Archibald Douglas, Earl Of Angus
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Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, 1st Earl of Ormond (1609–15 January 1655) was the eldest son of William Douglas, 1st Marquis of Douglas, from whom he obtained the courtesy title of
Earl of Angus The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish Provinces of Scotland, province of Angus, Scotland, Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldes ...
.Vian in the DNB spells the title Earl of Ormonde. Lee in the DNBIE and Paton in the much more recent ODNB, spell the name Earl of Ormond. Douglas was a member of privy council of Scotland, 1636; vacillated in his opinions on the new service-book, originally (1636) approving its use. Appointed extra ordinary lord of session in 1631. He signed the covenant, was unwilling to take up arms in its defence, but was a commissioner for the
covenanters Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son ...
in England in 1643. In 1646 made colonel of '' Régiment de Douglas'' in France when his brother Lord James Douglas, was killed in action. Member of committee of estates in 1650. Created Earl of Ormond in 1651; fined £1,000 by
Cromwell's Act of Grace Cromwell's Act of Grace, or more formally the Act of Pardon and Grace to the People of Scotland, was an Act of the Parliament of England that declared that the people of Scotland (with certain exceptions) were pardoned for any crimes they migh ...
, 1654.


Biography

Douglas was the eldest son of William Douglas, 11th Earl of Angus and 1st Marquis of Douglas, by his first wife, Margaret Hamilton, daughter of
Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley (9 June 1546 – 3 May 1621) was a Scotland, Scottish nobleman who fought at the Battle of Langside in 1568 for Mary, Queen of Scots. He is the ancestor of the earls, marquesses and dukes of Duke of Abercorn, A ...
, was born in 1609. In a charter of the barony of Hartside or Wandell, granted to him and his father 15 June 1613, he is named Lord Douglas, Master of Angus, and it is by the title of Earl of Angus, which became his on his father's elevation to the marquisate, that he is generally known. In 1628 Angus married Lady Anne Stuart, second daughter of Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox,
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
being a party to the marriage contract.Vian, DNB vol. xv p 285. In 1630 Angus went abroad and did not return before the latter end of 1633. In May 1636 he was appointed a member of the
Privy Council of Scotland The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. During its existence, the Privy Council of Scotland was essentially considered as the government of the Kingdom of Scotland, and was seen as the most ...
, and was present at the meeting in December of that year at which the use of the new service-book was sanctioned. His sympathies, however, were believed to lie with the
Covenanters Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son ...
, for when the Duke of Lennox was sent to enforce the use of the service-book, Angus was chosen to treat with him. Yet when the royal proclamation was issued commanding the use of the book, the order was made with the approval of Angus. On the final suppression of the book he was one of those members of the privy council who addressed a letter of thanks to the king. Judged by his vacillation in this matter Angus would seem to have had a large share of that spirit of irresolution which was the chief characteristic of the political careers of his half-brother and nephew and the
third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...
and fourth dukes of Hamilton. Angus was appointed an extraordinary lord of session 9 February 1631, and not long afterwards signed the covenant. But when the Covenanters prepared to take the field, he left the country. Angus returned to Scotland in 1641, when he appeared in parliament, and his right to sit as a peer's eldest son being questioned and decided against him, he was turned out, together with some others of the same rank. At the general assembly summoned in August 1643 he was elected one of the commissioners appointed to further the cause of the covenant in England, and at the same time he was put on the special commission which was to meet the commissioners sent to treat with the assembly by the English
Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...
. In 1646, on the death of his younger brother, Lord James Douglas, in action, he was appointed to the command held by him as colonel of the '' Régiment de Douglas'' in France. He held this post till 1653, when he resigned it in favour of his brother George Douglas, 1st Earl of Dumbarton, but it does not appear that he saw any active service. The greater portion of these years he spent at home in Scotland, though he took no prominent part in public affairs till the arrival of Charles II in Scotland. With the arrival of Charles II in 1650, he became a member of the committee of estates, and was among those appointed to make preparations for the king's coronation. At that ceremony he officiated as high chamberlain, and in the following April he was created Earl of Ormond in the
Peerage of Scotland The Peerage of Scotland (; ) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union 1707, Treaty of Union, the Kingdom of Scots and the ...
, (the subsidiary title of this earldom was ''Lord Bothwell and Hartside''), with remainder to the heirs male of his second marriage with Lady Jane Wemyss, eldest daughter of David, 2nd Earl of Wemyss, his first wife having died 16 August 1646, in her thirty-second year. At the assembly which met at Edinburgh, and afterwards at Dundee, in July 1651, the earl took a leading part in the opposition to the
Western Remonstrance The Western Remonstrance was drawn up on 17 October 1650 by Scotsmen who demanded that the Act of Classes (1649) was enforced (removing Engagers from the army and other influential positions) and remonstrating against Charles, the son of the rece ...
; but after the departure of Charles II to the continent he retired into private life. He was fined £1,000 by Cromwell's act of grace in 1654, though it was stoutly alleged on his behalf by the presbytery that he was a true Protestant. He resided in the Canongate or at
Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...
till his death, which took place 15 January 1655, in the lifetime of his father. He was buried at Douglas in the family vault in
St. Bride's Church St Bride's Church is a Church of England church in Fleet Street in the City of London. Likely dedicated to Saint Bridget perhaps as early as the 6th century, the building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672, ...
.


