Sir William Douglas, 1st Baronet (died 1809) was a Scottish landowner and industrialist, best known for founding the planned town of

Castle Douglas Castle Douglas ( gd, Caisteal Dhùghlais) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in th ...

in the

Stewartry of Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative county ...

(now within Dumfries and Galloway), south-west

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. He began life as a humble pedlar but soon became wealthy from dealings in an unspecified '

American trade Foreign trade of the United States comprises the international imports and exports of the United States. The country is among the top three global importers and exporters. The regulation of trade is constitutionally vested in the United S ...

'. He returned to Scotland in the late 18th century, where his major work was the development of cotton mills and a town next to Carlingwark Loch. This was a planned town set around a grid plan system of streets, similar to that of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

's New Town, planned at around the same time. This town was named

in 1792, having previously been known as "Carlingwark". Sir William also established cotton mills in

Newton Stewart Newton Stewart ( Gd: ''Baile Ùr nan Stiùbhartach'') is a former burgh town in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. The town is on the River Cree with most of the town to the west of the river, and ...

, which was temporarily renamed "Newton Douglas" in his honour, and a range of industries in Castle Douglas including a brewery, woollen mill, soap works and tannery. Douglas was granted a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

cy in 1801. In 1805 he built himself a mansion at Gelston Castle, which has been attributed to architect Robert Crichton. The castellated mansion is currently a vacant shell. An obelisk was erected in the village of Gelston in his memory. He died unmarried, in 1809, and his lands were divided amongst his nieces and nephews, whilst his baronetcy became extinct. His body was buried in a mausoleum which has been attributed to architect

Walter Newall Walter Newall (3 April 1780 – 25 December 1863) was a Scottish architect and civil engineer, born at Doubledyke in the parish of New Abbey in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. He was the leading architect in the Dumfries a ...

, named The Douglas Mausoleum, and this was added upon with at least 20 more members of family over the years. The site on Kelton Hill overlooks Carlingwark towards Castle Douglas.

References

Year of birth missing 1809 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Scottish landowners {{Scotland-bio-stub