835. It was originally known as Waterhead.
It is the second highest village in Scotland, ...
in
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...
and in Orkney. In June 1581 his interest in the lead mines with all the lead ore recovered was confiscated and given to
James Stewart, Earl of Arran
Captain James Stewart, Earl of Arran (died 1595) was created Earl of Arran by the young King James VI, who wrested the title from James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran. He rose to become Lord Chancellor of Scotland and was eventually murdered in ...
because he had withheld
Torthorwald Castle
Torthorwald Castle is a large ruined rectangular tower at the centre of the village of Torthorwald just outside Dumfries in south west Scotland.
History
The first castle on the site was an Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork motte-and-bailey b ...
from the earl.
Parkhead wrote to
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster".
Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...
in June 1582 to thank him for hospitality in England, mentioning his friend
John Selby of the garrison of
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census reco ...
. He had written to Selby in May 1582 describing a rumour that James VI would be sent to France.
In August 1584 George Douglas and his sons James and George were declared traitors and their goods and lands forfeited for their role "art and part" in the Raid of Stirling in April 1584.
Norway
James VI of Scotland sailed to Norway to meet his bride
Anna of Denmark in October 1589. George Douglas of Parkhead was one of his companions. He wrote from Oslo to the Earl of Morton on 30 November 1589. The king had decided to stay over winter at the Danish court, and the Earl's son Archibald Douglas had decided to go travelling. He had asked Parkhead to go with him.
Later life
After their kinsman
William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton
William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton (c. 1540 – 1606) was the son of Robert Douglas of Lochleven and Margaret Erskine, a former mistress of James V of Scotland.
Career
Connections
Sir William's half-brother from his mother's liaison with the k ...
had been imprisoned in their keeping at Edinburgh Castle, Marion Douglas wrote to his wife
Agnes Leslie, Countess of Morton
Agnes Leslie, Countess of Morton (born after 1541 – c. 1606) was a Scottish noblewoman, being the daughter of George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes as well as a great-granddaughter of King James II. She was the wife of William Douglas, 6th Ear ...
to thank her for a gift of cheese from her farms at
Fossoway near
Lochleven Castle
Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296– ...
. She said that Morton had "received but very simple entertainment here".
Another of Marion Douglas's letters concerns the lead mines. On 6 August 1592 she wrote from Parkhead to
Lord Menmuir asking for his decision about the mining concessions between
Eustachius Roche and her husband. She had been obliged to order her miners to suspend working, putting them to other work or laying them off.
On 20 December 1593 George Douglas and his son James made over some of their lead mining rights in Glengonnar to the goldsmith and financier
Thomas Foulis
Thomas Foulis ( fl. 1580–1628) was a Scottish goldsmith, mine entrepreneur, and royal financier.
Thomas Foulis was an Edinburgh goldsmith and financier, and was involved in the mint and coinage, gold and lead mining, and from May 1591 the receip ...
.
An English prospector
Stephen Atkinson writing in 1619 stated that "George Parkhead" was killed by a landslide in wet weather at a mine working at "Short-clough brayes". It took three days to dig him out. The Shortcleuch water joins the
Elvan
Elvan is a name used in Cornwall and Devon for the native varieties of quartz-porphyry. They are dispersed irregularly in the Devonian series of rocks and some of them make very fine building stones (e.g. Pentewan stone, Polyphant stone and Cata ...
and falls into the
Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
. Some sources suggest the victim of this accident was a son of George Douglas of Parkhead, and it occurred in 1586 while he was prospecting for gold.
George Douglas of Parkhead's will was registered in Edinburgh in 1602. It mentions oats stored in the barn yard of "
Auld Foulden".
Family
The children of George Douglas and Marion Douglas included;
*
James Douglas of Parkhead
James Douglas of Parkhead (died 1608) was a Scottish landowner.
He was a son of George Douglas of Parkhead and Marion Douglas.
Douglas married Elizabeth Carlyle, daughter of William, Master of Carlyle. She was an heiress and the marriage was p ...
