James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry and 1st Duke of Dover (18 December 16626 July 1711) was a Scottish nobleman and a leading politician of the late 17th and the early 18th centuries. As Lord High Commissioner he was instrumental in negotiating and passing the

Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the international Treaty of Union agree ...

with England, which created the

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

Life

He was the eldest son of

William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry PC (163728 March 1695), also 3rd Earl of Queensberry and 1st Marquess of Queensberry, was a Scottish politician.G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and L ...

and his wife Isabel Douglas, daughter of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas. His title before succeeding his father was Lord Drumlanrig. Educated at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, he was appointed a Scottish Privy Counsellor in 1684, and was lieutenant-colonel of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

's regiment of horse. He supported William III in 1688 and was appointed colonel of the Scots Troop, Horse Guards Regiment. On his father's death in 1695 he succeeded to several titles, including 2nd Duke of Queensberry. He was appointed Lord High Treasurer of Scotland from 1693 and

Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland The office of Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, one of the Great Officers of State, first appears in the reign of David II of Scotland, David II. After the Act of Union 1707 its holder was normally a peerage, peer, like the Great Seal of Sco ...

from 1695 to 1702. In 1696 he was appointed as Extraordinary Lord of Session. He was

Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland The Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland was the List of Scottish monarchs, monarch of Scotland's high commissioner, personal representative to the Parliament of Scotland. From the accession of James I of England, James VI of Sc ...

in 1700, 1702 and 1703, in which role he procured the abandonment of the

Darien scheme The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing New Caledonia, a colony in the Darién Gap on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The pl ...

. He was appointed a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

in 1701. On the accession of Queen Anne in 1702, Douglas was appointed Secretary of State, soon jointly with George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie. Douglas encouraged the Jacobites by his undecided attitude on the question of the royal succession, and was deluded into unconsciously furthering the Jacobite designs of

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, ( 1667 – 9 April 1747) was a Scottish landowner and head of Clan Fraser of Lovat. Convicted of high treason in the United Kingdom, high treason for his role in the Jacobite rising of 1745, he was the last ma ...

. Lovat had used Queensberry's jealousy of the Duke of Atholl to obtain a commission from him to get evidence in France which would implicate Atholl. The plot was betrayed to Atholl by Robert Ferguson, and Douglas withdrew from government in 1704. Reinstated as Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1705, he was among the Scottish commissioners who signed the 1706

Treaty of Union The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new political state of Great Britain. The treaty, effective since 1707, brought the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Ki ...

with England, ratified by the

. For this he was very unpopular in Scotland, but he received a pension of £3,000 a year. In 1708 he was appointed to the British Privy Council and created Duke of Dover, Marquess of Beverley and Baron Ripon in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself repla ...

(titles extinct on the 1778 death of the second holder). He was

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

from 1709 until his death. His under-secretary during this period was the writer Nicholas Rowe. Queensberry died at his house in

Albemarle Street Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray (publishing house), John Murray was based here, and Oscar ...

, London, in 1711, of an " iliack passion" (intestinal obstruction). He was later reburied with his wife Marie at Durisdeer Parish Church in

Nithsdale Nithsdale (), also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale (landform), dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost their administrat ...

.Collection of Epitaphs and Monumental Inscriptions: Chiefly in Scotland Queensberry House in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

is today part of the

Scottish Parliament Building The Scottish Parliament Building (; ) is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood, within the World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 ...

Family

He married Mary Boyle, daughter of The Viscount Dungarvan and had at least 3 children: * James (1697–1715). Insane; passed over from succeeding all his father's titles except the marquessate; he died unwed and childless *

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

(1698–1778), succeeded his father as

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

. He had two sons, but both died childless. * Jane (1701–1729), married (as his first wife) The Earl of Dalkeith. Her descendants were the eventual inheritors of the family estates.

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Queensberry, James Douglas, 2nd Duke of 1662 births 1711 deaths Nobility from Dumfries and Galloway British Life Guards officers Deaths from bowel obstruction 102 Garter Knights appointed by William III James Commissioners of the Treasury of Scotland Scottish representative peers Members of the Privy Council of Scotland Lords High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish soldiers Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1689–1702 Senators of the College of Justice Extraordinary Lords of Session Marquesses of Queensberry 1 Peers of Great Britain created by Queen Anne