Lord William Robert Keith Douglas (1783 – 5 December 1859) was a British politician and landowner. He was the fourth son of Sir William Douglas, 4th Baronet of Kelhead and younger brother of both

Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry, (March 1777 – 3 December 1837), known as Sir Charles Douglas, 5th Baronet between 1783 and 1810, was a Scottish peer and member of Clan Douglas. Early life Douglas was the eldest son and heir of Si ...

and John Douglas, 7th Marquess of Queensberry. He represented the Dumfries Burghs constituency between 1812 and 1832 and served, on a number of occasions, as one of the Lord Commissioners of the Admiralty. He owned sugar plantation estates in Tobago which had formerly belonged to Walter Irvine, whose daughter, Elizabeth, he married on 24 November 1824. They had three sons, the second of which, Walter, went on to continue the Douglases of Grangemuir. He employed the future missionary Catherine Grant (later Edward) as a governess until 1843. According to the '' Legacies of British Slave-Ownership'' at the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, Douglas was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of the

Slavery Abolition Act 1833 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Earl Grey's reforming administrat ...

with the

Slave Compensation Act 1837 The Slave Compensation Act 1837 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 3) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on 23 December 1837. It authorised the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to compensate slave owners in the Brit ...

. The British Government took out a £15 million loan (worth £ in ) with interest from Nathan Mayer Rothschild and

Moses Montefiore Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, aft ...

that was subsequently paid off by the British taxpayers (ending in 2015). Douglas was associated with three different claims he owned 576 slaves in

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

and received a £10,907 payment at the time (worth £ in ). In May 1837, some time after William Douglas's eldest brother succeeded to the Marquessate of Queensberry, he was granted a

patent of precedence A patent of precedence is a grant to an individual by letters patent of a higher social or professional position than the precedence to which his ordinary rank entitles him. Historical use in the English legal profession The principal instance in r ...

which gave him the rank and style of a Marquess's younger son (''Lord'' William Douglas). Lord William is buried at Dunino, Fife, a village close to his family seat at Grangemuir, near

Pittenweem Pittenweem ( ) is a fishing village and civil parish in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,747. Etymology The name derives from Pictish and Scottish Gaelic. "Pit-" represents Pictish ''pett'' 'pl ...

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* * 1783 births 1859 deaths William Robert Keith Douglas Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 Younger sons of baronets Fellows of the Royal Society Scottish slave owners Recipients of payments from the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 Lords of the Admiralty {{Scotland-UK-MP-stub

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