(d. 1608), who married Elizabeth Carlyle, daughter of
William, Master of Carlyle. She was an heiress and the marriage was probably arranged by Regent Morton. It was said that he was cruel to her. On 2 November 1596 James Douglas of Parkhead and his accomplices killed his father's enemy,
James Stewart, former Earl of Arran at
Symington. They claimed that Stewart was technically a rebel, "at the horn". As his tombstone at
Holyrood Abbey mentions, James Douglas was killed on the
Royal Mile Edinburgh on 14 July 1608, by Captain William Stewart, son of
William Stewart of Monkton and a nephew of Arran. Elizabeth Carlyle then married William Sinclair of Blaas.
** The children of James Douglas and Elizabeth Carlyle included; James Douglas, who married (1) Elizabeth Gordon of Lochinvar, (2) Anne Saltonstall, daughter of
Richard Saltonstall
Sir Richard Saltonstall (baptised Halifax, England 4 April 1586 – October 1661) led a group of English settlers up the Charles River to settle in what is now Watertown, Massachusetts in 1630.
He was a nephew of the Lord Mayor of London R ...
,
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...
.
* George Douglas of
Mordington
Mordington is an agricultural parish in the extreme south-east of Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders region. It is five miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed and borders Northumberland to the east, and south (where the boundary is the Whiteadder ...
, who married Margaret Dundas, daughter of Archibald Dundas of
Fingask
Fingask Castle is a country house in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is perched above Rait, three miles (5 km) north-east of Errol, in the Braes of the Carse, on the fringes of the Sidlaw Hills. Thus it overlooks both the Carse of Gowr ...
, and sister of
William Dundas
William Dundas (1762–1845) was a Scottish politician.
The son of Robert Dundas, of Arniston, the younger, he became a barrister at Lincoln's Inn in 1788. He was member of parliament (MP) for the Anstruther Burghs from 1794 to 1796, for t ...
who wrote letters commenting on the court of
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...
in 1590 and
painted ceilings in 1593. She was the widow of William Kerr of Ancram, and mother of the courtier
Robert Kerr.
** The children of George Douglas and Margaret Dundas included; George Douglas ambassador to Poland and Sweden for
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...
; and Margaret Douglas who married Sir James Lockhart of Lee, her children included
William Lockhart William Lockhart may refer to:
* William Lockhart of Lee (1621–1675), Oliver Cromwell's ambassador at Paris
* William Lockhart (surgeon) (1811–1896), medical missionary and fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons
* William Lockhart (priest) (18 ...
who was ambassador to France for
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
;
George Lockhart a lawyer; and
Anne Lockhart who married
George Lockhart of Tarbrax.
* John Douglas, minister of
Crail
Crail (); gd, Cathair Aile) is a former royal burgh, parish and community council area (Royal Burgh of Crail and District) in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland.
The locality has an estimated population of 1,630 (2018).
Etymology
The name ''C ...
.
* Catherine Douglas, who married Sir James Douglas of
Arniston, governor of
Berwick upon Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
after 1603.
* Margaret Douglas, who married (1) Edward Sinclair of
Roslynn and Herbertshire, (2) Sir Patrick Home of
Ayton.
* Martha Douglas, who married
Robert Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
, minister of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
. Their betrothal ring was kept by the Bruce family of Kinnaird, Stirlingshire.
* Mary Douglas, who married John Carruthers o
Holmainsin
Annandale.
[Nicholas Carlisle, ''Collections for a History of the Ancient Family of Carlisle'' (London, 1822), p. 110.]
References
External links
Scheduled Monument: Gold scours, cut into the hillside above the Shortcleuch Water, SM13677 Historic Environment Scotland
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...
.
History of Leadhills, Leadhills Estate
Robert William Cochran-Patrick, ''Early Records Relating to Mining in Scotland'' (Edinburgh, 1878)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas of Parkhead, George
16th-century Scottish people
16th-century births
Year of birth unknown
1602 deaths
Lord Provosts of Edinburgh
Mining engineers
Scottish mining engineers
Gold mines in Scotland
16th-century Scottish businesspeople
Lairds