William Douglas ( – January 1748), 14th of

Cavers Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is ...

was a Scottish politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1715 and 1747. Douglas was the eldest son of Archibald Douglas of Cavers and his wife Anna Scott, daughter of Francis Scott of Gorrenberry. Douglas was returned at the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the 1707 merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In October 1714, soon afte ...

, as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...

on his father's interest. He voted with the Government in every recorded divisions, including that on Lord Cadogan on 4 June 1717. At the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

he moved to Dumfries Burghs and was returned as MP on the Queensberry-Annandale interest. At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

, he left his seat at Dumfries in favour of his father and returned to Roxburghshire. He was appointed Keeper of the Register of Hornings in 1728. He voted against the Hessians in 1730 but was absent from other divisions. He did not stand in

1734 Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Province of Georgia, Georgia in North America ...

1741 Events January–March * January 13 – Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. * February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, popularizes the term "the balance of power" in a spe ...

. In 1741, Douglas succeeded his father and became hereditary Sheriff of Roxburgh. In 1742 he resigned as hereditary sheriff in favour of his brother Archibald in order to become Member of Parliament again. He was returned as MP for Roxburghshire at a by-election on 18 February 1742. He was a member of a group of Scotch MP's who were known as the Duke of Argyll's gang. He voted with the Opposition in all three divisions on the Hanoverians. He did not stand at the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

. Douglas died unmarried in 1748. His brother Archibald became 15th Laird of Cavers.

References

1688 births Year of birth uncertain 1748 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1741–1747 {{Scotland-GreatBritain-MP-stub