Archibald James Edward Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas (10 July 1748 – 26 December 1827), was a Scottish politician.

Early life

He was born Archibald James Edward Stewart, in Paris,G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14'' (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume IV, page 441. the twin son of Sir John Stewart, 3rd Baronet (1687–1764) and Lady Jane Douglas, daughter of James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas. The circumstances of the birth were controversial. His mother was the sister of the wealthy Duke of Douglas. As the Duke was childless, his estate would pass to the next in line, the Duke of Hamilton, unless an heir could be found. Lady Jane was 47 when she married the 60-year-old Colonel John Stewart, a man described by her brother, the Duke of Douglas, as a 'wore-out old rake'. In the summer of 1748, by which time she was 50, Lady Jane gave birth to twin boys - Archibald and Sholto - at the house of Madame Le Brun in Faubourg Saint-Germain, Paris.

The Douglas Cause

There followed a series of court cases, which became known as the ''Douglas Cause'' or ''Douglas Case''. In 1767 Archibald lost a much publicised court case concerning the rights to the Douglas estates. His opponents, the 12-year-old Duke of Hamilton, Hew Dalrymple, and others, claimed that Stewart was not the son of Lady Jane Douglas, and thus was not the rightful heir to the Douglas estates. In February 1769 the House of Lords reversed the decision. Central to the case was whether Lady Jane was still able to have children and at the trials, intimate evidence of her menstrual status was presented by servants. However, witnesses were produced by the Hamiltons who claimed to have noticed nothing about Lady Jane's appearance to indicate that she was pregnant. Hamilton lawyers also found two French couples who both said they had sold babies to a mysterious foreign couple about the time the 'twins' were born. Douglas lawyers countered by providing evidence of a male midwife said to have delivered Lady Jane's babies. Archibald Douglas, was able to inherit and his descendants, who included British Minister Alec Douglas-Home and has family, have benefited ever since.

Career

Douglas was MP for Forfarshire from 1782 to 1790 and Lord Lieutenant of Forfarshire from 1794 to 1827. In parliament he was a loyal follower of

Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...

and William Pitt, and hoped to be rewarded with a peerage. Although he would have preferred an earldom, he was created Baron Douglas, of Douglas in the County of Lanark, in 1790. Lord Douglas was an improving landlord who continued the rebuilding of

Douglas Castle Douglas Castle was a stronghold of the Douglas (later Douglas-Home) family from medieval times to the 20th century. The first castle, erected in the 13th century, was destroyed and replaced several times until the 18th century when a large man ...

begun by his uncle. However the 1772 collapse of the Ayr bank of

Douglas, Heron & Company Douglas, Heron & Company, also known as the Ayr Bank, was a Scottish bank with its head office at Ayr. It opened in November 1769 and folded in 1772 during the crisis of 1772. History The nominal capital of the company was £150,000 or £160,00 ...

was a blow to his financial position. In 1795, he raised the Angusshire Regiment of Fencible Infantry, who served in Ireland and Dumfries, as well as being involved with founding the Angus Volunteers Company of Fencible Men earlier in the same year. It was the latter Company that were on duty at the funeral of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

in 1796 according to officials in the Douglas History Archiv

although some references have inaccurately attributed this to the former group.

Personal life

Lord Douglas married twice and had nine children, five sons and four daughters, most of whom reached old age. His first marriage was in 1771 to Lady Lucy Graham (1751–1780), a daughter of the William Graham, 2nd Duke of Montrose, 2nd Duke of Montrose. Before her death in 1780, they were the parents of:Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes''. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999 volume 1, page 1282. * Archibald Douglas, 2nd Baron Douglas (1773–1844), who was educated at Eton and died unmarried. *

Charles Douglas, 3rd Baron Douglas Charles Douglas, 3rd Baron Douglas of Douglas (26 October 1775 – 10 September 1848) was an English amateur cricketer who made 13 known appearances in first-class cricket matches from 1797 to 1799. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Lanarkshi ...

(1775–1848), a barrister who died unmarried. * Jane Margaret Douglas (1779–1859), who married Henry Montagu-Scott, 2nd Baron Montagu. In 1783, he married secondly to Lady Frances Scott (1750–1817), sister of the 3rd Duke of Buccleuch. Together, they were the parents of: * Frances Elizabeth Douglas (d. 1854), who married William Moray-Stirling, 17th of Abercairny, son of Charles Stirling-Moray, 15th of Abercairny. * Mary Sidney Douglas, who married Robert Douglas in 1821. * Caroline Lucy Douglas (1784–1857), who married Admiral Sir George Scott, son of John Scott, 6th of Gala, in 1810. * Sholto Scott Douglas (1785–1821) * James Douglas, 4th Baron Douglas (1787–1857), the Rector of Broughton who married Wilhelmina Murray, daughter of the Governor of Canada Gen. James Murray (son of Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank), in 1813. * George Douglas (1788–1838), who died unmarried.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003 volume 1, page 561. Douglas died on 26 December 1827 at

Bothwell Castle Bothwell Castle is a large medieval castle, sited on a high, steep bank, above a bend in the River Clyde in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located between Bothwell and Uddingston, about south-east of Glasgow. Construction of the castle w ...

, Lanarkshire. He was buried in Douglas parish church in the same county. He was succeeded by three of his sons in turn: Archibald, Charles, and the Rev. James Douglas on whose death, the Barony of Douglas of Douglas became extinct. His daughter, Jane Margaret Douglas became his eventual heir. She married Henry, 2nd Baron Montagu of Boughton and had a daughter, Lucy Elizabeth Scott-Montagu-Douglas (later Countess of Home) to whom the Douglas estates descended.

References

External links

Archibald James Edward Douglas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Archibald Douglas, 1st Baron 1748 births 1827 deaths 1 Peers of Great Britain created by George III 19th-century Scottish people Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Politics of Angus, Scotland British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 Scottish expatriates in France Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912) Younger sons of baronets

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 ...