Sir James McCrone Douie (8 March 1854 – 18 March 1935) was a British colonial official who served briefly as

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Biography

Douie was born at

Largs Largs ( gd, An Leargaidh Ghallda) is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (''An Leargaidh'') in Scottish Gaelic. A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town mark ...

, Ayrshire, a son of the Rev. David Buchan Douie who was minister at Largs

Free Church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...

. He was educated at the

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He was appointed to the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

after passing the examination in 1874, and spent the two-year probationary period at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he was awarded the

Boden Sanskrit scholarship The Boden Scholarship at the University of Oxford was established in 1833 to support students learning Sanskrit. History and scholars Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Boden, after whom the scholarship is named, served in the Bombay Native Infantry of the ...

in 1876 but was not able to take a degree. At the end of 1876 he arrived in India where all of his service of 35 years was passed in the Punjab. Douie became Chief Secretary to the government of the Punjab in 1900, and "had a large share in moulding the famous Land Alienation Act". He became Settlement Commissioner in 1903 and Financial Commissioner in 1909. He officiated as Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab from April to August 1911. He then retired from the service. Douie was appointed in the

1906 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1906 were appointments by Edward VII to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 1 December 1905 and 2 January 1906. The recipients of honours are ...

and knighted KCSI at the

Delhi Durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by the British at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was ...

in December 1911. The

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

awarded him an honorary

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1915.

Publications

*Translation of parts of

Vespasiano da Bisticci Vespasiano da Bisticci (1421 – 1498) was an Italian humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious ...

, ''Vite de uomini illustri del secolo XV'', ed. Lodovico Frati (Bologna, 1892-3)
''Panjab Settlement Manual''
1899
''The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir''
Cambridge University Press, 1916

Family

In 1885 Douie married Mary, daughter of

Charles Roe Charles Roe (7 May 1715 – 3 May 1781) was an English industrialist. He played an important part in establishing the silk industry in Macclesfield, Cheshire and later became involved in the mining and metal industries. Early life and caree ...

(later Sir Charles Roe, Chief Justice of the Chief Court of the Punjab). They had two sons and four daughters. Lady Douie died in 1965.

References

DOUIE, Sir James McCrone
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014) {{DEFAULTSORT:Douie, James McCrone 1854 births 1935 deaths People from Largs Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Governors of Punjab (British India) Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India