Marriages and issue

By Lady Anne Stuart Ormond had one son: *
James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas (c.1646 – 25 February 1700)David Menarry, 'Douglas, James, second Marquess of Douglas (c.1646–1700)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. was the son of Archiba ...
(c.1646–1700), who succeeded his grandfather as
Marquess of Douglas A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow) ...
. His second wife was Lady Jane Wemyss (1629-1715), a daughter of David Wemyss, 2nd Earl of Wemyss and Anna Balfour (died 1649).
William Fraser William Fraser may refer to: Military people *William W. Fraser (1844–1915), American Civil War soldier and Medal of Honor recipient *William Archibald Kenneth Fraser (1886–1969), British army officer *William Fraser (British Army officer) ( ...

''Memorials of the family of Wemyss of Wemyss'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1888), p. 293
/ref> They had a daughter and two sons, including: * Lady Margaret Douglas (1651-1699) who became the fourth wife of Alexander Seton, 1st Viscount of Kingston * Archibald, succeeded him in his title, and in 1661 obtained a new patent creating him Earl of Forfar. His widow, Jane Wemyss, outlived him sixty years. In 1659 she married George Gordon, 15th Earl of Sutherland, whom she also survived.Paton ODNB, states it was "George, fifteenth Earl of Sutherland", Vian DNB stated it was "George, fourteenth Earl of Sutherland", but the fourteenth Earl's first name was John.


Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations


References

* Lee, Sidney (1903),
Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
br>Index and Epitome
*Paton, Henry ''Sutherland , John, sixteenth earl of Sutherland (bap. 1661, d. 1733)'', rev. Jonathan Spain, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
Retrieved 29 November 2009
*Vian, Alsager. At vol. xv, p. 285, and cites: **Fraser's ''Douglas Book'', ii. 433; ** Sir Robert Douglas and John Philip Wood's ''Peerage of Scotland'', i. 442; **Aiton's ''Life of Alexander Henderson''; **Baillie's ''Letters'', vols. i. and ii.; **Michel's ''Les Ecossais en France'', ii. 318, errs in stating that Lord Gr. Douglas immediately succeeded Lord James in the command of the Scots regiment. ;Attribution * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ormond, Archibald Douglas, 1st Earl of 1609 births 1655 deaths Archibald Earls of Ormond Peers of Scotland created by Charles II Heirs apparent who never acceded Royal Scots officers