Brigadier-General William Douglas (1688Harleian MS. 6442–1747), of Kirkness, Kinross, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1715 to 1722.

Early life

Descended from the

Earls of Morton The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton. ...

, William Douglas was the eldest son of Sir Robert Douglas of Kirkness by Jean, daughter of

John Balfour, 3rd Lord Balfour of Burleigh John Balfour, 3rd Lord Balfour of Burleigh (after 1606 – died 1696/97) was a Scottish nobleman. He was educated in France; and has been traditionally and erroneously styled Covenanter John Balfour, the Covenanter being John Balfour of Kinloch. ...

, widow of George Oliphant of Gask, Perth.

Career

Douglas was elected

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 o ...

for

Kinross-shire The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1930. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Per ...

as a Whig at the 1715 general election. As an alternating seat, the constituency was not represented at the 1722 general election. No votes of his are recorded, nor did he stand again. First commissioned in 1709, Captain Douglas joined Croft's Light Dragoons from which, in 1720, he was appointed to the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

. He served with distinction in the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's ...

, and was given the command of the

32nd Regiment of Foot The 32nd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in 1881. History ...

soon after the

Battle of Fontenoy (1745) The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by ...

. The 32nd Regiment served briefly in England in 1745/46 in the army of the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...

and subsequently did 'good service' in Lancashire. They were employed in Scotland on the dispersal of the clans, remaining there but a short time, as they could ill be spared from Flanders.

Personal life

On 11 June 1737, Douglas married Anne, third daughter of Charles Howard, M.P., 3rd Earl of Carlisle, as her second husband, at St. George's, Hanover Square, contrary to the wishes of her relatives. Anne was the widow of

Rich Ingram, 5th Viscount of Irvine Colonel Rich Ingram, 5th Viscount of Irvine (6 January 1688 – 10 April 1721), was an English peer and politician. Early life Ingram was born on 6 January 1688. He was the second of nine sons born to Isabella Machell (1670–1764) and Arthur In ...

, who had died in 1721. She was appointed in 1736 a

Lady of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. They are ranked between the Mis ...

to the Princess of Wales (mother of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

), and for the rest of her life was a prominent figure at Court. She was forced to keep her second marriage with Douglas a secret for fear of losing her paid position in the royal household. She was author of several poems, and is noticed in Duncombe's ''Feminead''. Brigadier-General Douglas died in Brabant on 5 August 1747, falling a victim to the unhealthiness of the climate. As he died without children, on his death, his sister Isabel was retoured heir to him. There is a memorial to him on the north wall of St. Anne's Church, Kew. His widow, Anne, died 2 December 1764, and is buried near her second husband at Kew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, William 1688 births 1747 deaths British Army brigadiers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1715–1722 32nd Regiment of Foot officers Coldstream Guards officers British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession