Witham Public Library (geograph 5405138)

Lt-General Archibald Douglas of Kirkton (1707 – 8 November 1778) was a Scottish Army officer and Member of Parliament. He was the eldest son of William Douglas of Fingland and Elizabeth (Betty) Clerk. His father, a former Jacobite, had been forced to sell the family estate. He joined the army as a Cornet in the

4th Dragoons Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

(then Sir Robert Rich's Dragoons) in 1739, rising to lieutenant in 1742, captain in 1745, major in 1746, lieutenant-colonel in 1746, colonel in 1756, major-general in 1759 and lieutenant-general in 1761. He took part in the Battles of Dettingen (where he had 3 horses shot from under him and an eyebrow shot away) and

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

. In 1756 he was made Aide-de-Camp to King George II. In 1758 he was made Regimental Colonel of the 13th Dragoons, a position he held until his death. He sat as member for the Dumfries Burghs ( Lochmaben, Annan and Sanquhar) from 1754 to 1761, and for Dumfriesshire from 1761 to 1774. In 1763 he purchased a country house in Newland Street, Witham, Essex which was later known as White Hall. Douglas died in Dublin in 1778 and was buried at St Nicholas church, Witham, where there is a memorial to him. He had married in 1746 Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund Burchard of Witham, Essex, with whom he had 6 sons, including

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

, and 5 daughters.

References

1707 births 1778 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 Place of birth missing People from Dumfries 13th Hussars officers British Army lieutenant generals British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession {{UK-army-bio-stub