Archibald Douglas, 13th of Cavers was a Scottish politician. In 1701, prior to the

Union of Scotland and England The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

, Douglas had been able to return himself as one of Roxburghshire's four

Commissioners A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...

. In his electoral capacity, he consistently opposed the Roxburghe interest both in the Scottish and British Parliaments. Repeated successes prompted his son William to remark with pardonable exaggeration in 1712 that "you have it in your hands to make the Member for the county." He came from an ancient

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 Be ...

family with a strong

Covenanting Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian polity, Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious af ...

tradition. He was the

heritable Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic informa ...

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

Teviotdale 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 ...

, Roxburghshire and sat in the

1st Parliament of Great Britain The first Parliament of Great Britain, Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain was established in 1707 after the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. It was in fact the 4th and last session of the 2nd Parliament of Que ...

in 1707–8. He was the Member of Parliament for Dumfries burghs for 1727–34. His father William Douglas 11th of Cavers had been deprived of the hereditary sheriffdom on account of his opposition to the

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

, and his mother, Katherine Rigg the reputed 'good Lady Cavers', was imprisoned in

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

in November 1682. She was only released permanently in December 1684, when, upon being given the choice of conforming or leaving the country, she took up residence in England. The family's status naturally revived with the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, whereupon the heritable jurisdiction of Roxburghshire was restored. Douglas succeeded his elder brother, William, to the sheriffdom and the estate of Cavers in 1698. He was Receiver-general for Scotland 1705-18 and

postmaster-general A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsible ...

in 1725. Archibald Douglas married Anna, daughter of Francis Scott of Gorrenberry.stirnet.com He died in 1741, the estate of Cavers passing to each of his four sons in succession.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Archibald 18th-century Scottish people Scottish sheriffs Covenanters People from the Scottish Borders

Archibald Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold". Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon . Erkanbald, bishop of ...

Shire Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Politics of the Scottish Borders Politics of Dumfries and Galloway Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1689–1702 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1702–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1727–1734 1741 deaths